Let The Right One In

RAUL DUKE

IMDB 8.3

Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.

I see its been mentioned by a couple of people in other threads but i've only just got around to watching it tonight.Easily one of the best films i've seen in the last year!Highly Recommended.

johnny_ultimate

Due to be shown at the Jameson Festival in February so looking forward to finally getting to see it. Don't think its getting a release over here until April otherwise, which is ridiculous given that its been out for so long already.

daithijjj

this movie is quite simply fantastic..................yes, it is in scandinavian tongue, and yes, there are subtitles but that isnt a problem if you can indeed read. A small word of warning to all you meatheads and hollywood 'rednecks'........this is pure cinema......please just shuffle on as you do, there is nothing for you to see here...............no doubt, when hollywood gets its 'vampirish' teeth into it you can then enjoy the innevitable added make-up and CGI and some old faces to quench your predictable desires. This movie is a 'tour de force' .............thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

Basq

I adored this film.

Absolutely brillant.. one scene sticks out in my mind as one of my favourite scenes in recent memory. I won't even give away too much about it but I'll say one word and those who've seen it will know what I mean -

pool

.

Cannot recommend it enough!

Auvers

good stuff never seen or heard anything about this, going to watch it tonight.

Tusky

Is this going to be in cinemas in Ireland ?

BenjAii

Yep this is a brilliant film, I watched it a few weeks ago, very easy to get hold of in the usual internet places if anyone wants to see now.

A very original take on the vampire story which is rare & I found it really creepy. There is nothing sweet about the friendship between the kid & the vampire at all, that's what makes it is so creepy. It's presented that way, but the kid is just being set up to be used & you feel his story will eventually become that of the older man with the vampire.

Necronomicon

While it was quite different to what I was expecting, it was a very good film. It's not fraught with tension and the horror sometimes takes a back seat to the love story, but there are a few unsettling scenes nonetheless (like the one Basquille referenced, which was fantastic - honourable mentions also go to

'What happens if you don't get invited in?'

and

the scene where Eli finally talks to Oskar about her condition. When she recites Oskar's earlier lines we catch just a brief glimpse of her as a much older person.

It is shot beautifully, the score behind it is terrific and you'll be hard pushed to find better performances than those of the two kids.

Kingp35

How have all you lads seen this? Is it released on DVD anywhere yet?

Auvers

Kingp35 wrote: »

How have all you lads seen this? Is it released on DVD anywhere yet?

ummm *cough*Torr*cough*ents*cough*

Aedh Baclamh

Yeah obviously torrents.

Great film and I'll definitely be checking it out next month.

ginoginelli

Good but not great..

After all the brilliant reviews, I was expecting something really special here..Unfortunatly it failed to deliver. It is a decent flick though. Its shot spectacularly, well thought out, and theres some good acting in it..Its just not worthy of such a high rating.

Pugsley

Got my hands on this after reading this thread, what a film. Really felt for the characters as the story progressed, my only gripe about the film is the ending

I feel a darker ending would have suited the mood of the film more

.

BenjAii

Pugsley wrote: »

Got my hands on this after reading this thread, what a film. Really felt for the characters as the story progressed, my only gripe about the film is the ending

I feel a darker ending would have suited the mood of the film more

.

It's funny how people interpret things differently, I thought the whole film was much darker than most people seem to be taking it as.

The way I saw the ending was as very dark, the boy is being sucked in to playing the role for the vampire that destroyed the older guy. I thought the going off into the sunset stuff was irony of the first order.

Necronomicon

I think some spoiler tags are needed there BenjAii but I agree completely on the ending -

on the face of it, it seems happy but the boy is just part of her cycle and in half a decade he'll be the old guy we saw at the start while she seduces the next guy to use.

Das Kitty

Saw this last night.

I was watching away deciding that this was more of a thriller than a horror. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It wasn't until 4am this morning until I woke up and started thinking about it that I realised how good of a horror it is. Christ almighty, I couldn't get back to sleep I just lay there in the pitch dark trying not to make out shapes in the dark.

Thinking back on it now it was incredibly disturbing, the relationship between the little kid and the vampire was so strange, there was no "aw, isn't that sweet" about it.

she basically turned him being bullied around so he'd do her bidding eventually, actually I don't think that she didn't feed on him because she liked him but because she needed him

The only scene that I thought was a bit stupid was the one with all the CGI cats.

I loved that it was set in the 80's which just adds to its bleakness.

I think the

swimming pool

scene is very telling.

Only one of the guys was threatening her "friend" yet she tore all but one of them to pieces, even doing this to one of them is too much to allow you to believe that there is any goodness there

Just one question:

She says she's not a girl, and then when he's peeping in at her changing there's something odd going on down south, what exactly was that?

Anyway I'm still freaked out.

Crash

Just a quick question - sat down after a few beers with friends looking or a decent horror to watch - started this and and after about 20 minutes turned it off deciding that slightly-medium drunkeness was not a good time to watch a film that might actually involve concentration (we watched cube zero instead )

However, my first question was: are the subtitles slightly dodgy on this? or was that just me? there seemed to be certain sections lacking translation.

and secondly, please tell me you get used to the shallow DOF used, at the time it was kinda hurting my eyes :P

L'prof

Das Kitty wrote: »

Just one question:

She says she's not a girl, and then when he's peeping in at her changing there's something odd going on down south, what exactly was that?

There is additional backstory present in the novel for many of the characters that is missing in the film. In the book it is revealed that Eli is a boy who had been castrated many years ago. This is only hinted at in the film, without any elaboration, in a brief scene in which Eli is changing into a dress; however, she does mention to Oscar twice that she "is not a girl", and asks him if he would like her anyway if this were the case. There was a scene that touched upon his history through flashbacks, but it was eventually cut.[7] Late in production it was also decided to overdub actress Lina Leandersson's voice with a less feminine one.[8] Other changes from the book include toning down Håkan's impact on the plot, removing his pederastic attraction to Eli and the subplot in which he becomes undead and evil after being bitten and killed at the hospital.

From wiki.

Das Kitty

Ta. I should have googled.

Illkillya

jasonorr wrote: »

There is additional backstory present in the novel for many of the characters that is missing in the film. In the book it is revealed that Eli is a boy who had been castrated many years ago. This is only hinted at in the film, without any elaboration, in a brief scene in which Eli is changing into a dress; however, she does mention to Oscar twice that she "is not a girl", and asks him if he would like her anyway if this were the case. There was a scene that touched upon his history through flashbacks, but it was eventually cut.[7] Late in production it was also decided to overdub actress Lina Leandersson's voice with a less feminine one.[8] Other changes from the book include toning down Håkan's impact on the plot, removing his pederastic attraction to Eli and the subplot in which he becomes undead and evil after being bitten and killed at the hospital.

From wiki.

This actually makes it a lot more interesting... I was disappointed in the film, but if they had given it some more depth/darkness (e.g., hinting about Eli's history) then it could have been a lot better.

Das Kitty

I was thinking more about this last night.

Is it a comment on paedophilia? If they left the scenes in with the older man you'd be feeling uncomfortable in that kind of way. Then when we see the flash of Eli as an older person. And the whole process that Eli undertakes to get Oskar to go with her, it's akin to grooming. It all gives me the willies.

L'prof

Das Kitty wrote: »

I was thinking more about this last night.

Is it a comment on paedophilia? If they left the scenes in with the older man you'd be feeling uncomfortable in that kind of way. Then when we see the flash of Eli as an older person. And the whole process that Eli undertakes to get Oskar to go with her, it's akin to grooming. It all gives me the willies.

Yeah, her/his minder (the older man) is a paedophile in the book and I think Eli is supposed to be around 200 or something, so that's why there was that flashing image of her/him looking old. Also, if you remember how angry Eli got when the old man didn't bring her any blood back? Eli is definitely grooming Oscar to take on the role of her minder for the rest of his life!

BenjAii

I think this film is horror of the first order destined to be a cult classic. It's so clever because it really does play with your head. I thought some of the things mentioned in SPOILER comments here, but judging by IMDB's comments most people seem to focus on the sweetness of Oskar & Eli's relationship; it's anything but.

I thought Eli was "grooming" Oscar as well. She is definitely an adult, albeit with a childs body. There is another brief moment, when Eli is naked in bed with Oscar and she appears as her true age, She looks late middle aged, about the same age as Hakan.

Which made me think Hakan might have been first involved long ago with Eli, when they were both children.

But that's what's so clever about this film, it creeps you out wondering about it.

Lirange

This was a strange enthralling film.

Why did I have fleeting moments were I wanted to believe in the relationship even though the set up early on gave away that she was a dark and calculating character? Particularly after the ending? What's wrong with me?

The auld fella was totally rapt with her until the very end.

Am I the only one that found his clumsy blood quests comically tragic? It seemed to really foreshadow his demise and was symbolic of impotence. He was out artery slashing yet I was sitting there prodding the muppet to do things properly. What's wrong with me?

I do like that they dispense with the whole childhood innocence malarkey. Kids deal with the same crap adults do just with less pretense. This film was very much about the marginalised. It's also cynical but it in a good way. Most of the adults are portrayed as degenerate burn-outs and there's a co-dependency theme going on with some of them too. It's a soul sapping world out there so maybe both of Oskar's options aren't too different in the long run. Or maybe I'm just rationalising.

A memorable film experience.

Tchaikovsky

A beautiful film, the Swedish winter really compliments the theme aswell.

Burning Eclipse

Hope this isn't too much of a thread resurrection here, but I watched this last night and was hoping to find some discussion about it here.

Can anyone shed any light on

the uneasiness in the scene where Oskar is visiting his father when his father's friend shows up?

Is there more to that in the book?

I really enjoyed the film. Anything that still has me thinking about it the following day is a winner. The kids were both fantastic in it.

johnny_ultimate

Burning Eclipse wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on

the uneasiness in the scene where Oskar is visiting his father when his father's friend shows up?

Is there more to that in the book?

If I remember correctly

there was a lot more emphasis on Oskar's dad alcoholism in the book. Oskar feared going to his father's because it would often end in disaster after his dad had a few drinks, with him coming into Oskar's room and waking him up with angry drunken ramblings. Oskar was terrified of these incidences.

Think a lot of people thought it was meant to imply that his father was gay, but Alfredson denies that here.

c - 13

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Think a lot of people thought it was meant to imply that his father was gay, but Alfredson denies that here.

Yeah thats the impression I got from the film as well.

Is the title of the book the same as the film ? Wouldnt mind getting my hands on it.

Burning Eclipse

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

If I remember correctly

there was a lot more emphasis on Oskar's dad alcoholism in the book. Oskar feared going to his father's because it would often end in disaster after his dad had a few drinks, with him coming into Oskar's room and waking him up with angry drunken ramblings. Oskar was terrified of these incidences.

c - 13 wrote: »

Yeah thats the impression I got from the film as well.

Is the title of the book the same as the film ? Wouldnt mind getting my hands on it.

Interesting. That seems like a good interpretation of the scene when I think about it.

Yes is the answer to your second question btw c - 13...

I don't think I like the idea of this being remade... If it's some commercialized POS that goes for cheap scares it will just ruin it. As much as I liked Chloe Moretz in Kick Ass, I can't imagine anyone in the roles of Eli (and Oskar for that matter) except the original kids.

johnny_ultimate

c - 13 wrote: »

Yeah thats the impression I got from the film as well.

Is the title of the book the same as the film ? Wouldnt mind getting my hands on it.

It's worth a read, but differs considerably from the book. There's much more depth for characters, with some who were completely removed from the film. The tone is completely different too, much more 'pulpier' for lack of a better word. Is also much more graphic, and goes into more... disturbing details about Eli's adult minder and

'that' scene where you catch a glimpse of Eli coming out of the shower.

It's an interesting read, although the film is much more haunting, and the more focused approach on Oskar and Eli totally benefits the film.

c - 13

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

It's worth a read, but differs considerably from the book. There's much more depth for characters, with some who were completely removed from the film. The tone is completely different too, much more 'pulpier' for lack of a better word. Is also much more graphic, and goes into more... disturbing details about Eli's adult minder and

'that' scene where you catch a glimpse of Eli coming out of the shower.

It's an interesting read, although the film is much more haunting, and the more focused approach on Oskar and Eli totally benefits the film.

Yeah thats what i'm after, the back stories of the charachters werent delved into too much in the film so want to see what the source material was like. The last few posts comments regarding the differences between the two mediums are really after piquing my interest in it. Just after finding a copy online so will crack into it in the next few days.