The vampire genre has produced some noteworthy movies in recent years. From the highly successful Blade series to the brilliant I Am Legend and 30 Days of Night. But what did these all have in common? They all had budgets reaching well over 20 million USD, and in the case of I Am Legend, seven times that amount. Let the Right One In, which is a Swedish vampire film, has a budget of around 5 million USD, a tiny sum in comparison – but it makes every penny count. Director Tomas Alfredson has won over 20 awards for his directing and writing, including a bundle of them for this film. But it’s John Ajvide Lindqvist, the original author of the novel, who takes writing credit here, adapting his own work into the screenplay.

Let the Right One In (released by Momentum Pictures) looks mainly at Oskar, (Kare Hedebrant) a young boy who is bullied at school, and Eli, (Lina Leandersson) a young female vampire. Oskar’s hatred towards the boys who bully him is noticeable from the start, and it is also clear that his friends are few and far between. Eli, who Oskar meets in a picturesque courtyard between their houses, befriends the young boy and a tale of innocent romance starts to grow, but there is also a darker side to Eli. We dip in and out of her horrific world of bloodlust, which is perfectly contrasted with her sweet interest in Oskar. Some of the best shots in this flawless film come in scenes when we know death is in the air. Two come to mind instantly, both set up in the beautiful snowy landscape. One sees Eli falling silently from a tree onto an unknowing victim, and the other sees her cowering in the shadows under a bridge, feigning injury, waiting for a helpful passer by to succumb to her need.

The film hardly uses CGI special effects; instead make-up is used throughout to show blood, vampire-like skin and wounds, which is incredible effective. Besides being expensive, CGI does not always make a film better. It’s to its credit that Let the Right One In creates tension, suspense and beautifully presents all of the characters to us without using expensive SFX. Scene after scene is filled with silence, and there is an absence of a soundtrack. Only noises made within the scene are what this film gives us on almost every occasion. Our reward, as an audience, is a truly immense level of suspense, in which we are in the hands of the young vampire Eli, and by which we receive the ultimate level of horror.

Inevitably Hollywood has already bought up the remake rights, which is usually a good indication that the movie in question is a great one (The Ring, Open Your Eyes etc…) though it doesn’t automatically follow that the remake will be any good. Other foreign horror films, such as the Spanish title REC and the chilling Japanese movie The Grudge, have recently been remade into successful American films. There’s normally a trade off between making something that appeals to a global (ie English speaking) audience and diluting the meaning and reputation of the original, however with Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) in charge, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Let the Right One In is showing at Cinema City, Norwich, 22-26 May, and Hollywood Cinema Ipswich from 8 May for a week.

Words > Mat Lucas