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78%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #880
...out of 20,200 movies
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Set in 1982 in the suburb of Blackeberg, Stockholm, twelve-year-old Oskar is a lonely outsider, bullied at school by his classmates; at home, Oskar dreams of revenge against a trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old, next-door neighbor Eli, who only appears at night in the snow-covered playground outside their building.
--IMDb
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When was the last time you saw a truly amazing vampire film? It's been a while, hasn't it? Most people say that "Nosferatu" is the masterpiece to end all masterpieces, but you have to give some credit to Christopher Lee's interpretation as well as Coppola's version, as well. However, you just don't find truly solid vampire films anymore. "Let the Right One In" comes to us from Sweden, and it's one of the best vampire films ever made. However, it's not just a film about vampires. It's also a film about young love and fitting in. I had heard great things about this film prior to the festival, and it was just announced it was getting a Hollywood remake, God help us. Not only was this film the best motion picture I saw at the festival this year, it was also one of the best films of the year and the best film I have ever seen at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.
The film tells the story of Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), a 12-year-old Swedish boy. Oskar is picked on and bullied at school, is shy and introverted and just doesn't seem to fit in. One night he meets Eli (Lina Leandersson), a young girl who lives in his building. At first, the two are stand-offish, but they soon start getting to know one another. Here's the problem - Lina is a vampire. She lives with an older man who goes out at night and hunts for blood for the girl. As Lina says, she's twelve-years-old, she doesn't know how long she's been that age. Oskar and Lina develop a strong relationship in the film, as people start disappearing around the two. Oskar finds, in Lina, someone who will listen to him and someone who will love him. Lina finds, in Oskar, someone who does not judge her for who she is or what she has to do to survive. More than anything, this film is about young romance and about how one person can change your life forever, for good and bad.
This film is immaculately shot and conceived from the first frame. Based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, it is directed by Tomas Alfredson, who deserves an Academy Award nomination for his incredible work. It took over two years to cast the two young leads, and it was well worth the wait as they tackle material far advanced to their years. The cinematography is gorgeous and some of the shots are just so brilliantly composed, it brings tears to the eyes. The score is haunting and the pacing of the film is absolutely in keeping with what it needs to be. It felt like John Hughes had made a film about vampires. It's a horror film...a comedy...a romance...a drama. How many films can work so many genres into a picture with this kind of ease? I want to go ahead and throw in my Academy Award suggestions: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Editing. That should do it.
Keep an eye out for "Let the Right One In" - it's a very special film. It's a horror film with heart and those are a rare occurrence these days. The film is receiving a limited theatrical release very soon and then will probably find a DVD release soon thereafter. The American remake is slated for next year, though I am sure they will just fuck it up. "Let the Right One In" is one of the best films of the year, hands down, and might be one of the best films I have ever seen. I need to think more on it and see it a couple more times before I can officially make that distinction.
10/10.
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#1:
Chad
- added October 5, 2008 at 7:20am
This one hasn't even started its theatrical run in
its native country, and Hollywood has already
announced a remake. Awesome.
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#2:
Tristan
- added October 5, 2008 at 10:22am
I've been wanting to see this forever. Thank God
it's a good one.
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#3:
Norman S. Wolfe
- added October 6, 2008 at 2:03am
In what language is it?
I like to keep my
reading and seeing separated...
Why
such hostility to remakes? Most are far better
then the original, specially the Japanese/Korean
ones...
Now, I am going into my bunker,
waiting out the bombardment, so that I don't have
shell-shock, and can actually hear my movies in
English, they are supposed to be...Fire
away...
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#4:
Ginose
- added October 6, 2008 at 2:21am
Okay, I'll cut short to summerize the base reasons
to be hurled at such an assinine statement:
The films rarely stay true to source
material.
Acting gets worse (9 times out of
10).
There's a lack of quality to the
products (normally).
They do too much to
appeal to a market rather than actually make the
movie better.
Dumbing down of themes and
points from the originals.
etc. etc.
Now, to point, this move looks fantastic,
been trying to keep up with it for awhile...
looking forward to it.
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#5:
bluemeanie
- added October 6, 2008 at 2:39am
Yeah...I dread this remake...and by Matt
Reeves..."Cloverfield". Yuck.
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#6:
Chad
- added October 6, 2008 at 3:10am
Remember how when you were a kid, you'd see a
certain action movie and go reenact it out in your
backyard with a couple of friends? Yeah, it was
fun, but it's not something that you would commit
to film and send out to theaters because nobody
would want to see it.
Nine times out
of ten...
That "action movie" =
the original version.
Your backyard fun =
the remake.
It's like some asshole in
a suit sees these movies, misses the bigger
picture, and hires some hack to remake the cool
scenes for us dumb Americans. Take a look at The
Host: will the remake incorporate all of the
subtle references toward pollution, government
involvement in the people's lives, and American's
involvement in foreign events? Nope, it'll be the
fiftieth Godzilla remake, and speaking of
Godzilla... well, compare the original Japanese
version and the original American remake / reedit.
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#7:
grain of sand
- added October 6, 2008 at 7:51am
Also been keeping up with this one for some time,
can't wait for the dvd.
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#8:
moviefreak87
- added October 6, 2008 at 3:08pm
yeah that sucks about the remake, hopefully it
won't be on a shakycam like cloverfield. I just
hope the other movies in the six shooter series
are this good. Special, Timecrimes, Eden Log, Big
Man Japan, Donkey Punch. They all look pretty
freakin awesome
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#9:
bluemeanie
- added October 6, 2008 at 3:28pm
I am about to be posting a review for
"Timecrimes". Expect it soon. Also an
amazing film.
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#10:
BuryMeAlive
- added October 7, 2008 at 8:04pm
I'm a Swede and haven't seen it yet, as MvMMDI
said, it's not even out here yet.. :(
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#11:
waxtadpole3657
- added October 7, 2008 at 11:42pm
This one hasn't even started its theatrical run in
its native country, and Hollywood has already
announced a remake. Awesome.
That
sounds pretty much like the remake of [REC]. The
movie had been out for like 2 fucking weeks in its
native country, and it was picked up for a remake
with a stupid name (Quarantine). And, based on the
trailers and TV spots, it looks like the most
pointless damn remake ever. It looks EXACTLY the
same. They even went as far as to ruin the damn
money shot of the movie in the trailer (for those
of you that haven't seen the original, the scene
where the girl gets dragged away into the
dark...LAST shot of the movie).
Anywaaaaaaay...enough rambling about remakes.
Yeah, I heard about this movie a little while ago,
and it sounds absolutely fantastic. I'm really
want to see this.
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#12:
Norman S. Wolfe
- added October 8, 2008 at 4:35am
OK, but there are some good ones...
What about the language problem? Anybody have
difficulty following a movie, and enjoying it,
when you don't understand the native language,
specially if there is a lot of dialog???
Any thoughts on dubbing the original,
would that be the best way to keep true to the
original while not alienating people like me, who
don't like to read and try to view the movie at
the same time?
As for the movie, I
love the ambiance Swedes manage to imprint on
their movies and books, so I'll be looking out for
this one. Any Amazon.co.uk release date??
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#13:
Crispy
- added October 12, 2008 at 1:36am
Be honest with you Wolfe, Kaiju aside, you're in
the vast majority when it comes to the subbed vs.
dubbed argument. The truth is, most people prefer
subbing, and since that's a hell of a lot cheaper,
that's the way they usually go.
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#14:
Crispy
- added October 12, 2008 at 1:39am
Obviously, that was supposed to be 'minority'.
Bear with me here folks.
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#15:
bluemeanie
- added October 13, 2008 at 3:26pm
Yeah, dubbed films make me sick. They distract
from the movie watching experience. Subtitles are
ALWAYS the way to go, unless you're blind. I
don't understand preferring dubbing over subbing.
Just doesn't compute.
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#16:
Greg Follender
- added November 5, 2008 at 5:45pm
I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing this over the
weekend...
I haven't been this
excited over a vampire flick since the
quasi-vampiric "The Reflecting Skin"
many years ago.
Incidentally, if you can
locate the aforementioned film on VHS anywhere,
it's well worth your viewing time;)
No DVD
release yet... utterly confounding...
Oh... and I whole-heartedly agree on the whole
sub versus dub debate... dubs are the bastard
child of the illiterate!
All humor aside,
they truly do distract (and detract) from the
quality of the film's casting choices. I can't
even really listen to dubbing in my kaiju films
anymore... it's only tolerable for occasional
kitsch factor.
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#17:
Greg Follender
- added November 8, 2008 at 11:31am
OK... I caught the midnight screening of this film
at the Angelica downtown yesterday evening... and
I must say, even though I have been anticipating
this film since I first heard about it through the
cinemaphile grapevine, i really had no idea how
terrific this little movie would be!
Aside from a few unfortunate uses of CGI (none
of which were actually needed for the film's
storytelling proper), the tale is almost perfectly
told through spare dialogue and beautifully
austere cinematography. All the actors acquitted
themselves admirably (I think... though I'm no
expert on Nordic expression). Both of the lead
actors were extraordinary in the way that they
both embrace their respective characters. In a
weird way, I almost wish that the young actor's
roles were reversed... but you'll just have to see
what I mean when you watch the film yourself.
While the reviewer has certainly done the
film's content justice, i'd like to explore
another fascinating aspect of the film... it is
the first time in vampire cinema that the faithful
acolyte's right of passage is on full display.
I'd always wondered how and why Renfield became
the original Count's impassioned thrall... and
this films exploration of the inevitable fall of
the old and initiation of the new acolyte is
incredibly compelling. It even adds a new aspect
to the film's cryptic title...
A
brilliant example of the concept that less is
more, this quiet storm of a film keeps the viewer
enraptured throughout and leaves them fully
satisfied at it's finale. A true rarity among the
usual fare in this genre.
Go see it.
You won't regret it.
And I can almost
guarantee that the American remake will retain
almost none of the otherworldly charm of this fine
film...
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#18:
grain of sand
- added November 10, 2008 at 5:14am
WOW.. Fucking beautiful. I haven't felt this way
after seeing a film in awhile.. I wanted it to
keep going.
The expressions on the kids
faces were a big deal, the girl actually looked
like she was older inside.
Great story, I
can't wait to own this. There is no way in hell
Hollywood could recreate this sort of thing.
10/10
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#19:
waxtadpole3657
- added December 5, 2008 at 6:45pm
I'm about 1/4 of the way through the novel, and I
cannot fucking wait to see the film. It's opening
next week in Hartford. It's about a 45 minute
drive, but totally worth it. I have a DVD screener
(which I have yet to watch), but I'd prefer to see
it in the big screen.
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#20:
Chad
- added March 25, 2009 at 2:12pm
Amazing movie, no question about it.
Unfortunately, one has to pirate it to get the
true experience. For those who don't know, the
subtitle tracks on the US and Canadian release of
this film is basically akin to what you'd get on
Google Translator (the word "sweet" is
translated to "guh", for example). The
dubbed version of the film follows the original
script, but the voice actors didn't put a whole
lot of effort into it and it hurts the movie
immensely.
It's really a shame that I
waited for the legitimate release of the Magnet
DVD and I now have it sitting right here on my
desk, yet I had to go pirate this movie last
night. If you happen to be over here in USA or
Canada, don't make the same mistake that I did:
pirate this or import it from another country, DO
NOT BUY IT.
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#21:
Tristan
- added March 25, 2009 at 3:00pm
I almost picked this up last week. I was on my way
to the cash and everything. For some reason I put
it back, and a night or two later I read about the
terrible subtitle problem. So glad I put it back.
Luckily for me, I have a pirated copy which I will
be watching, sans problem.
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#22:
Nirrad
- added March 25, 2009 at 5:16pm
I nearly picked it up too, but it didn't have a
price tag on it, and I couldn't remember if it was
good or not.
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#23:
Greg Follender
- added April 7, 2009 at 1:49pm
I'm going to try and order the Swedish Blu-ray
version of this film to sample the English
subtitles within...
Wish me luck!
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#24:
Crispy
- added May 3, 2009 at 1:52am
Well Greg, I watched this movie, and it looks like
I'm the first one who not only didn't find it
amazing, I was bored to tears and couldn't wait
for it to wrap up. I look forward to being accused
of being "on a bandwagon".
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#25:
Greg Follender
- added May 3, 2009 at 3:44am
Wow... I'm surprised that you didn't dig on the
unusual approach to the whole vampire genre... but
I'm not going to accuse you of being on any
"bandwagon". I respect your
opinion.
Look... some folks just find
foreign films with a slow burn to be somewhat
boring. I've heard this before, 385... and I'll
hear it again for sure. I'm sorry you didn't like
it though...
Didn't you find any of
the film refreshingly different from the usual
fanged fare? Did nothing about the film strike
you as innovative or cleverly realized? I must
admit... hearing that you were "bored to
tears" is shocking to say the least! I was
riveted to every frame of this film...
Oh well, I'm terribly sorry for wasting your
time, sir... but I thought that the restrained and
sympathetic perspective the film chose for this
type of genre was noteworthy. Maybe I just watch
too much Kurosawa and my patience for film pacing
is more forgiving than most;)
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#26:
Crispy
- added May 3, 2009 at 8:55am
No need to apologize; you loved a movie and wanted
to share that joy. Can hardly fault you for that.
One thing I would like to point out that is that
while you saw it as a fresh new perspective on the
vampire genre, I saw it as a slice-of-life,
awkward preteen love story where one of the
characters just happened to be a vampire. In my
opinion, it wasn't so much a new spin in the world
of horror so much as putting a new, horror twinge
on a drama movie. Which is absolutely fine, but
those movies never were my cup of tea. Naturally,
I'm certainly not calling this a bad movie by any
stretch, I'm merely saying it wasn't for me.
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#27:
Greg Follender
- added May 3, 2009 at 1:09pm
Yeah... i suppose it isn't for everyone.
It's so tough to recommend a movie these days
and be fairly sure that the person you introduce
to the film will find it as impressive as you
did.
Well, at least I have a better
understanding of your tastes for future
recommendations, eh?
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#28:
Tristan
- added June 13, 2009 at 3:03pm
Absolutely loved this movie. I haven't enjoyed a
movie this much in a long, long time. I was
actually sad when the credits rolled, as I did not
want the film to end. 10/10
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#29:
Lucid Dreams
- added August 3, 2009 at 8:44pm
It was good, but it wasn't great 7/10
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#30:
Greg Follender
- added August 4, 2009 at 12:00am
I felt the same way, Tristan...
Simply not enough films of this caliber being
made these days, in my humble opinion... a fresh
and unique take on a VERY tired genre.
I felt similarly about the Korean film,
"The Host"... see it if you haven't yet.
A real breath of fresh air blown into the stale
"B-Movie monster" arena...
Fun and
inventive...
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#31:
Nirrad
- added August 4, 2009 at 12:12am
Hes seen in, in fact, he let me borrow the DVD. I
should watch them shits. It says on the case
"on par with Jaws" and Jaws is my
favorite movie, so we'll see about that.
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#32:
The Red Clover
- added August 4, 2009 at 2:58am
I saw this maybe two months back, finally after
seeing this review and I have to say it was
everything this review said it was and more. It's
a shame it'll soon join the group of movies
bastardized by making an American version.
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