You know what? One would almost think that Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel had never been around. Or True Blood. Why is the biggest thing in vampire celluloid nowadays a vapid, empty emo fest aimed at tweens (it's name shall not be spoke here. I'd call it Suck, but that's the name of a coming and no doubt vastly superior vampire movie). But we all know which one I'm talking about, so we will speak of it no longer. Moving on...
Ok, last review I spent pretty much beeotch slappin' a foreign film, which I had to put in a disclaimer that I don't hate foreign films. Here is the proof.
See Let The Right One In, a Swedish vampire movie. The DVD does offer a dubbed to English soundtrack, or you can watch it in Swedish, with or without subtitles. There is an American remake coming out, which may or may not suck. But if you want your bloodsucking guaranteed not to suck, see the original. Let me elucidate, por favor.
Meet Oskar. He's a young lad, kinda scrawny, and has been picked out to be the "piggy" for a gang of local toughs. You don't see him with friends much, either, so you begin to get the idea that this lad spends lots of time alone. So when he is sitting alone in his apartment complex's playground by himself, at night, snow all around, and a pale girl with dark hair starts chatting him up, his first reaction is not to tell her to "get lost, freak". Even when she says they probably can't be friends. Ok. Nice to meet you, too. Back to my Rubik's Cube....clickety clack.
This goes on like this for awhile. In the day, Oskar getting pummeled by his middle school goon squad. At night, pale chick (who we know as Eli later) becomes more open in her chatting, though still mysterious. And while their friendship develops, we see news reports starting to come in about mysterious murders happening in town, mostly of the exsanguination variety. And a little later, we catch scenes of Eli without Oskar and her taking care of her particular dietary needs. Eli, a pale girl with dark hair, easily overpowering grown men three, even four times her size. Oh, and she tends to avoid sunlight, must be invited into living spaces before she can safely enter, and other interesting traits like that.
She also says she's twelve. And has been twelve for a very long time. To call her an odd girl at this point would be to undersell.
Anyway, she turns into Oskar's Mr. Myagi, having watched a couple of encounters with his tormentors. She advises him to hit back with authority. And if he gets in over his head, she promises to back him up.
My favorite vampire stories tend to be the ones that explore the idea of the vampire as a monster with still some humanity. Do they seek to excise their humanity and full embrace the predator? Or do they struggle to hold onto their soul and somehow accomodate their inhuman state of being along with it? How do they accomplish this?
Eli obviously avoided most of humanity, but she desperately needed a friend, and found a fellow soul who felt isolated from humanity, and willing to accept her for what she was, even though she knew that her nature would force her to leave at some point.
IMO, the most compelling monsters are ones that we can recognize something human in them. They are at the same time the most interesting, yet most horrifying. Because it makes you wonder, do such possibilities lurk in all of us? And the struggle itself, to hold onto what is good, decent, to try to connect with others in a meaningful way around you is one we all can relate to.
And for many, such is hard enough. Imagine having the need for companionship, for love...and seeing most of the objects of your affections as potential Happy Meals.
From Sweden. Let The Right One In.
A very tasty vampire movie.
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