Let the Right One In

Oskar is a passive, lonely, blue-eyed blonde 12 year old who is bullied at school (is there a festival theme here?) and plays by himself after school, chopping out newspaper clipping about murders for his scrap book. One night (it is winter in Sweden so almost always night) two people arrive by taxi with lots of luggage and move into the apartment next door. Later Oskar meets a new girl about his own age and they try to figure each other out in the way kids do.

Winter in Sweden has an obvious advantage for a vampire who might want to get out and about, but I've never thought of vampires in Scandinavia before. These vampires are powerful but also have to deal with their own issues. At one level you have a traditional vampire film and on another level it is a kids-dealing-with-life film. I'm not sure why this film was set in 1982, it didn't seem to have anything to do with the film, in fact I didn't notice that aspect until Anne pointed it out.

If you wanted to know what happens if a vampire enters a room uninvited, then get along to this film. Of course if you are into vampire movies then this is a must see as it deals with the unusual issue of a child vampire.

Ian's rating 4/5
Anne's rating 3.5/5