Let the right one in (2008) is a Swedish vampire film that was directed by Tomas Alfredson, it was given a 15 certificate and runs for 114 minutes. It was screened in the UK in eight cinemas but only four in the US, this is due to the fact that it would be more a cult film than one that was intended for and appealed to the masses. It was based on a book by John Ajivide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay. It would be classed within the genres of Horror, Fantasy and Romance, a rather unusual combination.
I wouldn't really say that I'm a fan of horror films, personally I don't like the idea of going to watch something with the intent of making myself feel scared and upset. I've not really seen many horror films in my life.
I feel that the language differences would be a barrier for those who enjoy watching horror films as stopping to read the subtitles becomes slightly tedious and means that you might miss something important while you read the subtitles.
I feel that the trailer would encourage people to go to the cinema and watch the film as it makes the film seem very mysterious and quite strange. The trailer shows that the film also incorporates elements of other genres which means that it should appeal to a slightly larger audience. As a result more people would want to watch the film in the cinema in order to see how this mix of genres would actually work.
Let the right one in went against a lot of the familiar conventions of horror films whilst also sticking to many of them. Examples of familiar conventions that the film opposed would include, the fact that many horror films tend to be set within a house or some form of building that has been abandoned and is in someway abandoned.whereas Let the right one in is set in and around Oskars school and apartment buildings that are wholly inhabited areas. However the film does in accordance to the typical conventions also take place within forests and empty playgrounds/parks. Within Most Horror films scary music is played during scenes in which the main hero and the monster/villain' it signifies that something will soon happen. In contrast Let the right one in plays more romantic soft music at the points in which Eli and Oskar are together, this suggests more about romance between the characters rather than any particularly evil or bad events that will be taking place. However in scenes with Hakan, or Eli going out on their own to get her food the music is significantly more menacing. Darkness would be another typical convention of horror films in general, the lighting tends to be dim and atmospheric, while in this film the lighting isn't too dim, for example even when out in the playground at night the two sit under direct lighting and as such the scenes aren't that scary, also that the setting is covered in snow means that the lighting will be fairly good as snow reflects light very easily. However again during scenes in which Hakan or Eli are getting blood the lighting is very dim/dark which perhaps is a reflection of the nature of their actions, the darkness being what they are doing. One familiar convention that the producers and directors really stuck with was blood. in one of the first scenes we seen Hakan is out finding a victim whose throat he slits in order to collect the blood. Blood is a recurring theme throughout the entire film, we see Eli covered in it several times and Oskar somewhat fascinated by it and cutting his own hand open for a reason that is quite unclear.
The film represents the idea of being an outsider through use of mise-en-scene in that Eli is always wearing clothes that are very different to that of all other characters within the film. Her costume tends to consist of thin light shirts and bottoms, whilst all other characters(even Hakan her 'father') wear thick insulated clothes to protect from the cold. The fact that she is singled out and dressed very differently implies that she is outside of what is considered normal within society and as such would be considered an outsider. We can see that Oskar too is an outsider through his body language. He tends to be very closed off from others and we see this through the fact that he walks slightly hunched over with his arms pulled in close this displays a want to appear smaller and less noticeable perhaps as a defence mechanism against bullies and such. It implies a degree of nervousness and suggests that he feels very alone and solitary which suggests that he is or feels like an outsider. Both Eli and Oskar appear to have trouble with or not want to form relationships with other people which suggests that they might feel as though they don't fit in with everyone else(we know this to be undeniably true on Eli's part) We see this reluctance to form relationships when Eli tells Oskar straight away that they can't be friends and he instantly closes off trying to appear nonchalant.
I found the characters fairly interesting and other than the bullies I did rather like most of the characters. I particularly liked the characters of Eli and Oskar for the reasons that I found them to be very interesting and quite complex. I like that though Oskar was very young he was by no means easy to understand in that he as a character had a lot of layers. and Eli was generally interesting in that she's a 200 year old vampire in the body of a 12 year old she's an enigma and very mysterious overall. I enjoyed the development of the two as characters.
My favourite part of the narrative was the (admittedly very awkward) budding relationship between Eli and Oskar. I found that the slightly awkward way in which they acted towards each other was quite endearing, I liked that she seemed so unwilling to see him upset that she ate the sweet he gave her knowing it would make her ill. I really liked that although the the theme of the film was horror due to her being a vampire they didn't focus so much on the horror aspect as they did on their romantic relationship.
In a version of the film where Eli wasn't a vampire the narrative would need to go through quite a wide variety of changes and developments. Were Eli not a vampire then the whole dynamic between her and Hakan would need to change and he would need to actually be a relative of hers rather than just a person that did her bidding. Currently in the film he has no power and authority over her and this would need to change so that he were her actual father and as such had authority. He also serves little purpose other than to go and get blood for her this would need to change as if she weren't a vampire he wouldn't need to go out and murder people in order to feed her. I think that also Eli and Oskars relationship would have to develop into something less awkward and that doesn't need to end in a big revelation that ultimately results in them leaving behind their families as this is something that happens mainly due to her not being able to stay in one place for too long as a result of her being a vampire. Also Eli's initial behaviour in which she is reluctant to befriend Oskar would either need to change or have a different reason behind it. Also were Eli not a vampire then Jocke wouldn't have died and Virginia wouldn't have been attacked and turned into a vampire before dieing. As such these characters would either need to serve a different purpose or not be included at all.
The domestic way in which Eli lives with Hakan seems to detract from the fear often felt during a typical vampire film. This is due to the fact that rather than seeing a constant blood lust and her going out herself to track and torment her victims as you would expect we instead see her interacting with her 'father' Hakan and falling in love with Oskar. Due to this we don't really feel any fear towards her until we start to see her hunting and giving off signs that tell us what she is. However the domestic life she leads can also evoke a feeling of fear towards the vampire as it shows that it may not always be obvious at first that people are hiding things such as what Eli and Hakan hide.Giving her a more domestic way of living allows her to appear more human and identifiable to the audience members, which in reality is quite a frightening idea as she does awful things and shows little to no remorse for her actions. This suggests that anyone can be capable of doing terrible things and it would be difficult to know. It's in this way that we are encouraged to be fearful of vampires through this domestic lifestyle that she leads.
El's 'father' behaves in a way that suggests he has next to no power in their relationship, Eli is the one to give the orders and gets her 'father' to go out and do her dirty work, which he seems to do more out of fear and/or want to make her happy rather than out of any respect he has for her. Further research has told me that he isn't actually her father, merely someone to take the risks for her- which I think may be her eventual intentions for Oskar. As such I feel that he subverts the vampire stereotype, as generally you expect the vampire to be a solitary figure that goes out and does their ow hunting for the joy that it seems to bring them rather than getting someone else to do it for them.
The relationship between Eli and her ' father' seems to be somewhat of a power struggle in that she holds all of the power yet he still attempts to take charge on occasion. For example, when Hakan fails to get Eli her food she grows very angry, screaming and shouting in her frustration that now she will have to do her own hunting. He during this scene backs down slightly and it shows that he has no power or authority over her, and she holds no respect for him. However, later upon finding out about her continued meetings with Oskar Hakan warns her to be careful attempting to get her to not associate with Oskar. This seems to be him trying(and failing) to exert authority over Eli, which she disregards and ignores. Personally my sympathies lie more with Hakan as he is the one to take all of the risks for a person that doesn't respect him, though I much prefer Eli as a character.
