Real vampire movies pack a punch and a bite
”
Twilight
”
starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson and
”
Let the Right One In
”
starring Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson
While the much-hyped teen vampire movie
”
Twilight
”
was released March 21, a lesser-known film in the same genre
also came out on DVD recently. The movie is a Swedish film,
”
Let the Right One In.
”
In all the ways that
”
Twilight
”
is predictable, the foreign film is not.
Real vampire movies pack a punch and a bite
“Twilight” starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson and “Let the Right One In” starring Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson
While the much-hyped teen vampire movie “Twilight” was released March 21, a lesser-known film in the same genre also came out on DVD recently. The movie is a Swedish film, “Let the Right One In.” In all the ways that “Twilight” is predictable, the foreign film is not.
Let the Right One In
First off, given the choice between watching this foreign film dubbed in English or with English subtitles, go with the subtitles. The dubbing is so bad, it almost makes the movie into a comedy spoof. But the film itself has something to offer.
Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is a lonely kid in a Stockholm suburb in 1982. His parents are divorced and the kids at school pick on him. He has an unhealthy obsession with news articles about crime, and he often plays with a knife.
He is releasing his frustration on a telephone pole with the knife when Eli (Lina Leandersson) first meets him. Eli dresses oddly for a 12-year-old girl and seems to go out only at night.
Oskar wins Eli over by offering her a Rubik’s cube. The two learn Morse code so they can talk with each other through the thin wall that separates Oskar’s apartment from hers.
Eli, however, is not without her issues. The older man she lives with appears to be a serial killer who hangs his victims upside down and drains them of their blood. Eli berates him, and it becomes clear that Eli is not an ordinary girl.
She is a vampire who has enlisted the man to help her so that she doesn’t have to do the dirty work of killing people herself. It never becomes clear how Eli and the man ended up together, though the end of the film may lead to some speculation.
While Hedebrant is a little bland in the movie – his acting is a bit washed out as is his pale skin and blond hair – Leandersson does a good job of handling the morose role of Eli. She moves through the film like someone with the weight of centuries on her shoulders, and like someone much older than the 12-year-old body she inhabits.
Oskar, despite his own desires for revenge, finds himself repulsed when he discovers the truth about Eli. The two struggle to find a way to fit into each others’ lives.
Twilight
As with “Let the Right One In,” the teen sensation “Twilight” revolves around the story of a vampire who can resist his urge to drink blood to form a relationship with a human.
Anyone who has even a minor acquaintance with a ‘tween or teenage girl probably knows the plot of “Twilight.” Bella (Kristen Stewart) moves to a small town in Washington after he mother marries a minor-league baseball player and hits the road for her husband’s career. Bella moves in with her father, who is the sheriff of Forks.
Bella expects life in the sticks to be boring, but that changes when she meets her biology lab partner. Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who in the book is supposed to be gorgeous but who really doesn’t quite sparkle on screen, practically runs from Bella the first time they meet in class. Edward misses school when the sun is out, isolates himself from his classmates with his foster siblings, and appears to have super human strength. And, oh yeah, he seems to be able to read minds.
During a visit to an Indian reservation, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) tells Bella an old tribe story about a pact with the “cold ones.” Eventually Bella suspects that Edward and his family are vampires. And when Edward confirms this, instead of running away screaming, Bella falls in love with him.
The problem with the movie is that the books are not all that well written. Meyers did not develop characters in the books all that well, and she often spends many chapters on the day-to-day stuff like Bella cooking dinner for her father, and not enough time on the events that actually matter, like Bella discovering Edward is a vampire. All four of the books have a wait-around-hurry-up pace to them, with most of the action happening in the last couple chapters. The screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, delivers a close facsimile of the books, which in this case may have been a mistake.
The result is that viewers are left with an anti-climatic end to the film. And since all the characters in the movie are treated like extras – even Jacob, who will have a pivotal role in the second movie – it’s hard for viewers to know what is important. Fans of the book series will keep watching, but for anyone else, skip “Twilight” and stick with “Interview with the Vampire” or “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
