LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

(A.k.a. LAT DEN RATTE KOMMA IN)

Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is an unhappy 12-year-old who we first meet in his apartment bedroom, where he lives with his mother. He's clearly disturbed - he keeps producing a knife to his reflection in the window while repeating "squeal like a pig".

It's while behaving like Travis Bickle lost in DELIVERANCE that witnesses a car pull up late at night. It's his new neighbours, arriving under cover of darkness.

At first, Oskar doesn't pay too much attention to their arrival. He's more concerned with the bullies at school, who have targeted him out for repeated tormenting.

But the rest of his sleepy village soon become affected by the newcomers' actions, even if they don't twig that is they who are draining the blood from locals in the woods.

Meanwhile, while practicing his knifing skills on a tree one evening, Oskar bumps into the intriguing Eli (Lina Leandersson). They slowly gel and he learns that she is his new neighbour, along with her middle-aged male guardian.

Their relationship develops in slow, tender fashion as Oskar shares his bullying woes with a sympathetic Eli, and gives her loan of his favourite toy - a Rubik's cube. Unbeknownst to Oskar, at least initially, is that Eli is a vampire stuck in the body of a girl roughly the same age as him.

It makes for a surprisingly touching romance, punctuated by the occasional flirtations with the horror genre (well, a girl's got to feed, you know) and a genuinely sad tale of Oskar's unhappy life at school and at home.

The film works as a romance and a coming-of-age drama, as well as pushing the boat as a great understated character study of a psycho-in-development. Oskar's mental issues are obvious and, to an extent, understandable. To this end, Oskar's disposition is frighteningly plausible. Kudos to director Tomas Alfredson for maintaining a sober realism to screenwriter/original author John Ajvide Lindqvist's character.

Alfredson is also to commend for a couple of bravura set-piece scenes that cross the film over into more obvious horror territory. One is a gory hospital scene that pops up unexpectedly midway through the film. Another is part of a finale that cannot be compromised.

The film is laconic in pace, with frequent silent passages that may irk the more impatient viewer. But visually it's a triumph of decayed landmarks and snowy landscapes. The mood and look of the film are autumnal, echoing Eli's own sad plight as an age-old vampire tired of her everlasting loneliness.

In some senses, the sporadic vampire attacks at times threaten to compromise the more intellectual ambience of the film as a whole. Indeed, the most satisfying moment of action/violence in the film is orchestrated by Oskar, during a school outing where he takes the opportunity to smack the chief bully, acting upon advice earlier given to him by Eli. Elsewhere the most alarming scene of the entire film is a brief shot where we get an unexpected frontal nudity glimpse of Eli ...

While the visuals and moody score of Johan Soderqvist are definite technical highpoints of this well-told and deceptively simple story, it must be said that the brightest stars here are the two young leads.

Hedebrant is a likeable - and, crucially, believable - geek who elicits sympathy almost instantly, despite his obvious issues. We feel sad when helplessly witnessing his tribulations, and worryingly pleased when his dreams of revenge begin to take fruit. Leandersson has an arguably more difficult task, but rises to the challenge commendably and produces one of the most original, endearing vampires ever to grace the screen. Together, they make for compulsive viewing.

As for vampire conventions, the film sticks with some while disbanding with others. For instance, Eli suffers when entering Oskar's home without his permission - and yet, she can be seen at will in mirrors. I haven't read the source novel, but I understand these are clear intentions of Lindqvist.

Stunningly shot, incredibly well-acted and carefully measured in pace, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is one of the most satisfying vampire films in ages. Whether, as the cover suggests, is the best is a personal matter. It's certainly filled with incredible, quiet moments of despair and/or beauty. But, how do you measure that against the entertainment of FRIGHT NIGHT or the sheer magnitude of NOSFERATU?

The film's being compared (favourably, admittedly) to TWILIGHT. Though, aside from both presenting teenaged vampires, I can't see the comparison. This is a subdued, intelligent film that aches with heart - an arthouse musing on age-old metaphors. Can TWILIGHT really claim to be anything other than glossy Hollywood tripe aimed at filling the gap now that Harry Potter's clearly old enough to vote?

The film is presented uncut in anamorphic 2.35:1. Magnolia's disc offers a pleasingly accurate depiction of the film's saturated visuals, avoiding image enhancement and concentrating instead on solid blacks. Shade is natural and well-rendered throughout, with smooth backgrounds helping to illuminate the strong foreground details.

As would be expected for such a recent production, the transfer is lovely. Which is all the more satisfying when the film is this one: a feast for the eyes on many occasions.

The film is rendered in 1080p High Definition, in a VC-1 presentation.

The audio is consistent and clear throughout, proffering an acute sense of balance between the many quiet passages in the story and the key moments of jarring score. Soundtracks are available in a decent English-dubbed 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (the film defaults to this unless you choose otherwise beforehand), and the preferred original Swedish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Optional subtitles are available in English, Eng Hard-of-hearing, and Spanish.

Much has been written about Magnolia's decision to produce new English subtitles for this release. They're apparently different to the theatrical subtitles. However, while the may seem forthright and therefore a little simple, I personally found them very effective regardless. Happily, they're free from typing errors.

An attractively monochrome animated main menu allows access to a pop-up static scene-selection menu, allowing access to the main feature via 16 chapters. There's also the option to bookmark favourite scenes.

Extras on this release are admittedly limited.

They begin with four deleted scenes in anamorphic 2.35:1, in Swedish with English subtitles. These are presented in standard definition, and last a total of 6 minutes. Between them they offer a bit more bullying, a tad more to Eli and Oskar's friendship, and an extended take on one of Eli's victims vomiting.

A Behind-The-Scenes featurette is tragically short at only 7 minutes in length. We get some decent on-set footage, plus interviews with crew members (in English) advising that the film is set in Stockholm 1983, and that it was filmed in numerous other places, and so on. Alfredson comes across as affable and intelligent, though whether he's the new del Toro (some publications have suggested it, no lie!), is hugely debatable. The insights into casting are the juiciest bits here.

Finally there are two photo galleries. The first offers 20 photos from the film's shoot. The second is five different theatrical posters from around the world, all of which are variations on this Blu-ray DVD's cover.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is a good film that comes recommended. It looks very strong here, and the audio is equally pleasing. However, the fact that the British press have treated this film like the Second Coming suggests that it will be getting a rather nice Special Edition treatment upon it's domestic release over here in August. If you can wait that long, your patience may well be rewarded ...

Also available on DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis