Best Vampire Movie - Let The Right One In

by Alicia
(USA)

My favorite vampire movie is the 2008 Swedish film, Let The Right One In. The movie was based on the 2004 book by John Ajvide Lindqvist and released to international acclaim.

Let The Right One In focuses around a 12 year old boy, Oskar, an awkward kid and a victim of bullying, and Eli, a strange child who only seems to come out at night.

Oskar first encounters Eli in the yard outside their apartment building, where he learns Eli and the man Oskar assumes to be her father had only recently moved in the apartment next to him.

At first Oskar thinks Eli to be weird, but over time a friendship blossoms that would lead to the benefit of the both of them.

They begin meeting in the yard every night, speaking through their walls in Morse code, and together exploring the area around them.

What I love about the story of this movie is how beautifully unconventional it is. Eli is not your generic brooding vampire but instead still somewhat a child inside, despite having lived hundreds of years in the form of a young girl.

She befriends Oskar in a way that, even through
Oskar's gradual realization that Eli is a vampire, seems pure and innocent. Through Eli, Oskar is encouraged to stand up against his tormentors at school.

Oskar is a character that the viewer can relate to, and you applaud him when you see the change in him that only came about because of the strength Eli encouraged in him.

The story also shows, in my opinion, one of the most pure forms of love that could exist. Though frightened at first, Oskar accepts Eli for who(or what) she is.

A devotion is showcased in what Oskar and Eli would give up for each other for the sake of their friendship. Despite the obvious risks involved in being friends with a vampire, Oskar continues to show kindness to Eli and Eli to him. In the end their fates are sealed when Eli appears almost as an angel to save Oskar, in an exceedingly drastic way, from a tight situation.

I applaud Let The Right One In for being an exquisitely unique romantic vampire horror film selection.