LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - Review

NOTE: I've been two weeks late in delivering this. I doubt it matters anymore, but here goes...

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN follows the tradition of revisionist takes on the vampire mythology, earning a place right next to films like Abel Ferrara's THE ADDICTION, Guillermo Del Toro's brilliant CRONOS, Kathyrn Bigelow's masterpiece NEAR DARK, and Tarantinrodriguez's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (it's good, haters have just forgotten). My personal favorite, NEAR DARK, had a compelling subplot where Homer, the (physically) youngest member of Severen's clan desperately wanted to find a companion (while wearing a badass William S. Burroughs T-shirt). The concept of being made immortal while a child is one of the most tragic imaginable. Being physically incomplete while your soul has aged for centuries is a perfect curse. I'm sure if you get bitten during your heyday, like the crow-looking douchebag from Twilight, then it's great, but seriously, fuck the romantic notion of that. I can think of nothing worse than being made immortal in my acne-pocked pre-teen years. Go see TWILIGHT and swoon, then go see this if you want some perspective. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN drives a Mack truck through the bullshit vampire romance.

LTROI is about a pre-teen on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Oskar is 12, pale, skinny, passive, and mercilessly bullied. He comes from a broken home, spending the majority of his time living with his mother, and visiting his alcoholic father from time to to time. Oskar is a sweet, bright kid who, because of the cruelty of other children, is about to be pushed over the edge and embark on his "own personal Columbine" (Alex Rivello, CHUD.com). At night he sits in his room and cuts out clippings of police reports detailing gruesome homicides, as well as practicing his showdown fantasies where he finally stands up to his tormentors - going over the requisite comeuppance one-liners in his cold bedroom, and simulating burying a shiv in them while hanging out in the playground at night.

Enter Eli ("ell-ee"), a cute, doe-eyed, grubby little thing that moves in next door and strikes up a friendship one dark, snowy night on the playground. Eli is blunt, fierce, and with the byproduct of many, if not all first loves, she enables Oskar with a newly discovered strength and self-confidence. The only problem is that Eli is a much older woman trapped in a child's body - she's a vampire. Bodies start to add up, adults begin to wonder, and Oskar is slowly pulled into Eli's world.

Director Tomas Alfredson has gone on record as not being a rabid horror fan, and perhaps that benefits the film's heart. I don't mean to take anything away from it, because it is extremely suspenseful, and has one of the most disturbingly satisfying endings I've ever seen. There is plenty of gore, and the requisite number of jolts to go around, but the emotional core of LTROI is what pushes it past the herd of current horror films. The entire movie is a metaphor for the Hell of that transitional period that we all went through, and most of us wouldn't go back to for a million dollars.

Go see this movie. Stat. Easily one of the best of the year. And JJ Abrams can take his remake and shove it up his ass sideways. There is absolutely no need for this to be remade, and there is no way it will resonate like the original.