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Best of Frightfest: ‘Let The Right One In’ Dir. Tomas Alfredson

Best of Frightfest: As the twentieth anniversary of Arrow Video Frightfest approaches, we at team THN take a look back at some of the best and brightest films that have screened over the last two decades. Today things get chilly as we look at Let the Right One In.

Vampires are a terrifying creation with all their blood-sucking, shape-shifting etc. But what makes them even scarier is the fact they are so damn alluring. Considering they don’t age and have superhuman powers, there are many (as has been explored in the media) reasons to want to join the army of the undead (as a vampire, not a zombie – that would suck). Where Let the Right One In truly disturbs is in having all the sex appeal dragged kicking and screaming away. Immortality may be fun, but when stuck in the body of a child, it can also be a prison.

Tomas Alfredson’s coming-of-age horror is not the place of blood filled sprinkler nightclubs, sparkling in the sun, or living through centuries in a world of wealth and luxury, but instead, of solitary loneliness. Oskar (Kara Hedebrant), is a young misfit interested in murder and death. He is constantly mocked and bullied by his peers and struggles to fit in. He is surprised one night to come across a new neighbour out in the dark. Eli (Lina Leandersson), is a strange girl who only comes out at night, goes barefoot in the snow, and can disembark gracefully from a climbing frame. Eli, if you hadn’t guessed, is a vampire, and lives with her familiar Hakan (Per Ragnar). They seemingly travel from town to town until suspicion sets in. Hakan is charged with finding victims for Eli, slitting their throats, and draining them of as much blood as possible. As Hakan continues on with Eli’s dirty work, Eli forms a friendship with Oskar and gives advice concerning his bullying issue. Unfortunately for the blossoming friendship, Lacke (Peter Carlberg) has suspicions raised after a friend is attacked.

What makes Let the Right On In both so beautiful and depressing, is how it handles ambiguity and never commits itself to a single character. Essentially everybody in the film is a version of evil, with the exception of Lacke and the cat-loving recluse Gosta (Karl Robert Lindgren). Due to the narrative structure, however, they are the antagonists, the ones who stand in the way of Oskar and Eli. Eli needs blood to survive and manipulates people into doing her bidding, Oskar acts out fantasies of murder, Hakan feels duty-bound to Eli, perhaps out of a sense of love. Yet it’s Lacke whose world is torn apart and whose friends are attacked.

The use of child protagonists is a very smart and manipulative effect that puts us in the shoes of Oskar. They are the villains here. Even though they have endured hardships themselves, they now view human life as lesser. But, they are children (or at least look that way). Conventions of romance films are incorporated more than those of horror to have us hoping that Oskar and Eli will end up together. Meanwhile, the ambiguity is intense. Does Eli care for Oskar, or does she just want a replacement for Hakan? How far back does Hakan’s relationship with Eli go? How old is Eli? These are questions never strictly answered in the film.

When it does delve into violence and murder, Let the Right One In is shocking and raw. The climax in the swimming pool, masterfully executed in an ingenious single shot, is a classic cinematic moment that could never be replicated. This is a small scale vampire tale that looks more at the emotions and connections made in a lonely world than it does focus on mythology and world-building. That is the core strength of Let the Right One In, and also what makes it so scary. Because it’s so damn relatable.

Arrow Video Frightfest returns for its twentieth year on 22nd August 2019. Full details about the event can be found on the Frightfest website

Luke likes many things, films and penguins being among them. He's loved films since the age of 9, when STARGATE and BATMAN FOREVER changed the landscape of modern cinema as we know it. His love of film extends to all aspects of his life, with trips abroad being planned around film locations and only buying products featured in Will Smith movies. His favourite films include SEVEN SAMURAI, PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, IN BRUGES, LONE STAR, GODZILLA, and a thousand others.

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