Let the Right One In

[Galactus]

TRIBECA '08 | "Let the Right One In" and "Pray the Devil" Among Top Tribeca Fest Winners
Thursday May 1 9:30 PM ET


by Brian Brooks and Eugene Hernandez (May 1, 2008)

Swedish director Tomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In" (Lat den ratte komma in), recently acquired by Magnolia Pictures' genre label Magnet, won the Founders Award for Best Narative Feature tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival's awards event held at the Target-Tribeca Filmmaker Lounge in downtown New York City. The prize includes $25,000 in cash and an art award entitled, "Maternal Nocture: Clearing Storm" created by Stephen Hannock. Director Gini Reticker's "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" won best documentary feature, also receiving $25,000 and a piece of art called "Liza Minnelli" by Timothy White.


Tribeca Review: Let the Right One In
Posted Apr 27th 2008 8:32PM by Scott Weinberg
Filed under: Drama, Horror, Romance, Thrillers, Tribeca, Magnolia, Theatrical Reviews



The vampire movie has been pretty much done to "death" by this point, right? Even the good vampire flicks are sort of treading over familiar ground, yes? Longtime fans of the undead bloodsuckers have more or less accepted that the sub-genre has become a fairly anemic wasteland, true? Normally I'd have to reluctantly agree with those assertions, but fortunately I caught a really excellent Swedish film this morning called Let the Right One In. Not only does this fantastic little import add a lot of new color to the "vampire flick," but it also turns out to be one of the strangest, stickiest, and (yes) sweetest horror movies I've seen in ten years.

Oskar is a lonely 12-year-old Swedish kid who gets picked on by bullies at school, but when a strange new girl moves in to the apartment next door, the pre-teens strike up a warm little friendship. Ah, there's one big problem though: Newcomer Eli (pronounced Ellie) only looks like a 12-year-old girl, when in fact she's a vampire of indeterminate age. Eli lives with what horror fans know as a "familiar," a guy who will go out and get his charge some plasma when it's needed -- which of course is pretty often. Eli does all she can to keep her vampirism a secret from her new boyfriend, but the closer they get -- the stickier things become. (And while there's just a bit more to the plot, I'm ending my synopsis right there. Wouldn't want to chance spoiling anything.)


Adapted for the screen (from his own award-winning novel) by John Lindqvist, Let the Right One In is not only a truly excellent horror movie, but it's also a bizarrely touching and personal little movie. It's clear that Lindqvist and director Tomas Alfredson are using vampirism as an accessible metaphor for the myriad problems that face today's teens -- but the movie also feels a lot like a smart horror flick combined with a slice of one of John Hughes' better movies. Whether the film is focusing on the carnage, the puppy-love romance, or a few side-stories with the local townsfolk, Alfredson presents the movie with an appreciable sense of humor, confidence, and sincerity. And while I was initially a bit skeptical about the flick's 114-minute running time, once it had ended I found myself wishing it had been just a little bit longer. Surely that's the sign of a successful movie.

Handsomely shot, very well-paced, and packed with a handful of gruesome surprises for the horror freaks, Let the Right One In is one of those genre imports that gets discovered at film festivals and goes on to live very popular lives on the video store shelves. The lead kids (Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson) are nothing short of flawless, which is especially impressive in a fairly "mature" horror movie like this one, and their chemistry allows a potentially outlandish premise to feel as real and personal as, well, a teenage romance that DOESN'T involve ravenous vampires and horrific murders. Suffice to say that Let the Right One In is a pretty unique beast, and it's a flick that would NEVER arrive via the Hollywood studio system, seeing as how it deals with hardcore gore, pre-teen sexuality, and some rather nasty kid-on-kid violence. And yet, for a movie that has a lot of dicey components, it sure comes off as a really sweet story. That's not just good filmmaking; that's real intelligence behind the camera.

Magnet Releasing (aka Magnolia Pictures) snatched the movie up right quick, because they have pretty fantastic taste in indie and imported genre fare, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see a studio come along and slap together some sort of remake -- so please be sure to keep an eyeball out for this one, horror fans. Let the Right One In is very smart, very sweet, very sick, and very special indeed.

 

[Red Mask]

This movie has been considered THE sleeper hit of 2008 horror flicks.

 

[tzarinna]

Sounds good, you know what also would be good...adapting Octavia Butler's "the fledgling", now that's a great, unique vampire story?

 

[Galactus]

And here comes the remake:

Official Word on Right One Remake
Source:Variety May 5, 2008


Hammer Films and Spitfire Pictures have acquired remake rights to Lat den ratte komma in, the Tomas Alfredson-directed Swedish film that last week won the feature prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, says Variety.

Spitfire will produce the remake, and set a writer shortly to pen an English-language version that will play under the translated title of Let the Right One In.

Simon Oakes, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair will produce. Alex Brunner and Tobin Armbrust will executive produce along with John Ptak, Philip Elway and Fredrik Malmberg.

Let the Right One In is a contemporary vampire tale about a 12-year-old boy who befriends a young female neighbor who moves to town.

 

[Galactus]

Here's the trailer:

http://www.dreadcentral.com/story/let-right-one-in-poster-trailer

 

[Galactus]

Edinburgh 2008: Let the Right One Win
Swedish horror wins the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award.
by Chris Tilly, IGN UK
UK, June 27, 2008 - The Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award was handed out in Edinburgh last night, with the brilliant Swedish horror Let the Right One In victorious.

A panel consisting of Joe Utichi (Rotten Tomatoes), Dave Calhoun (Time Out), Charles Gant (Heat) Wendy Ide (The Times), Anna Smith (Elle), David Edwards (The Daily Mirror) and Chris Tilly (IGN) deliberated over five films selected from the festival's Director's Showcase section.

They were Tolstoy adaptation The Kreutzer Sonata, revenge thriller Red, French drama Summer Hours, immigrant heartbreaker The Visitor and the aforementioned Let the Right One In.

And the critical consensus was that the slow-burning coming-of-age flick was the outright winner, its combination of teenage angst and understated horror making it the perfect candidate for the first ever RT award in Edinburgh.

 

[Galactus]

Edinburgh 2008: Let the Right One In Review
Award-winning supernatural flick.
by Joe Utichi, IGN UK
UK, June 27, 2008 - It's hard to know how much to reveal about Let the Right One In. Such is the nature of the film's delicate plotting that it'll prove to be a different but equally fulfilling experience should you be aware of its subject matter or not before you watch it. Like Pan's Labyrinth, the film's fantastical elements disguise the real human drama of its characters and while it might, on the surface, appear to be a new twist on a familiar genre, at its heart it's one of the most original coming-of-age stories in years.

Oskar is a 12 year-old schoolboy from a sleepy Swedish suburb who longs to stand up to a group of bullies making his life hell. When he gets a new and unusual neighbour in the form of a young girl called Eli, she holds a secret that may be just what Oskar needs to make his stand. But as he begins to fall for her, dark consequences lie ahead.

Scripted by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the film's greatest success is in its ability to balance two such disparate genres. Fantasy horror and coming-of-age drama shouldn't logically mix at all, particularly since some of the finest examples of the latter are ones that strip any element of fantasy out entirely. And yet the film's smart blend of the two ultimately elevates the experience of both, crafting a Chimera of sorts, which seems to grow ever stronger as it embraces its inherent contradictions.



As Oskar, young actor Kåre Hedebrant's confident performance is at turns sweetly innocent and surprisingly dark, as he's challenged by the material to strike a balance between the naivety, fear and sometimes confusion of youth. His ability to make you believe – and, by extension, make even more affecting – the film's more fantastical moments of horror is missing in actors three times his age, and the delicacy with which he tackles the subject matter is simply astonishing.

His co-star Lina Leandersson is similarly impressive, turning the mysterious Eli into a character it's hard not to be bewitched by. Together, they say so much about the trials of youth without ever explicitly spelling things out and it's really testament to director Tomas Alfredson that his belief in both performers gives them the freedom to maintain that subtlety.

The rights to an English-language remake have recently been optioned by the latest incarnation of Hammer Films, whose recent Beyond the Rave is anything but delicately subtle. Whether they can deliver a remake that's as beautifully realised and honestly told as this, especially given the commercial considerations that would no-doubt weigh-in, only time will tell.

As of right now, though, Let the Right One In is a film that just demands to be seen. If your tolerance for foreign-language films is limited, let this film change your mind. If the idea of a coming-of-age story fills you with dread, let it convince you otherwise. In fact, if you only see one film that's off the beaten path this year, you'd do very well to let the right one in.

 

[Galactus]

LAFF 08: Let the Right One In
This Swedish vampire film gives a blood transfusion to a dying genre.
by Todd Gilchrist
July 2, 2008 - In the opinion of this critic, vampire movies -- and really, vampire stories -- have pretty much run their course. Unlike zombie stories, which seem to be flourishing in countless forms, vampire mythology has not only been fully established for more than a century, but explored thoroughly in almost every artistic medium. All of which is why Let the Right One In is such a refreshing surprise: A bloodsucker story that's rich with originality and feeling, this Swedish import is a terrific love story and vampire tome that not only rewards the genre's fans but rekindles interest in its virtually exhausted foundations.

Kare Hedebrant plays Oskar, a transparent Swedish youth who is so bullied at school he can't even stand up against the dribble of snot that drains out of his nose when he ventures outside to play in the snow. One day, a girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves in next door and, even though she mysteriously never turns up at his school, the two become friends after she introduces herself one night in front of their building. After Eli's caretaker, Hakan (Per Ragnar), is apprehended by the police for trying to drain blood from a passerby, Oskar begins to realize that Eli is a vampire. Soon, Oskar and Eli develop a tenuous romance, even as she is forced to decide whether she will stay with him or retreat from view where she can continue feeding without attracting attention from the authorities.

Unlike most of the vampire films that preceded it in recent years, Let the Right One In is truly a unique tale -- and not because it "enhances" or otherwise manipulates decades of mythology (vampires still suck blood in order to live, must be invited into people's homes, etc.). At the same time, its characters are ironically more relatable than audiences have seen in quite a long time, thanks to a script that humanizes their problems even when they involve kidnapping, murder, and -- yes -- bloodsucking. The fact that the protagonist is a 12-year-old boy obviously changes the dynamic of the story, but it's really the tender romance between him and Eli (who, despite appearances, is far older than 12) that gives the film its emotional resonance. (Imagine a cross in tone between the exuberant melodrama of Luc Besson's The Professional and the nightmarish comedy of An American Werewolf in London and you're on the right track.)




Fans of the material's horror aspects will be duly satisfied by its abundance of crimson vino, but none of it is ever used purely to gross out or shock the audience. In fact, most of the violence takes place off camera. But director Tomas Alfredson explores the characters' lives -- even those peripheral to the main story -- with incredible sensitivity and depth, making those acts more horrific, even as we understand why they are somehow justifiable. Hakan, for example, continues to make mistakes with each kidnapping attempt. And there's a melancholy resignation in his behavior as he dutifully tries to find blood for Eli, clearly loving her but feeling the physical strain of age and the general exhaustion of committing unspeakable acts on behalf of this little girl.

Simultaneously, Oskar's gradual awareness of Eli's vampirism perfectly captures childlike wonder, advancing maturity and the awkward behavior that ensues in between. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about the revelation scene itself -- it seems tonally at odds with what precedes and follows it -- but Oskar's behavior is at once curious and casually insensitive, and effectively childish as he acknowledges the "rules" of vampirism and then challenges his friend to break them. At the same time, Eli's awareness that this child knows what she is and ultimately accepts that becomes this remarkable bond that connects them, and provokes her to take chances that literally impact her mortality. That she is still confined in the body of a child from God-knows how long ago creates this fascinating duality between her desperate, preadolescent need for companionship and her more experienced understanding of the repercussions of not only her behavior but his towards her.

There are a handful of truly weird moments that may define the film for folks looking for more superficial thrills (I won't spoil it, but there's a cat attack), but as a whole Let the Right One In works in spite of these scenes, not because of them. At the same time, the film is a singular entity and not a piecemeal collection of odd ideas, so everything works in concert to create a tone and an atmosphere that is at once romantic and tense, funny and horrific, innocent and bleak, tender and sad. (Rumor has it that Hollywood is planning a remake of its own, and it remains to be seen how successfully they will adapt both its emotional content and its visceral.) As far as vampire movies are concerned, however, the most appropriate thing about Let the Right One In is its title. If this manages to find even a little bit of attention, then it might mean locking out lackluster genre forays in favor of more original and genuinely interesting ones in the future.

 

[Galactus]

Let the Right One In Takes October Release
Source:ShockTillYouDrop.com, Magnolia July 31, 2008


Official details are pending, but a rep at Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing informs us the rightfully acclaimed vampire tale Let the Right One In will receive a limited theatrical run this October. Nacho Vigalondo's twisty-turny time travel thriller Timecrimes follows in December.

The films are part of Magnet's "Six Shooter Film Series" which also consists of Eden Log, Special, Big Man Japan and Donkey Punch. All four titles, at the time of this writing, are awaiting exact release plans.

 

[Galactus]

Let The Right One In

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By: stacilayne
Updated: 08-15-2008


Knock, knock: Boos there.






When it comes to monsters and things that go bump in the night, I'm not a huge fan of zombies, werewolves or swamp things. I gravitate more toward ghosts and vampires, but that's not to say I'm not open to the former, or that I'm predisposed to like the latter without a second thought.



Let The Right One In isn't even my favorite kind of vampire story — I'm into the suave, sophisticated type, while this flick features grubby, desperate ones — but I have to say it's one of the better scary movies I've seen in awhile. It's effective and thought-provoking and works as not only a horror film, but as a film.



Made in Sweden, this oddball teen love fable plays out like Twilight meets My Bodyguard as directed by Ingmar Bergman. At the helm is Tomas Alfredson; on the page (both the novel, and the screenplay) is John Ajvide Lindqvist; and making it all come to frosty, bleak life is DP Hoyte Van Hoytema. Deepening the shivery, supernatural spell is an able score by Johan Soderqvist. In front of the camera are our two central characters, pubescent Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), and ageless Eli (Lina Leandersson).



It's bitter winter, 1982, when we meet Oskar, a much-bullied, sallow boy whose father has essentially deserted him and whose mother is doing the best she can for them on a meager salary. The two of them eke out an existence in a cavernous housing project; she working, he going to public school and ever fantasizing about taking revenge on his tormentors.



Late one freezing evening, Oskar is outside playing. (And by playing, I mean viciously stabbing a tree with a penknife.) Suddenly, a girl about his age is standing behind him. She's new to the apartments, and he's intrigued by her dark, feral beauty. Not shy, he strikes up a conversation and they become friends. Before long, Oskar figures out that Eli is not a normal girl… she's a vampire. And the kids are definitely not alright.



The vampiric aspects of Let The Right One In are definitely more del Toro's Cronos than Coppola's Dracula. These bloodsuckers aren't remotely cool or sexy. Eli resides with what passes as her father, Hakan (Per Ragnar), an older undead who's getting tired, weak, and careless. He's a bumbling killer, barely able to bring his prey down and hardly capable of covering his tracks. Eli does the best she can to provide for him, while also finding it in her heart to care for Oskar.



Let The Right One In is mostly bleak and fairly static in its approach, but once in awhile an over-the-top CGI scene bullies its way in. While I can't say these moments of abject terror work entirely, they are appropriately shocking and they do serve their purpose. Unlike a traditional horror tale, there's no suspense leading up to the violence — they are violent outbursts, pelting like hailstorms and then concluding as quickly as they began.



We see lots of blood and gore, preternatural vampiric powers, as well as some of the expected tradition (animals are frightened of the blood-craving creatures; mirrors don't reflect them; no amount of SPF is sufficient; and, yes, they must be invited into a home before they can enter it). Yet, that's a very small part of Oskar and Eli's story.



There isn't much exposition in Let The Right One In, but the stoic performances and the slow unfurling of the characters' relationships tells you everything you need to know — and feel. It's a truly touching evocation of human (and inhuman) frailties, drives and desires

 

[Red Mask]

I'm getting this on DVD, because it won't be coming to my country. But I won't watch David Goyer's adaption, if it ever gets made. That guy hasn't had an original idea in years.

 

[Galactus]

The film has been rated R.

 

[Red Mask]

Awesome.

This movie could be the BEST VAMPIRE FILM OF THE YEAR!

 

[Galactus]

Another positive review:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38388

 

[Zephyr Alexian]

That trailer looks great; it doesn't give away too much, but it's very effective.

Speaking of vampires, isn't there a show about them coming on HBO? Not sure exactly.

 

[Red Mask]

HBO's "True Blood" stars Anna Paquin and that guy from "The Starter Wife".

 

[Galactus]

Fantastic Fest Review: Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In
September 21, 2008
by Alex Billington


Ever since this 28-day worldwide film festival tour began, I've been in search of those elusive indie gems, foreign or domestic, to fall in love with. I've found a few of them so far, specifically Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler, but I've been coming up short otherwise. That finally changed tonight when I caught a screening of a Swedish horror film called Let the Right One In. I'm quite hesitant to call it a horror film because it is so much more than that, but at its base, it's horror, at least in its content. But as for the actual story, it is one of the most interesting and compelling relationship dramas you'll ever see on the big screen this year. Find this movie right now, watch it at any cost, as soon as you can - it is that amazing!

Let the Right One In is a film where the less you know going in, the better. In a small, snowy town in Sweden, a lonely, bullied boy named Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) befriends a peculiar girl who only runs into him outside at night. Before long, we discover that Eli (Lina Leandersson) is actually a vampire, but not exactly the "Dracula" kind that most imagine. Let the Right One In is less of a horror film and more of a sweet story between Oskar and Eli and the troubles that ensue when she must find more victims to feed on. In essence, it's not like any vampire film before it. Instead of a violent, bloody tale of lust and redemption, it's a very dark and absorbing coming-of-age story about two kids simply falling in love.

This isn't a typical horror movie; nothing jumps out of the dark, nothing is scary enough to cause anyone to look away, but it does have a few disturbing scenes. However, they're so intricately worked into the film, that even those scenes won't cause anyone's heart to beat too fast. The chemistry between Oskar and Eli and the mood of the entire film really make it one of those stories that you'll instantly fall in love with, and I really mean that. You feel the love between the two of them, even when she's covered with blood, and you completely understand why it's such a challenge for them to live their young lives. But I never struggled to enjoy every last second of it, from the snow falling in the opening scene to the thrilling end.

All I can do is suggest that everyone see this as soon as possible. If you're not a horror fan, don't worry, you'll find so much else to enjoy. If you're not a romance fan, don't worry, you'll still find so much more to enjoy. Let the Right One In is unquestionably one of my favorite films of the year so far. And I'm sure I won't forget it as the year wraps up. It's more than a horror film, it's more than a romantic drama, it's more than a coming-of-age story, it's a remarkably mesmerizing tale of love, vampires, and bullies. It's rare to find such an incredible foreign film like this these days, but I finally found one. As more people begin to discover this film as well, I'm certain we'll be hearing a lot more about it. Don't miss this indie gem!

Fantastic Fest Rating: 9.5 out of 10

 

[Red Mask]

The director has lashed out at the American remake announcement!

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13792

I have to agree with him. This movie has been praised so well! It's pretty much THE BEST VAMPIRE FILM of the year! And Hollywood responds with its own remake? What's wrong with those illiterate Americans? Hacks like Goyer did "The Invisible". Now the director of "Cloverfield" is remaking this film.

 

[CrimsonMist]

i wanna check out the original first, but i'm giving this remake the benefit of the doubt, simply because it's the newly reformed Hammer Films who is responsible for this. If they still have the same sensibilities they had BEFORE they got stupid in the 70's, this should be pretty good. But alas, i've no idea whose fronting Hammer currently.

 

[Galactus]

US trailer:

http://movies.ign.com/dor/objects/14262808/let-the-right-one-in/videos/let_the_right_trl.html

 

[Joker]

Oh great, not only is it more vampires in love stories, now it's pre-teen vampires in love stories. Look, vampires are not gay boyfriends/girlfriends for fat, ugly goth girls/fat, ugly, gay goth guys. They are soul less killing machines. Even Dracula tore s**t up on his quest to rape the chick who reminded him of his long lost love. S**t like this, and Twilight, and True Blood on HBO, are all adding to the continuing *****fication of the creatures. I blame Anne Rice, and her trashy softcore gay porn books that she called vampire stories for ruining the image and perception. Now instead of seeing Nosferatu, people think of Tom Cruise making out with Brad Pitt in period clothing when they hear the word "vampire." I hate it, and I hate everyone who likes it, and I hope everyone involved with all of this dies, prefferably in an ironic way like being killed by real vampires.

 

[echostation]

wtf is the matter with u? lol... it's a film... get the **** over it.... wishing death on people... have u even seen the film?

u need psychiatric help... big time... i pity u

 

[CrimsonMist]

wtf is the matter with u? lol... it's a film... get the **** over it.... wishing death on people... have u even seen the film?

u need psychiatric help... big time... i pity u

actually, he has a point. I'm also sick of this mushy mushy romance vampire crap. It sucks. They're monsters. They're not sympathetic. Where i will say that this movie looks interesting, and that i'll see it, and that it does look better than most vampire films recently, this trend of angst ridden, fashionable, pretty people with fangs in movies has to stop.

 

[Untilteld]

Oh great, not only is it more vampires in love stories, now it's pre-teen vampires in love stories. Look, vampires are not gay boyfriends/girlfriends for fat, ugly goth girls/fat, ugly, gay goth guys. They are soul less killing machines. Even Dracula tore s**t up on his quest to rape the chick who reminded him of his long lost love. S**t like this, and Twilight, and True Blood on HBO, are all adding to the continuing *****fication of the creatures. I blame Anne Rice, and her trashy softcore gay porn books that she called vampire stories for ruining the image and perception. Now instead of seeing Nosferatu, people think of Tom Cruise making out with Brad Pitt in period clothing when they hear the word "vampire." I hate it, and I hate everyone who likes it, and I hope everyone involved with all of this dies, prefferably in an ironic way like being killed by real vampires.

Perfect, every word ... perfect.

 

[Rac]

The director has lashed out at the American remake announcement!

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13792

I have to agree with him. This movie has been praised so well! It's pretty much THE BEST VAMPIRE FILM of the year! And Hollywood responds with its own remake? What's wrong with those illiterate Americans? Hacks like Goyer did "The Invisible". Now the director of "Cloverfield" is remaking this film.

Yeah. I agree with him 101%. Here's the director's words:

Why can't they just read the subtitles? Remakes should be made of movies that aren't very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong. I'm very proud of my movie and think it's great, but the Americans might be of an other opinion. The saddest thing for me would be to see that beautiful story made into something mainstream. I don't like to whine, but of course – if you'd spent years on painting a picture, you'd hate to hear buzz about a copy even before your vernissage!

I'm so bummed that I missed this movie at Espoo Ciné Film Festival. Still gotta wait couple of months to see this!