Name of film – Let The Right One In (2008)
Lizard film – 035
Chosen by – Mashiter
Date – June 2019
Director – Tomas Alfredson
Starring – Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Ika Nord, Peter Carlberg
Duration – 114 mins
Genre – Foreign (Sweden), Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Summary –
Acclaimed Swedish horror film based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is a sensitive, fragile, 12-year-old boy, living in the suburbs of Stockholm in the early 1980s, who is bullied at school and spends his nights dreaming of revenge and rehearsing knife attacks in the courtyard behind his apartment building. There he meets his new next-door neighbour Eli (Lina Leandersson), a mysterious girl of his own age who turns out to be a vampire. With Eli on his side, Oskar is finally able to face up to the bullies who have made his life such a misery, but Eli’s unquenchable thirst for blood brings problems of its own.
JONES’ SCORE & REVIEW
ACTING – 9
DIRECTING – 10
SCORE/AUDIO – 10
CINEMATOGRAPHY – 9
ENTERTAINMENT – 9.5
TOTAL – 47.5/50 = 95% *****
Let me take you on a two hour journey of Rob Jones, a bottle of wine and a Thursday night horror flick…
What a bizarre two minute opening. I spent it messing around with my audio surround sound system, pressing volume up on my TV remote and then discovered the director was teasing me as he chose not to use any sound at the start. As the actors’ names disappeared off the black screen, the room is still silent as I watching the snow fall covering the Swedish ground. Finally we hear the first words… “Squeal like a pig, so squeal!!!”
Due to my already confused mind, I shine my phone on my DVD cover to double check its the right disc I inserted? Yep, it’s definitely the right movie. “Deliverance” still sits on my shelf upstairs. Hopefully no more silent audio scenes to baffle me as I sit back to relax.
A creepy kid’s reflection appears in the window. A young Boris Becker lookalike or maybe it’s a strange girl? I’m not quite sure yet. As the haunting music backs up the opening, the kid is still going on about squealing pigs and shoves a knife under the bed mattress. Ok, you’ve firmly got my attention. Although only 5 minutes in, I’ve decided to pour myself a glass of red vino as I think I am gonna need it. Ok, let’s continue…
So it was a boy afterall. Oskar is definitely an outsider in the way he looks, carries himself and how he worringly knew the answer about the police solving a murder case involving a fire to attempt to cover up a murder. As I watch him being bullied and referred to as a pig, the first quote of the film riddle has now been solved at least.
WTF? The movie has suddenly taken a sinister turn as an older looking chap has a brief chat to a kid before gassing him, hanging him upside down on a tree and slicing his throat as he’s killed Halal style. But surely even a staunch Muslim wouldn’t be impressed by this brutal death. As a large poodle catches the killer in mid-act and scares him off, it’s left to the dog’s owners to discover the aftermath. I need more wine!!!
As the school kids are warned about the local killer, Oskar looks more pre-occupied about getting his revenge on his bullies. He definitely looks like the type of student who could reach boiling point and go on a killing spree given half the chance. He’s probably used all his pocket money to build up a bag of ammo. Whilst most kids are playing on their Ataris, Oskar is cutting out newspaper articles about local murders. Also coming from a broken home, I fear this kid is going to cause some trouble.
“That guy over there just moved into my neighbourhood. He has a kid. They’re in Janne’s old place. Should I ask him to join us? He might pay for a round.
– In that case, he’s welcome, even if he has cancer.”
Twenty minutes has flown by so far and I’m loving it. You know when a Lizard choice is going to be a good one when a quick glance of the clock shows the time is ticking away quickly even if the pace of the film is ideally slow, as the tale unfolds.
Oh there’s that kid again I forgot to mention before. Some weird looking girl who is hanging out with Oskar. Is it a ghost? That’s my first impressions, even if Oskar’s complexion is whiter than the potential phantom. Are we in store for another “Six Sense”? But hang on, they are sharing a Rubik’s cube together, she can’t be a ghoul? Maybe, his imaginary friend or alter-ego like “Secret Window”? This is definitely creepsville and has a touch of David Lynch about it. The settings could easily be Sweden’s version of Sunderland and the Pennywell council estate. It’s clear these people are not rich…
Fuck me, where did that come from? The spooky young girl has just killed someone. Blood everywhere! At this rate, all the locals we be killed off before the end credits roll. Also, what is it about blood and snow? Is there a better backdrop? With half an hour in to this gripping horror, the pace is picking up, just like my consumption of wine. Glass number 2 about to be poured. It’s a large glass this time, and I mean large!!! Yeah and I’ll have a double Southern Comfort with American dry! That’s ‘alf a lager for Rodney.
The aerial camera work of the dead body floating in the frosty water is a great example of how Tomas Alfredson is leading this film. He did a fine job with a previous Lizard choice, “Tinker, Tailor…” and he also directed a 2017 movie titled “The Snowman” which I have stored on my Sky Q box. I’ll be giving that an airing soon and maybe adding to the evergrowing list of Lizardman potentials for the future. Tomas Alfredson certainly knows how to direct.
The pieces of the jigsaw are coming together. We discover the strange older man who is doing the killings is the father of the weird girl. She’s called Eli. So I now know she’s not a ghost or a figment of imagination, but I know she’s not normal either. I’m not surprised though as her old fella is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. He reminds me of Robin Williams’ character in “One Hour Photo”.
Oskar is now learning Morse code in class, even when his classmates and teacher have fucked off for the day. I’ve not seen such a loner since Bob Shepherd skulked around Ambleside for four years. I don’t enjoy watching bullying scenes in films as they never feel natural and American flicks love displaying showdowns between jocks and nerds and grouping and labelling students. I’m quite frankly bored of this. However, the bullying scenes were played out really well in this movie. The crying kid forced to torture Oskar as he’s whipped and left with a cut across his face. The fact he lies to his mum about “tripping on a rock” to hide the truth was also realistic. We are all fighting in his corner and want him to win in the end. The tide is turning as he’s now got Eli on his side and as she is the only one who knows what is really going on, she is direct and blunt encouraging Oskar to go and twat them all. My mind is still racing – is she real still or his imagination? When they physically touch each other, it rules out a lot of my suspicions and I accept Eli is real. She is very much like the character Eleven in “Stranger Things”.
This film is classy with not much to fault. With the music beautifully intertwined and my wine going down a treat, I’m very happy with what Lizardman Mashiter has chosen so far. However, I already know I am going to like this film even more the second time round as these burning questions floating around my head are getting in the way. Maybe the old man is Oskar all grown up taking revenge on the bullies in the future? It’s like “Tales Of The Unexpected” on acid. Ok, relax, just watch it and stop second guessing!!!
Forty-five minutes in, another potential hanging is on the cards as the old man has got a young student upside down but he chickens out and doesn’t carry out his trademark kill. He’s disturbed in mid-act again. Not this time by a giant poodle, but the young lad’s mates banging on the frosted glass window. The kid screams and the old man scampers away to the corner of the room and throws acid all over himself. I told you he was a mental case.
The bullying continues for Oskar. Even though he’s taken up weight-lifting for an after school activity, his enemies have thrown his trousers in the pisser meaning he has to wear is PE shorts for his journey home. I’ve not seen pants like this since borrowing from lost property for a gymnastics lesson. There’s nothing more humiliating than doing a rolly polly whilst wearing somebody’s unwanted second hand stinky kit, especially as it was two sizes too small for me. I wouldn’t mind, but I was the teacher taking the lesson. I don’t miss teaching. Especially having to teach sex education. Teaching a boy how to put on a condom wasn’t easy. Especially as they had to wait till I got hard first!
Eli visits her old man in hospital as the strange cunt’s horrific face is enough to put me off my Polish crisps I’ve now opened. Although he’s based on the seven floor, she doesn’t use the lift or even the emergency stairs, Eli climbs the exterior of the building Spiderman style. Ok, she’s definitely not human. She doesn’t even flinch at the sight of her papa who now resembles half Jonathan Wood, half John Merrick. What and why on Earth did he do that to himself? No need for pain and suffering though as we see the most brilliant death scene as he falls or pushed from the hospital window. The use of the birdseye camera as we witness the fatal drop to the floor was simply brilliant.
As Eli shacks up in bed with Oskar, the two of them clearly have this strong bond, even if he’s a bit grossed out at first by her nakedness. He wants to go steady with her but she claims she’s not a girl, but eventually, after defining what “going steady” entitles, they agree to give it a go. Blimey, that was like watching Chris Smith on his honeymoon. Finally got there in the end.
“Higgledy-piggledy shout. How many fingers are out?”
An hour in, finally Oskar gets one over on his bully. Our deranged Charlie Bucket is satisfied by his revenge as he’s twatted Conni with a stick. As the weight-lifting continues, attempting to go from Russ Hardy to Mike Hills in the physical department, and still sporting a scar on his face, Oskar tells Eli about his revenge. They are both proud of his actions and before you know it, Oskar excitedly slices his hand open, hoping for a Blood Brothers moment, but Holy shit, what was that? Eli starts lapping up his spilt blood, appears as an older woman for a split second, before returning back to young Eli again. Here we go, I fear the last 45 minutes are going to be a rollercoaster of a ride. Please stay on target and don’t go all “Brawl in Cell Block 99” on me. I’m loving this film and the last thing I want is a shit conclusion. Only one thing for me to do at this point. Pause the DVD and pour myself a 3rd glass of vino. Incredibly, even larger than the previous two.
Bloody underpass again!!! When has an underpass ever been a nice place? They always stink of piss, graffiti everywhere and dodgy characters hanging around them. Whether it be in “Harry Brown” or this film, an underpass always represents death or unpleasant moments on the horizon. With Eli looking more like Linda Blair stroke Prince as the movie ticks on, I’ve finally realised she’s a vampire. As I don’t read the blurbs on the back of the DVD box or even the synopsis on our website before watching a film, I was slower than Chambers trying to score double figures when batting, to understand Eli was a vampire. I’ll blame the wine too! To be fair, the word “vampire” was only used once in the film and that was 70 minutes in. Although I should have guessed as a Mashiter film without a vampire in, is like asking a Chinese person to cook you a meal without rice, demanding Dreyer doesn’t talk about a Liverpool or England formation when out on an all dayer, or asking Mash not to use the word “buddy” in a WhatsApp conversation – no fuckin’ chance!!!
As Oskar spends time with his dad, he seems more relaxed until the neighbour with the vodka turns up. This film could easily be Polish as it’s a little depressing, snow and the housing is a bit run down.
“I must be gone and live or stay and die. Yours, Eli.”
The next scene is a lady going crazy with cats biting her. First of all, I passionately hate cats but with nearly a bottle of red inside me and at 2am, I need to stay focused. Did the cats really attack her or was she going mental? She’s been infected and affected by Eli?
“Are you a vampire?
– I live off blood…yes
Are you dead?
– No
Can’t tell
But are you old?
– I’m twelve. But I’ve been twelve for a long time”
Another Holy fuck moment with a little over 30 minutes to go. The infected woman has just combusted in her hospital bed. Christ almighty! Definitely time to pour myself that final glass. Not surprisingly, it’s only half full as the remains are finished off. Have I really sank a bottle of red to myself in 90 minutes? Good prep for my 42nd birthday celebration with the Lizards this weekend at least, even if I wake up tomorrow morning skullfucked.
With the contrasting looks of blood covered Eli and the pail-skinned Oskar, the director is pulling out all the stops here but hold your horses, I know I’m drunk but did we really just see some 12 year old snatch? Fuck me, we are entering the seedy world of Saville and Rolf Harris. That’s definitely the first, and hopefully the last time, my 65 inch screen displays a 12 year old vampire fanny. Do I downscore the “entertaiment” category on them grounds? Hell no, especially as Lizardman Dreyer has probably doubled his after that scene as he is thinking, “She has a body of a 12 year old”. I can inform the other lizards that despite being asked twice by Oskar, Eli never reveals her true age. It is often speculated that Eli is around 300 years old. Maybe seeing 300 year old pussy isn’t as bad in context. Let’s swiftly move on…
Sadly, I couldn’t move on from why the director chose to show us Eli’s private parts so I did some reading afterwards and this is what I discovered. Eli asks Oskar if he would still like her if she was not a girl. This is not only a reference to her being a vampire, but to the fact that, in the book, Eli is actually a boy who was castrated at the same time that he was turned into a vampire. So this is why Eli’s scarred genitalia is shown to the viewer. It was a relief to know a mannequin was used at least.
The final scene is upon us as Conny’s big brother, Jimmy, raises the stakes. He forces Oskar to hold his breath underwater…
“You stay under watch for three minutes. If you can do it, I’ll just nick you. But if you can’t, I’ll poke one of your eyes out. An eye for an ear, right?”
What follows is the best directing in the horror as we see falling limb debris littering the swimming pool as we stay with Oskar who is still holding his breath. As we rise back to the surface with him, it’s only then we see what devastation Eli has created. She’s wiped out the whole bully squad as she’s come to Oskar’s aid. I’ve since learnt that in the final scene, Oskar and Eli use Morse code to communicate. They are tapping out the letters P-U-S-S, which is Swedish for “small kiss”. What an ending but I’m gutted it ended so suddenly. I wanted more. Although with my head being rather fuzzy now and my bed calling, my body appreciated the quick wrap up (and maybe a bottle of water too please!)
I loved the slow pace of this flick. It was up there with my favourite horror, “The Wickerman” for strangeness but remaining a gripping masterpiece at the same time. My weakness in film is snow too. I don’t know what it is that works so well. Whether it be in a mountain epic feature like “Everest” or in a thriller like “Fargo”, the white stuff is brilliant on the big screen. The film takes place in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, but it was mainly shot in a Lulea, in the north of Sweden, to ensure there was enough snow and cold weather.
I already know that “Let The Right On In” has overtaken “30 Days of Night” as my favourite Mashiter’s horror selection. It doesn’t quite pip “Oldboy” which even today, I’m still stunned by how good it was. This film has engaged me from the off and had me guessing throughout. It’s been captivating and I’ve been switched on for all two hours. It wasn’t OTT, nor a nasty slash horror. It reminded me a lot of “Stranger Things” when it came to the relationship of the kids (Eleven and Mike). Lizardman Jones and Dreyer share a passion for this show. Has Lizardman Mashiter seen it yet? If not, hopefully he’ll make it a hattrick of avid followers. This film was set in 1982 too so it’s not surprising I was thinking about “Stranger Things” throughout as this was also set in the same period.
“Let The Right One In” is definitely a modern day classic even if the title would have been more suitable for Bev Wright’s autobiography. I’ve learnt that the title of the film (as well as the novel upon which it was based), refers to the fact that, according to myth, vampires must be invited in before they can enter someone’s home. This was actually shown in the film when Eli asks Oskar to invite her into his apartment. The English-translated title of the book and film, “Let The Right One In” is taken from the lyrics to the song, “Let The Right One Slip In” by Morrissey, who has as much personality as a vampire. With a sprinkle of Lynch and a flavour of Kubrick’s Shining (Oskar even had the same pasty skin tone as Shelley Duvall’s character Wendy), you can clearly see why the critics enjoyed it and was voted movie of the year by Empire magazine. Ironically, it was the first time a foreign language film topped their list since “City of God”. Now we know what list Michael is using to help choose his films for us to feast on. The acting from the kids was perfect although a few of the adults needed to keep up.
The sound was perfect. It was sparingly used which made it even more effective. I read afterwards that several tricks were used to create the right sound effects for some of the gorier scenes. Biting into sausages was used to replicate biting into skin and flesh, and drinking yoghurt was used to sound like drinking blood. The sound of the children blinking was made by the skin of grapes rubbing together in an almost “blinking” motion.
Late in production, it was decided that Lina Leandersson’s voice would be replaced by a darker voice, because the character of Eli was supposed to be an androgynous boy who was castrated, and Leandersson’s voice was considered too delicate and feminine to depict that. So they used Elif Ceylan’s voice instead which made the character sound more threatening.
The directing was also perfect. Alfredson used the colour red or orange in almost every scene – a clear reference to blood, the only food Eli could consume.
The following morning, predictably, my head was hurting a little as I certainly “Let The Red Wine In” last night. However, on reflection (and sober), my scores went up even higher. I loved the movie as much as I loved the experience of being tanked up whilst watching. This was my first Lizardman film where I was getting merry whilst reviewing. I now know why Mash loved “Hell or High Water” as he was in a similar state at the time. Well done my friend on selecting another great find. I look forward to watching it again next time I feel like sinking a bottle of rouge to myself at midnight.
DREYER’S SCORE & REVIEW
ACTING – 9
DIRECTING – 9
SCORE/AUDIO – 9
CINEMATOGRAPHY – 9
ENTERTAINMENT – 9
TOTAL – 45/50 = 90% *****
Nines across the board! Not my genre at all, but that was a super piece of work!
ACTING 90%
DIRECTING 95%
SCORE/AUDIO 95%
CINEMATOGRAPHY 90%
ENTERTAINMENT 92.5%
TOTAL SCORE 92.5%
(RJ – 95% RD – 90%)
**** 5 STAR LIZARDMAN RATING ****
Lizardman Film Club 