Le the Right One In

Tomas Alfredson
2008

Not that it ever went out of style, but it appears the vampire film is on an upswing with HBO's decent series "True Blood," the upcoming "Twilight" adaptation (sure to be a hit with nerdy teenage girls) and this dandy of an import from Sweden. This one goes the arthouse route being shot mainly in excellent shallow-focus closeups and distant longshots, with a muted/measured color scheme. Bullied blonde moppet Oskar gains a much needed friend in the form of Eli (sounds like Elly not E-lie), who's just moved into his apartment building. Eli may be a vampire, but that doesn't stop them from "going steady." Scenes of violence and supernatural happenings are handled exceptionally well with the preteen vampire scuttling up walls, a woman massively combusting in a hospital bed, and an acid-burn suicide attempt. Even at it's most grandiose, gory, and wicked Alfredson plays his big setpieces with an amusing deadpan frankness. The film benefits from ambiguity with an easily interpretable, yet not overtly stated epilogue. This knife cuts both ways however, as the more in-your-face elements like a pride of crappy CGI housecats on the attack, and Eli lifting her dress to reveal a disturbing lack of genitalia, end up doing more harm than good to a generally excellent effort.