(2008) ****1/2Oskar is a twelve year old Swedish boy, very much on his own. His parents are divorced, other kids at school bully him, and his only hobbies are collecting newspaper clips about murders and enacting his own revenge fantasies. His life changes completely when he meets Eli, a mysterious twelve year old girl who moves to his apartment complex. Eli warns Oskar they can never be friends. As the body count begins to rise in the quiet village, the reason for Eli's warning becomes apparent.
This movie forced me to confront two of my movie-related prejudices: foreign films and child actors. I am in favor of other cultures and other languages, but I tend to find subtitles distract and take me out of the movie. Not so here. The movie is relatively low on dialogue so one hardly needs the unobtrusive and spare subtitles. The story is original and beautifully filmed, the violence is portrayed in a realistic (almost matter of fact) manner, and the children were totally believable in their respective roles.
"Låt den rätte komma in" is one of the most effective horror movies I've seen this year. Catch it in the theater if you still can.
2 comments:
Oh, rats, I thought I was gonna scoop everyone on this. Saw it during the 'thon.
But yeah, it's great. See it if you can.
Awesome, AC represents with a new horror review! I wanted to see this film in October but of course it wasn't playing anywhere near me. I recall that Octo watched this, although I have no proof (hint hint). I'm delighted that this was good! AC, despite your prejudice of foreign film subtitles, check out The Orphanage!
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