Let The Right One In Review [resolved]

[Running With Scissors 0]

So here is my second review here for you guys. Now bear with me on this one. I am a bit late on this one since it did come out in 2008, but given the huge surge in the *gulp* Vampire Romance genre as of late, it seems pretty relevant. I'm going to get it right out of the way, this is a Swedish film, so if you are too stupid to read subtitles, don't bother. I guess the DVD version does have English dubbing, but I still need to buy it. More on that later.Now before you start rolling your eyes as I was when a friend suggested this movie, give it an honest shot. It's been a rough year for vampires and I promise you that this movie features no vampires who sparkle in the daytime and will not inspire you to join any meaningless "team". And hey, if you don't trust me, why not trust RottenTomatoes.com which in 147 reviews, ONE HUNDRED FORTY THREE WERE POSITIVE GIVING THIS MOVIE AN AWESOME RATING OF NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT. I hope that got your attention.The film takes place in where else but Sweden and follows a grade school boy named Oskar. Oskar is kind of a punk and gets picked on frequently by the school bullies. Meanwhile there are murders being committed in the town so everybody is a bit on edge. I'll reveal some more since this stuff is revealed in the first half of the movie and not part of some big ending twist or anything. Well, the murders are being committed by a guy who believe it or not, he's not a vampire. He's not, his daughter, or whoever she is is the vampire. I guess I missed whether or not they make it clear. They are living together and he goes out killing people, collecting some blood, and hiding their bodies so she can drink it no problems. I hesitate from saying that that is his daughter because while he is an older man, the vampire, Eli, says that she's been 12 for a very long time. How long is that? Who knows. Either way, I'm spending way too much time on this, but I like to appear thorough.So the man is doing his killing and in the meantime Oskar meets Eli and they become friends. They learn Morse code together and start communicating by knocking on the walls of their conveniently adjacent apartments. The problem is, Eli's blood provider is having a bunch of close calls and eventually, he screws up royally. Rather than get caught and have the cops trace him back to Eli, he mars his face so he can't be identified. In his last act of helping Eli, he offers himself to her and she sucks his blood just before he falls out the hospital window to his death.This leaves Eli alone to get the blood for herself while Oskar is painfully unaware of what is the deal with his girlfriend. Maybe he's too distracted by the bullies who have it out for him now more than ever.The film has a lot of great moments throughout it that really won me over. I mean seriously, this is a vampire romance movie. The past year has taught me to hate the genre and yet this film comes along and is a new favorite of mine. It is satisfying up through and including the ending. It rarely drags and never comes off as corny. It also sticks to a lot of vampire lore for all you geeks out there (as in, things vampires are supposed to do as opposed to stand in the sunlight so they sparkle). All and all, it's an awesome movie that I can't wait to add to my collection. However, wouldn't you know things aren't that simple.Apparently there is quite the controversy over the DVD release of this movie. THEY CHANGED THE ENGLISH SUBTITLES FROM THE ORIGINAL THEATRICAL VERSION. Now, let me explain what it means with an example I read. At one point when the blood collector has a boy he's ready to kill, the boy's friends are waiting for him and yell through the window something like, "Hurry up, you can jerk off at home!" where as the new DVD subtitles say something like "Hurry up, time to go home!". Now, that may seem picky, but which statement has more character to you? The second one is just dumbed down and pretty basic. Apparently, this sparked quite the outrage and the company released a new version with the original theatrical subtitles. Only problem, THERE IS NO DISTINCTION ON THE BOX. Well, almost none. Apparently if you look on the back it should say under the subtitles section English (Theatrical) instead of just English. The problem is, the old DVDs and the new DVDs still have the same number and everything, so if you are buying it online you just have to cross your fingers and hope you get the version you want because most online retailers aren't thorough enough to give you all that information before buying. Or they might not even know. They might have both versions just mixed together.Here's what was suggested to me and what I plan to do. Proceed as normal and find the best price you can online for the DVD version. When you get it, look on the back. If it says English (Theatrical) congratulations, you won. If not, here's what you do. Don't open the DVD packaging. Go to Wal-mart or whatever store you hate with a passion. Find the DVD and find one that has the theatrical subtitles. Buy it. Then, use your receipt and return the one you got online that didn't have the theatrical subtitles. The retailers don't know the difference because as I said, both versions have the same id number. Okay, sorry for that digression, but trust me, once you see this movie, it will be well worth the wait and all the work. And one more interesting thought, tell me if this isn't stupid. The novel this movie is based on came out in 2004. This movie came out in 2008. They are now making an American version due out in 2010 called Let Me In. WHY? I could understand if it's been 30 years, but WHY MAKE A REMAKE OF A TWO YEAR OLD FILM ESPECIALLY WHEN IT WAS A MASTERPIECE?!?!?!?I have no clue, but do yourself a favor and see the original so when the remake comes out, you can sound like a cool kid by talking about how much better this one is.

[DodgyPhil 1]

I was on the verge of reviewing this film a few weeks ago! It's fantastic- I too aren't keen on the vampire-romance genre (I have difficulty stomaching the Romance genre by itself) but this film changed a lot of my preconceptions!I also felt physically ill after reading up about an American remake. Even the original directors were angry and confused, saying that they'd have understood if it was an old film. But remakes made within five years of a film's release should only happen if it was terrible! (Which it wasn't)I really enjoyed the surreal 'Swedish'-ness to the film. Even though it was set in 1982, the whole sets felt like a new-age Ikea advert: everything was functional and clean.

[Xarex 1]

I actually enjoyed this movie. I thought it was pretty well made. It had a different approach to vampires and still humanized the vampire, in a way, but also showed that it was a need with no choice. It was a unique and yet awkward relationship between the boy and the girl, but ou had no idea of the vampire's age, and if it was just friendship, or love. I haven't seen the new Hollywood film but I'm not sure I want to.. I've heard mixed reviews about it. Probably don't need a review considering its exactly a near identical script and movie.

[iGuest 3]

Topic is resolved.Please PM any moderator to continue this discussion. Until then, this topic is closed.