Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In) - 2008 - Thomas Alfredson
It’s almost as if Hollywood enjoys ruining films. It’s as if they take pleasure out of watching a highly original concept, translating a foreign script into english, americanising it, throwing in some filmic clichés and generally taming it for their mass market.
I could name a hundred different examples, but the one I have chosen is Thomas Alfredson’s Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In), recently ‘re-imagined’ (seemingly an industry term for ruined) and released as Let Me In.
Ok, I’m going to be perfectly honest, I haven’t seen Let Me In because, frankly, I refuse to. But based on past offenders such as Japanese horror remakes The Ring and The Grudge and Hitchcockian re-imagining (there goes that word again) Disturbia (Rear Window with an ASBO), I think I’m well within my rights to expect it to be dire in comparison to its original.
And in the case of Let the Right One In, the original is a very special piece of cinema.
Based on the novel of the same name, the film follows the story Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a meek 12 year old outcast, who befriends a mysterious (seemingly) young girl, Eli (Lina Leandersson), who moves into the adjacent flat.
Eli needs to feed off the blood of others to survive, and in an attempt to protect her innocence, a man, who we presume to be Eli’s father commits murder for her, slaughtering his victims to syphon off their blood. Soon enough his identity is compromised and Eli is left to fend for herself; placing strain on her and causing fear within the community, as a number of gruesome attacks are carried out.
Classic vampire narratives often portray the as monsters having an insatiable blood lust without a care who they attack to feed. This film focuses more on the emotional impact that being a vampire has on young Eli. Coupled with this is the story of fragile Oskar trying to cope with being bullied by his schoolmates.
Whilst quite horrific, the horror scenes account for only a small proportion of the story. The narrative is more concerned with the relationship between Oskar and Eli. Set against the bleak canvas of Blackeberg in Stockholm the white snowy setting reflects the innocence of the two young protagonists as they help one another to overcome their problems.
The film is brimming with touching moments between the two (made even more moving by the faultless performances by the young actors), from the way they learn to communicate using morse code through their adjoining wall, to Eli encouraging Oskar to stand up to his bullies, and ultimately saving him from their retaliatory attack.
It’s not just the relationship between the children that is beautiful, the bleak yet serenely atmospheric setting coupled with long takes makes it visually enjoyable, and ultimately makes the horror scenes more disrupting and upsetting.
It has the classic elements of a modern horror, the creepy child, the cold eerie landscape, the chilling score and a few buckets of fake blood. But unlike the heartless gore-fests such as the (re-imagined) The Hills Have Eyes, The Descent and Saw it’s filled with emotion and characters you can care about and empathise with. And the protagonist as innocent antogonist cleverly subverts the genre
It’s not to wonder that this film placed 6th on Raindance’s recent list of the decade’s greatest horror films, alongside modern classics such as 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002) and Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006).
Next time you go to buy a horror, I implore you take a chance on this truly original film and sit down to be mesmerised by the shocking beauty that is Låt den Rätte Komma In
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