After playing in limited release since late fall, the Swedish import Let the Right One In makes its way to the shelves this week. Ranking in my top five films from last year (with Wall-E, The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, and In Bruges), this horror film did remarkably well for its distributor Magnolia, and it's already been chosen for an American remake. But please, please don't wait for 2010 for the English-language redo that is almost sure to lose the heart, mood, and beauty of the original.
Alternately chilling, hilarious, and sweet (sometimes even in the same scene), Let the Right One In centers on pre-pubescent Oskar, a boy living in a snowy Swedish suburb. Brutally bullied by his schoolmates, Oskar finds solace in a single friend: his new neighbor, Eli, who looks like a 12-year-old girl, but is actually an ageless vampire. Eli gives Oskar the strength to stand up to his classmates, making Let the Right One In an engaging coming-of-age tale that is as much a film about friendship as it is about Eli's incredible thirst for blood.
If horror films don't normally rise to the top of your queue (or even if you keep pushing them back in favor of Apatovian comedies), don't fear Let the Right One In. There's violence and blood, but the overall mood is not one of terror. It's surprisingly moving and entirely original, not at all to be confused with last fall's other teen vampire film, Twilight.
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