Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (2008)

Horror, Drama, Romance

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writer: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl

"Eli is 12 years old. She's been 12 for over 200 years and, she just moved in next door."

In a snowy Stockholm suburb in 1982, Oskar, a bullied 12-year-old lonely boy finds both love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful and peculiar young girl who moves into his building and becomes his friend. His feelings of friendship and love for his new friend take precedence over his fear of her, as he later realizes that she is actually a vampire who is responsible for the mysterious deaths that have been reported in the local papers lately.

Let the Right One In is not at all your regular vampire film. Based on the 2004 best-selling novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay, the film takes a step back from the the horror and vampire conventions under the direction of Tomas Alfredson, who tones down many of the genre elements from the novel, focusing rather on the relationship between the two 12-year-olds on the brink of adolescence.

Shot as a quiet drama with a muted score, with a very sinister but gorgeous and compelling atmosphere, the film miraculously fuses dark comedy and bloody horror, drab suburban realism and heady myth, and, above all, heart-stirring, magical first love.

Being described as one of the greatest horror films of the recent years, the movie has had a somewhat successful remake, titled Let Me In, with Cloverfield director Matt Reeves at the helm.

Plot summary from IMDb: Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.

Awards: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 77 wins & 34 nominations.
Runtime: 115 min
R