Låt den rätte komma in

(Let the Right One In)

A beautifully subtle film.

There are, in my opinion, three types of vampire films. Not counting the truly terrible, such as Dracula 2000, or films where vampires are an example of the types of creatures that exist, such as Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch), or ones that are both, like Van Helsing.

Anyway. Three types:

1. Horror - i.e. 30 Days of Night
2. Stylized - i.e. Underworld
3. Noir/Gothic - such as Nosferatu, and even Buffy

Let the Right One In falls to category three.

It doesn't hide what it is. It's very clear that it has a vampire in it. But it doesn't languish through origins or characteristics. It doesn't even really argue the morality of it. I could say it's pretty much the story of boy-meets-girl, who happens to be a vampire.

But that would be a vast understatement for the movie.

To warn you, it's a foreign film. So you either suffer through reading subtitles or hearing mediocre dubbing. As well, as I've noticed with many foreign films, it lacks the clear imagery that we'd expect from an English-language film. But it probably also didn't cost 30 million dollars to make.

Other countries don't have the movie industry that we have, so you'll just have to deal.

It's a great film. There's very little humor but you don't miss it. As I said, it's subtle. It's basically just the boy and the girl on screen for the entire movie. But it's engaging, driven by character and story. In many ways, you feel like you're watching a book.

4/5