It may be only a coincidence that Hollywood’s obsession with horror icons began to move in earnest from vampires to zombies around the time that Let the Right One In was released in 2008, but it sure doesn’t feel like mere coincidence. In fact, two vampire films were initially released within a month of each other in 2008. One would come to be regarded as the best vampire film ever made by many while the other—despite being an enormous commercial success—would almost instantly be identified by critics as an embarrassment to the genre. And so history poses the question: did the vampire film which had dominated the classic horror monster movie genre for more than a decade spectacularly flame out before the inexorable zombie horde because no vampire movie was ever going to be better than Let the Right One In or because the genre could never be taken seriously again in the wake of the Twilight series? Or did 2008 mark the swift demise of the genre purely by coincidence?
The world may never known for sure, but one thing is certain: Let the One Right In changed the game entirely. Directing from a screenplay written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of the novel, the adaptation directed by Tomas Alfredson was like no other vampire film ever made. Presented in atmospheric Bergman-esque cinematography, it is the anti-Twilight in that it strips away all the romance of the vampire myth to present the dirty behind the daydream. For its young (old) female (male) vampire Eli, being forced to subsist entirely on a diet of blood is a life utterly devoid of romance. The film is jarring in forcing the viewer to reconsider literally everything they think about what it means to live as a vampire, fueled by the incredible performances of the two young actors playing Eli and Oskar.
The film was greeted with near-universal praise from critics and still holds onto a 98% overall rating by critics at Rotten Tomatoes. At the 2009 Guldbagge Awards (the Swedish version of the Oscars) was honored for Best Direction, Best Screenwriting, and Best Cinematography while somehow managing to not be considered the best film of the year. (A clue may well lie in that the winner of Best Film, Everlasting Moments won three of the year acting trophies and the members of the academies which vote are usually predominantly comprised of actors.) What is most amazing about the Swedish Oscars treatment of the film, however, is that Lina Leandersson was not even nominated despite giving one of the most memorable performances by a child actor of all time. In the years since its release, Let the Right One In has been a persistent presence on the various Best Films of the 21st Century lists, cementing its reputation as more than just a vampire flick.
