Let the Right One In (Alfredson, 2008) — Swedish romantic horror vampire film

The Bus · 10-10-08, 11:06 AM

HD Trailer | IMDB | 24 October 2008

A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy’s wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father. A pale, serious young girl, she only comes out at night and doesn’t seem affected by the freezing temperatures. Coinciding with Eli’s arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders. One man is found tied to a tree, another frozen in the lake, a woman bitten in the neck. Blood seems to be the common denominator - and for an introverted boy like Oskar, who is fascinated by gruesome stories, it doesn’t take long before he figures out that Eli is a vampire. But by now a subtle romance has blossomed between Oskar and Eli, and she gives him the strength to fight back against his aggressors. Oskar becomes increasingly aware of the tragic, inhuman dimension of Eli’s plight, but cannot bring himself to forsake her. Frozen forever in a twelve-year-old’s body, with all the burgeoning feelings and confused emotions of a young adolescent, Eli knows that she can only continue to live if she keeps on moving. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can… Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing and darkly atmospheric, yet poetic and unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is based on the best-selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

This looks good. The last vampire movie I saw in theatres was one of the Blade movies, I think.

beesonosu · 10-10-08, 11:13 AM

This is playing next weekend (the 18th) as part of the Columbus, OH horror marathon. Hopefully I can make it down.

dugan · 10-10-08, 04:17 PM

The book was incredible.

Goat3001 · 10-10-08, 04:27 PM

Swedish? Check.
Romantic? Check.
Horror? Check.
Vampires? Check

I'm in.

Sessa17 · 10-10-08, 04:37 PM

Yeah, this & The Borrowers are 2 horror movies I've read nothing but good things about & can't wait to see them.

NoirFan · 10-10-08, 04:42 PM

This looks quite intriguing.

Rated_R_Outlaw · 10-10-08, 05:52 PM

They are alraedy remaking this with the director of Cloverfield attached.

The Bus · 10-10-08, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sessa17

Yeah, this & The Borrowers are 2 horror movies I've read nothing but good things about & can't wait to see them.

The John Goodman movie?

Sessa17 · 10-10-08, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bus

The John Goodman movie?

You knew what I meant, it was a typo. The Burrorwers is the movie.

Cosmic Bus · 10-11-08, 01:17 AM

Does anyone have some insight as to why this still hasn't seen release in it's native country? I've been heavily anticipating this since hearing about it at the beginning of the year, and I'd hate to think that Magnolia's distribution rights for the US have somehow prevented it from being shown in Sweden outside of a film festival (or released on DVD, which I previously expected it would've been by now).

asianxcore · 10-21-08, 08:08 PM

The local film festival in my area was showing this about 2 weeks ago. I missed both showings due to work

Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?

Cosmic Bus · 10-21-08, 11:10 PM

This is actually going to be playing at a small Vermont film festival this weekend, which shocked me. It's a 100-mile round trip but I've arranged to move my work shift back a few hours and head across the lake to see it Friday night. I can't believe it: getting to see a movie I'm excited about... not on DVD months after everyone else, but in a theater! Those of you in bigger metro areas have no idea how fantastic something like this is to us "rural folk."

kstublen · 10-22-08, 12:02 AM

I wish my theater was playing this...

The O · 10-22-08, 12:16 AM

One of the best pictures of the year. No doubt.

NoirFan · 10-22-08, 06:17 PM

Red Band clip

KillerCannibal · 10-22-08, 07:23 PM

This opens up in Irvine on Friday. I'll be posting my thoughts on Sat.

Trevor · 10-22-08, 08:04 PM

Cool clip.

NoirFan · 10-23-08, 05:59 PM

Interview with director Tomas Alfredson

riotinmyskull · 10-24-08, 06:38 AM

is this thing heavy on the cgi?

Gunde · 10-24-08, 11:29 AM

Any swedish dvdtalkers who now when it might hit dvd in sweden?

Ralph Jenkins · 10-24-08, 11:54 AM

I'm not Swedish, but I do know it hasn't even hit theaters there yet.

Dr Mabuse · 10-24-08, 12:42 PM

The new review of this by 'The O' here is really something.

I want to see this movie.

Miyazaki · 10-24-08, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riotinmyskull

is this thing heavy on the cgi?

There are some CG cats in the movie....and I think that might be it.

Perkinsun Dzees · 10-24-08, 11:37 PM

I may be the only one who gives this heavily hyped, critical darling of a flick a negative review, but as I have always been a bit anti-establishment, here goes...

I thought the movie was just okay, and barely that. The first half is quite effective as it maintains a kind of eerily poetic tone while introducing its offbeat but appealingly quirky main characters. Yes, there are lot of plotholes in the movie, but that didn't really bother me much as vampire movies generally require some suspension of disbelief going in. What nearly killed the movie for me was the second half, which is just awash in horror movie cliches and cheesy FX.

SPOILERS:

Spoiler:

Gunde · 10-25-08, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Jenkins

I'm not Swedish, but I do know it hasn't even hit theaters there yet.

Really? I thought it had a long time ago. It premiered at the Göteborg International Film Festival in january. They are sure taking their time with it

10-10-08, 11:06 AM	#1
The Bus DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Delaware Posts: 42,898	Let the Right One In (Alfredson, 2008) — Swedish romantic horror vampire film HD Trailer \| IMDB \| 24 October 2008 A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy’s wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father. A pale, serious young girl, she only comes out at night and doesn’t seem affected by the freezing temperatures. Coinciding with Eli’s arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders. One man is found tied to a tree, another frozen in the lake, a woman bitten in the neck. Blood seems to be the common denominator - and for an introverted boy like Oskar, who is fascinated by gruesome stories, it doesn’t take long before he figures out that Eli is a vampire. But by now a subtle romance has blossomed between Oskar and Eli, and she gives him the strength to fight back against his aggressors. Oskar becomes increasingly aware of the tragic, inhuman dimension of Eli’s plight, but cannot bring himself to forsake her. Frozen forever in a twelve-year-old’s body, with all the burgeoning feelings and confused emotions of a young adolescent, Eli knows that she can only continue to live if she keeps on moving. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can… Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing and darkly atmospheric, yet poetic and unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is based on the best-selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. This looks good. The last vampire movie I saw in theatres was one of the Blade movies, I think. __________________ Panda Killer XBL/PSN/Steam: Chiwotweiler \| hd dvdaf \| last.fm \| Movies: 2002 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06 / 07 / 08 / 09 "Wearing Shakira's ass for a hat interests me more than anything else in the universe." - Hokeyboy

10-10-08, 11:13 AM	#2
beesonosu Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 485	This is playing next weekend (the 18th) as part of the Columbus, OH horror marathon. Hopefully I can make it down. __________________ Collectionhttp://beesonosu.dvdaf.com/

10-10-08, 04:27 PM	#4
Goat3001 DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 8,474	Swedish? Check. Romantic? Check. Horror? Check. Vampires? Check I'm in. __________________ My Countdown Counting down to: Lost: Final Season Premiere 79 days 23 hours 1 minutes

10-10-08, 04:37 PM	#5
Sessa17 DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: NJ, the place where smiles go to die Posts: 5,585	Yeah, this & The Borrowers are 2 horror movies I've read nothing but good things about & can't wait to see them. __________________ "I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?" - Omar Proudly doing my part to support the economy

10-10-08, 04:42 PM	#6
NoirFan DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 8,428	This looks quite intriguing. __________________ Watch Edgar G. Ulmer's Noir Classic Detour Cinema

10-10-08, 04:17 PM	#3
dugan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 418	The book was incredible.

10-10-08, 05:52 PM	#7
Rated_R_Outlaw Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 65	They are alraedy remaking this with the director of Cloverfield attached.

10-11-08, 01:17 AM	#10
Cosmic Bus DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Adirondacks Posts: 3,113	Does anyone have some insight as to why this still hasn't seen release in it's native country? I've been heavily anticipating this since hearing about it at the beginning of the year, and I'd hate to think that Magnolia's distribution rights for the US have somehow prevented it from being shown in Sweden outside of a film festival (or released on DVD, which I previously expected it would've been by now).

10-21-08, 08:08 PM	#11
asianxcore DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 5,812	The local film festival in my area was showing this about 2 weeks ago. I missed both showings due to work Has anyone seen it? Thoughts? __________________ R.I.P DVDSpot My Video Game Collection! DVDTalk "October Horror Movie Challenge" 2009

10-21-08, 11:10 PM	#12
Cosmic Bus DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Adirondacks Posts: 3,113	This is actually going to be playing at a small Vermont film festival this weekend, which shocked me. It's a 100-mile round trip but I've arranged to move my work shift back a few hours and head across the lake to see it Friday night. I can't believe it: getting to see a movie I'm excited about... not on DVD months after everyone else, but in a theater! Those of you in bigger metro areas have no idea how fantastic something like this is to us "rural folk."

10-22-08, 12:02 AM	#13
kstublen DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 2,131	I wish my theater was playing this... __________________ My Media Collection On Google Docs My DVD & Blu-ray Collection At DVD Aficionado

10-22-08, 12:16 AM	#14
The O DVD Talk Reviewer Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: East Coast Posts: 154	One of the best pictures of the year. No doubt. Last edited by The O; 10-24-08 at 12:22 PM.

10-22-08, 06:17 PM	#15
NoirFan DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 8,428	Red Band clip __________________ Watch Edgar G. Ulmer's Noir Classic Detour Cinema

10-22-08, 07:23 PM	#16
KillerCannibal DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 7,515	This opens up in Irvine on Friday. I'll be posting my thoughts on Sat. __________________ Top 10 most-wanted BD titles:Blue Velvet/Once Upon A Time in the West/Jaws/Boogie Nights/Prince of Darkness/Videodrome/Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla ('74)/Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/Phantasm/Death Wish October Horror Movie Challenge 2009

10-22-08, 08:04 PM	#17
Trevor DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Apr 1999 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 12,917	Cool clip. __________________ current exclusives & comparisons threads - Unwatched film thread - Spending - Challenge Compendium - DVD "upgrades" missing features from original release - DVDTalk Facebook - My Pathetic GamerTag/Score - 31 Day Subset - my horror list My Countdown Counting down to: The 5th Annual DVDTalk Horror Challenge The 5th Annual DVDTalk Horror Challenge is Live

10-24-08, 12:42 PM	#22
Dr Mabuse DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: 75 clicks above the Do Lung bridge... Posts: 8,733	The new review of this by 'The O' here is really something. I want to see this movie. __________________ "Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it." - Samuel Johnson "Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do." - Bertrand Russell

10-23-08, 05:59 PM	#18
NoirFan DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 8,428	Interview with director Tomas Alfredson __________________ Watch Edgar G. Ulmer's Noir Classic Detour Cinema

10-24-08, 06:38 AM	#19
riotinmyskull DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: portsmouth, va Posts: 3,896	is this thing heavy on the cgi? __________________ my collection october horror movie challenge: 2009 \| 2008 \| 2007 holiday movie challenge: 2009 \| 2008 rank 'em as you see 'em: 2009

10-24-08, 11:29 AM	#20
Gunde DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Very far away.. Posts: 1,656	Any swedish dvdtalkers who now when it might hit dvd in sweden? __________________ I have nothing to say

10-24-08, 11:54 AM	#21
Ralph Jenkins Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 479	I'm not Swedish, but I do know it hasn't even hit theaters there yet.

10-24-08, 11:37 PM	#24
Perkinsun Dzees DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: CA Posts: 1,319	I may be the only one who gives this heavily hyped, critical darling of a flick a negative review, but as I have always been a bit anti-establishment, here goes... I thought the movie was just okay, and barely that. The first half is quite effective as it maintains a kind of eerily poetic tone while introducing its offbeat but appealingly quirky main characters. Yes, there are lot of plotholes in the movie, but that didn't really bother me much as vampire movies generally require some suspension of disbelief going in. What nearly killed the movie for me was the second half, which is just awash in horror movie cliches and cheesy FX. SPOILERS: Spoiler: I think the movie really goes off the rails when it shifts focus to a woman that Eli bit in the neck and who has now become "infected" by her vampiric virus. Taking the focus away from Oskar and Eli was a mistake IMO as this part of the movie adds little of interest to the overall storyline other than to set up the woman's boyfriend attempting to kill Eli (which could have been set up much better). There's a couple of corny sequences where the infected woman gets attacked by (very obvious) CGI cats and later goes up in flames in her hospital bed. The audience burst into laughter at both scenes (and this was an arthouse crowd, not some giggly teens) and it was hard to blame them as those scenes looked straight out of an Uwe Boll movie. The effectively chilly atmosphere of the movie is blown to shreds by these two ridiculous sequences. The ending has its moments, but is just so predictable. 10 minutes into this movie I could guess where it was all going to lead up to and was hoping the director would find a more imaginative finale for his story. No such luck.