Part of October Sucks.
Fragile, anxious 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.
“LET THE RIGHT ONE IN could be described as a vampire horror romance, but that seems like too easy a label for this beautiful, unnerving little movie. This Swedish production burrows deeper under the viewer's skin than ‘Twilight’ could ever dream — in large part because it ignores so many ‘rules’ associated with vampire films…. It's one of the great horror films of recent years — and a welcome antidote to the in-your-face sonic assaults that all too often pass for genre fare.” —Mike Russell, The Oregonian (2008) “The best fairy tales always have so much darkness in them. That’s why they resonate so deeply. This is a magnificent film.” —Jeremy Knox, Film Threat (2008) “No previous vampire movie has addressed this scrap of myth quite as rigorously as LET THE RIGHT ONE IN — which is all about what happens, for good or ill, when someone willingly invites a vampire into their home, their confidence and their life…. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN trumps the Hollywood vision by landing an instant, secure place on the list of the ten best vampire movies.” —Kim Newman, Empire (2008)
