Anyone who's ever felt marginalised will find their heart captured by this subtle, touching, highly original take on vampire mythology.
Let the Right One In (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:146
Fresh:143
Rotten:3
Average Rating:8.2/10
Consensus: Let the Right One In reinvigorates the seemingly tired vampire genre by effectively mixing scares with intelligent storytelling.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for some bloody violence including disturbing images, brief nudity and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release:10-04-2009
Synopsis: Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old outcast who is frequently picked on by his classmates. He dreams of getting his revenge, but he never stands up to the boys. With the arrival of his new... Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old outcast who is frequently picked on by his classmates. He dreams of getting his revenge, but he never stands up to the boys. With the arrival of his new next-door neighbor, 12-year-old Eli (Lina Leandersson), Oskar may finally have found a friend, ally, and first love. But Eli is no ordinary girl: she must keep her pale skin out of the sunlight, she can perform inhuman physical feats, and she has thirst for blood. The bodies begin to pile up, but Oskar can't stay away from the girl who has finally given him courage. Based on the novel by John Ajvide Linqvist (who also wrote the script), LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is the best kind of horror film: one that transcends the tropes of the genre to become something new. This is director Tomas Alfredson's first foray into horror, and he doesn't hesitate to include bits of vampire mythology. But his background making comedies and dramas gives the film a surprising depth; the relationship between Oskar and Eli is tentative and sweet, even though their interactions may be surrounded by blood and violence. Composer Johan Soderqvist and the sound department create a fascinating palette of music and sounds that add to the film's perfectly chilly mood, and setting the film in a snowy Swedish suburb gives director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema a starkly beautiful environment for shooting. Though LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is ostensibly about a pair of children, this is a horror film for adults. There are plenty of scares, but it remains moving and intelligent, a rare feat for the genre. [More]
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg, Ika Nord, Karl-Robert Lindgren, Anders T Peedu, Pale Olofsson
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Producer: John Nordling, Carl Molinder
Composer: Johan Soderqvist
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Reviews for Let the Right One In
As layered as its title (lifted from the Morrissey song, Let The Right One Slip In), this is the most original vampire movie since Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos, and is likely to hit every top ten films list of the year.
A true original: love story, horror film and social drama. At once brilliant in its parts, and more than the sum of them.
The film is a fresh and memorable mix of grimy realism and gothic fantasy.
Let the Right One In has invention and stamina, a rich arterial flow of fear.
It’s everything Twilight wanted to be but wasn’t: beautiful to gaze at, achingly romantic, emotionally involving, unexpectedly terrifying.
The fact that it doesn't feel like a vampire flick at all makes it one of the best of its kind.
Kåre Hedebrant as Oskar and Lina Leandersson as Eli both give incredibly sensitive performances.
Let the Right One In manages its own sense of doubleness with uncommon daring: you don't see many love stories that bring together pubescence and vampirism in such an elegant clinch.
Beautifully crafted and expertly acted, Let The Right One In eschews the easy options of excessive gore and cheap laughs to create a haunting, emotionally involving journey into the macabre. It can only become a classic of the genre.
Powerful performances from the kids at the centre of it all help add to a superb film.
At once a devastating, curiously uplifting inhuman drama and a superbly crafted genre exercise, Let The Right One In can stand toe-to-toe with Spirit Of The Beehive, Pan's Labyrinth or Orphee. See it.
This bruised and brilliant fairy tale is one of the year’s true originals.
Let the Right One In, a deliciously macabre story of a tentative romance between a bullied 12-year-old boy and the strange girl who moves in next door, is pure magic.
Let The Right One In is one of the most layered, atmospheric and textured movies of the year.
As cold as a corpse, as warm as love and thick with shady business in between, Alfredson’s chiller is moving and nerve-jangling. A vampire movie to nourish the heart, mind and fear glands.
The brilliantly eerie Let the Right One In is the European Angst Zone’s answer to Hollywood’s Twilight.
He and his team have conjured up, from a remarkable piece of writing, one of the best, most imaginative and resonant vampire stories I’ve seen.
Latest News for Let the Right One In
September 07, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis has a plan. "What I've decided is to choose recent films," he explains to RT. "I do think that often people get stuck in always saying the five greatest films of... More...
August 13, 2009:
RT on DVD: Invite Let the Right One In
This week we welcome the arrival of a certified modern classic -- Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In, a chilling and beautiful vampire movie turned coming-of-age tale; and... More...
June 30, 2009:
Matt Reeves Talks Let the Right One In Remake ![]()
Skeptical about the pending American remake of "Let the Right One In"? Director Matt Reeves wants you to know he's tackling the story for all the right reasons. More...
June 28, 2009:
Edinburgh 2009: RT's 10 Must-See Movies
The Edinburgh Film Festival has come to a close and Rotten Tomatoes thought we'd make a traditional look back over all of the films playing at this year's fest and present to... More...
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