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Movies / On DVD / Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In

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Let the Right One In (2008)

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Reviews Counted:146

Fresh:143

Rotten:3

Average Rating:8.2/10

Consensus: Let the Right One In reinvigorates the seemingly tired vampire genre by effectively mixing scares with intelligent storytelling.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for some bloody violence including disturbing images, brief nudity and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Oct 24, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $1,882,159

Synopsis: Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old outcast who is frequently picked on by his classmates. He dreams of getting his revenge, but he never stands up to the boys. With the arrival of his new... Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old outcast who is frequently picked on by his classmates. He dreams of getting his revenge, but he never stands up to the boys. With the arrival of his new next-door neighbor, 12-year-old Eli (Lina Leandersson), Oskar may finally have found a friend, ally, and first love. But Eli is no ordinary girl: she must keep her pale skin out of the sunlight, she can perform inhuman physical feats, and she has thirst for blood. The bodies begin to pile up, but Oskar can't stay away from the girl who has finally given him courage. Based on the novel by John Ajvide Linqvist (who also wrote the script), LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is the best kind of horror film: one that transcends the tropes of the genre to become something new. This is director Tomas Alfredson's first foray into horror, and he doesn't hesitate to include bits of vampire mythology. But his background making comedies and dramas gives the film a surprising depth; the relationship between Oskar and Eli is tentative and sweet, even though their interactions may be surrounded by blood and violence. Composer Johan Soderqvist and the sound department create a fascinating palette of music and sounds that add to the film's perfectly chilly mood, and setting the film in a snowy Swedish suburb gives director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema a starkly beautiful environment for shooting. Though LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is ostensibly about a pair of children, this is a horror film for adults. There are plenty of scares, but it remains moving and intelligent, a rare feat for the genre. [More]

Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl

Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg, Ika Nord, Karl-Robert Lindgren, Anders T Peedu, Pale Olofsson

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Producer: John Nordling, Carl Molinder
Composer: Johan Soderqvist
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Release:

Mar 10, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital - Swedish
  • Dubbed, Subtitles - English
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Behind the Scenes

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Galleries: Poster Gallery
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Let the Right One In

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If random arty blood thrills are your cup of fear, perhaps you'll enjoy Let the Right One In, a Swedish head-scratcher that has a few creepy images but very little holding them together.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment 61 Comments
10/22/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A limited how-to on efficiently cracking necks after biting and draining them. But whether this frosty Nordic couch potato vampire gore is your cup of bodily fluid, will depend on your preference for bloodsucker cinema as a dish best served cold.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment 47 Comments
11/05/08
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Remove the vampire elements, and this is the story of two lonely and desperate kids capable of performing dark deeds without apparent emotion.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 8 Comments
11/14/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film works best when allowing us to intuit that going steady with a vampire, though it raises a few moral issues, still gives Oskar his Best Winter Ever.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment 6 Comments
10/24/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
Boxoffice Magazine

Let the Right One In can safely be called a classic, even before its name is pulled from the theater marquee.

Full Review Source: Colorado Springs Gazette | comment 4 Comments
11/25/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette

Transcending its grim theme, this is an astonishingly beautiful and visually inventive film that explores the cliches of the vampire genre with a deft, everyday approach.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment 4 Comments
03/27/09
David Stratton
David Stratton
The Australian

The best vampire movie of the year.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment 2 Comments
12/24/08
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

A really nice little movie.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment 1 Comment
11/24/08
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies

It misses classic status because the script isn't as good as Alfredson's direction.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment 1 Comment
11/21/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

As Oskar and Eli gaze into the seeming mirrors of one another's faces, their mouths smeared with the victim's blood, their eyes soften and they look, at last, close, their fates entwined in ways they can't anticipate.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment 1 Comment
11/14/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Think Twilight, but directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring twelve-year-olds instead of teens then you'll have a good idea what to expect of this Swedish vampire movie . . .

Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | comment 1 Comment
03/10/09
James O'Ehley
James O'Ehley
Sci-Fi Movie Page

Like a horror romance Kieslowski might have made, as it explores both a tender, tentative relationship -- a connection in an otherwise dark world -- and relative morality.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment 1 Comment
01/13/09
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies

I don't care how cold it is in Sweden, I'm not Ok with twelve-year-olds who don't wipe their noses. That being said, I just saw something completely unique and surprising. Who knew the vampire genre wasn't over and done with?

Full Review Source: UGO | comment 1 Comment
10/24/08
Jenna Busch
Jenna Busch
UGO

It's a sweetly queasy film that suggests the spirit that sustains us, the demons we hide from the world, and the monsters that prey upon us in the dark might all be variations on the same beast.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment 1 Comment
11/07/08
Keith Phipps
Keith Phipps
AV Club

Powerful performances from the kids at the centre of it all help add to a superb film.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mail [UK] | comment 1 Comment
04/17/09
Mickey McMonagle
Mickey McMonagle
Sunday Mail [UK]

,,,could even be read as a kind of grim metaphor for marriage in that it explores the thanklessness of constancy and the long-distance loneliness of the impenetrable soul.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment 1 Comment
01/12/09
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A beautiful, brutal yet understated film.

Full Review Source: FHM [UK] | comment Comment
04/17/09
FHM [UK]

Kåre Hedebrant as Oskar and Lina Leandersson as Eli both give incredibly sensitive performances.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
04/17/09
Sun Online

Beautifully crafted and expertly acted, Let The Right One In eschews the easy options of excessive gore and cheap laughs to create a haunting, emotionally involving journey into the macabre. It can only become a classic of the genre.

Full Review Source: Daily Express | comment Comment
04/17/09
Allan Hunter
Allan Hunter
Daily Express

It is frequently not what you see but what you hear which holds the horror.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
06/16/08
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film
 
 
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Latest News for Let the Right One In

September 07, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis has a plan. "What I've decided is to choose recent films," he explains to RT. "I do think that often people get stuck in always saying the five greatest films of... More...

August 13, 2009: RT on DVD: Invite Let the Right One In
This week we welcome the arrival of a certified modern classic -- Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In, a chilling and beautiful vampire movie turned coming-of-age tale; and... More...

June 30, 2009: Matt Reeves Talks Let the Right One In Remake Opens in new window
Skeptical about the pending American remake of "Let the Right One In"? Director Matt Reeves wants you to know he's tackling the story for all the right reasons. More...

June 28, 2009: Edinburgh 2009: RT's 10 Must-See Movies
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