Probably the most touching and subtle Vampire movies ever, “Let the Right One I” deserves a regular sequel every ten years or so.

Because of standard Vampires conflicts and tragedies, there are endless ways to explore the genre. Sometimes I am in the mood for the Euro-Trashy visually stunning “The Hunger” genre, other times the ass kicking “Lost Boys” type genre, sometime the overly detailed Anne Rice type vampire. This is a bleak but ultimately hopefully movie built on eternal inner confusion

“Let The Right One In” explores the adventures of Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), and Eli (Lina Leandersson),. Oskar is a shy 12 year old who is getting beaten, sometimes bloody, by the local team of bullies. Naturally the next step is hone up his cutlery skills. While practicing stabbing on a tree (‘Who’s the pig now?”) he is befriended by an overly intense and very pale adolescent, Eli.  It’s getting late but  her curfew has been extended because her father is out committing grisly murders to feed his her. Oh, she’s a vampire. 

The two outsiders form a fast, if not awkward, friendship. In many ways it is one of the truest portrayals of pre-teen confusion ever captured on film, even if one of them has been twelve “for a very long time.” Is she my girlfriend? Or is she just someone I need to be near, all of the time? The honesty of the film is what will really grab you. Want the next Sarah Michelle Gellar vehicle? This isn’t the vamp flick for you.

Eli brings out the blooming man in Oskar, he eventually able to defend himself against the bullies. Oskar is already coming into his own, he just needed a nudge.
 
Not to say there isn’t a fair amount of bloodletting. Eli lets her father do most of the dirty work, as any good father would. Like any good father working to make ends meet, he fails sometimes. This turns out to be a real bummer for the Swedish locals. 

Both of the performances of the kids are fascinating and complex. In addition to pain they are feeling in their dreary dead end town, you are constantly discovering a rich subtext.

So if you like using the gray matter when you crave splatter, check out LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.

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