Over
the years there have been many cliché vampire stories, Let the Right
One In is not one of those. Let the Right One In captures what is
cliché and beyond; reinventing new ways to show a typical seemingly
predictable vampiric love story.
Let
the Right One In seems to be just another vampire horror film at
first. Oskar, a young boy who is an odd sort of loner who haves
spouts of rage and wants revenge on the bullies who taunt him and
Eli, our female counter point who is a young child of the night,
fearless and who of course Oskar takes a liking to. The two meet
outside their dreary apartment building and quickly establish similar
interests through sharing a rubics cube and being neighbors. Oskar
and Eli share a bedroom wall to which they sign morse code to each
other every day and night, it doesn't take long for the two to be
inseparable. The relationship they develop can be best described as
“innocently sweet”.
This
film is more than just a love story. It is a complex telling of love
and child like innocence; how people grow and love each other. The
screenplay is interesting because it's kept pretty minimal. There is
more said in the body language of the two young actors who play
Oskar and Eli. Stories don't usually take the side of a child
romance, especially when one of them has an insatiable lust for
blood. The title ,Let the Right One In, stands for the vampire rule
that a vampire cannot come into a humans house unless verbally
invited. The scene where Oskar finds out what happens when Eli is not
verbally invited in is impeccable, it truly shows how their
relationship evolves, it is also a visualization of an age old symbol
that one cannot be hurt by evil unless one knows about evil. The
reoccurring trust and unconditional love throughout the story is
essential to the amount of child like innocence Oskar has. Without
the examples of maturity and what kind of beast Eli is brings to the
story, this film would have fallen flat. I quite enjoy that the fact
that Eli is a vampire is fuzzy until half way through the movie.
Being a horror film, Let the Right One In has just the right amount
of gore. This film is more atmospheric, thoughtful and emotional than
typical horror films.
This
is one of my all time favorite vampire/horror films to date for its
unconventionality and original storytelling abilities.