Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is a new and different take on the old vampire story. The newest part is that it's Swedish, and any DVD you'll see will have English subtitles. The different part is that the movie is all about 12-year-old kids.

Oskar is a tortured 12-year-old at school, tortured because there's a gang that beats up on him, ridicules him, makes him do things he doesn't want to do. And he doesn't fight back. One day, while taking his imaginary "revenge" on a tree in the snow near his apartment building, he meets a girl named Eli. Only this girl is different. She gets sick if she eats anything. She avoids direct sunlight. And she doesn't go to school. They form a close attachment, and it slowly dawns on him who Eli really is.

I watched the movie with very bad English dubbing, not a recommended way to see any movie. But at the core of this sometimes very gory movie is a sweet love story. I said it was different and it is. The kids -- usually ignored in vampire lore -- who play Oskar and Eli are really interesting; the camera loves their faces. And the little things that this story tells about vampires make this take on the old tale very intriguing. The title refers to the fact that, in vampire canon, a vampire cannot cross the threshold of your house if you do not express permission, or he or she (or it, actually) will suffer the consequences.

The negatives of the film are that some things are confusing. I have no idea why Eli had a man living with her, a man seemingly there to do her bidding. The screenplay doesn't explain a lot. But all the more time to get into Oskar's and Eli's relationships. Just get ready for the blood that will inevitably flow your way.

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