Entry #13: Let the Right One In
Remember a decade back when vampires were just everywhere in the worldwide pop culture scene? This was during peak-Twilight mania, so some of it was people trying to capitalize with what cool with the kids in that point in time but a good chunk of it was stuff created totally independently of Edward and Bella, leading to an odd confluence of events that led to a lot of vampire media being released over the span of a few years. Let the Right One In, a Swedish horror film from director Tomas Alfredson based on a 2004 novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist (the author also writes the screenplay here), was one example of a vampire movie released in this vampire-centric era that was made totally divorced from any influence of Twilight (it was even released a whole month prior to the first Twilight movie!)
The lead of Let the Right One In is twelve-year-old Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), a youngster living in an apartment complex with no friends and a group of bullies who physically torment him every day at school. One chilly night, Oskar runs into his new next-door neighbor, Eli (Lina Leandersson), a girl his same age who insists that she and Oskar can't be friends. But thanks to the power of a Rubik's Cube and their shared sense of isolation from the larger world, a friendship begins to blossom between the two of them. It's a friendship that proves to be complicated given that Eli is a vampire whose guardian slaughters local humans for her. Every friendship has its hurdles and this one's no different.
I'll be bold here and declare that Let the Right One In is a better movie than later Tomas Alfredson directorial effort The Snowman. I'll also be equally trailblazing in saying how stunning the cinematography for Let the Right One In is. Handled by masterful cinematographer Hoyte von Hoyteman, Let the Right One In is most striking from a visual perspective with its rampant use of wide shots that run on for prolonged periods of time. Such shots tend to be employed in horror fare to help emphasize a sense of dread and Let the Right One In is no different. A scene where Eli pretends to be injured un a bridge to lure an unsuspecting passerby to their doom could have been creepy in most visual contexts but under the cinematography of Hoyteman, it's especially unnerving.
I especially love how Hoyteman's cinematography frequently includes camera movement that gradually turns around a corner or pulls up to a window to reveal that somebody else has been secretly occupying this scene the entire time. A scene where a bunch of school kids is working out in a gym only for the camera to reveal that Eli's guardian Hakan (Per Ragnar) has been watching them the whole time to select which of them will be Eli's next meal is a great example of this visual motif. Not only does this piece of camerawork prove to be unnerving but it also serves as a great visual reflection of how a monstrous vampire is hiding just out of sight in this small town just like characters can be hiding just out of sight of the camera.
The visuals of Let the Right One In are what stand out the most to me after watching it, there's such considerable creativity going on behind the camera that it's hard not to walk away being most impressed by that aspect of the production. Still, there's more to praise here than just Hoyteman's cinematography and Alfredson's direction. John Ajvide Lindqvist brings his own novel to the silver screen by penning a screenplay that manages to ring true to childhood experiences of social isolation. Oskar's experiences at school grimly capture that sense of being young and feeling helpless to turn to anyone to help you against bullies. Meanwhile, scenes depicting Oskar spending time with both of his divorced parents are quite interesting in how they deviate from typical cinematic depictions of divorce.
Specifically, that deviation comes from how Oskar's already become accustomed to the schedule of divorce long before the film begins. Oskar knows the ropes of going from one house to the other and depicting the characters complex feelings of being accustomed to this routine while still struggling with a sense of emotional distance with his parents is one of the best character-based touches of Let the Right One In. In addition to such a nuanced depiction of a child growing up with divorce, Let the Right One In also features a handful of scenes that disrupt the movies otherwise quiet atmosphere that really lean into what kind of mayhem the mere presence of a vampire can cause. There were lots of vampire movies at the tail end of the 2000s but few of them juggled characters and vampire thrills as efficiently as Let the Right One In. If you can't have all the clues, you might as well have something as good as Let the Right One In.
That's it for this year's edition of 13 Days of First-Time Frights, thank you all for reading, see you all in October 2020!
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