Let the Right One In

Impressions before seeing it
I'd only heard it was a vampire romance that is better than Twilight. I'm up for anything labeled "better than Twilight"!

How was it?
The first thing that struck me was how European it is. You know how, even if you ignore the language, you can tell when a movie is European by the costumes, hair, sets, and violence that somehow always seems crueler than North American cinema? This movie has that. I'm not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing, just that it's noticeable. But it is Swedish, so why wouldn't it be? But that being said, I believe all of the stunts and visual effects were done in camera, no CG, and they looked good except for a slightly absurd cat attack scene. If not for this fact it would almost look like it could have been made in the 70's or 80's.

I thought making the protagonists 12 years old was an interesting idea though - it allows for Oskar's childish naivete to keep him ignorant about his crush being a vampire for most of the movie, and it is kind of the backbone for the bully plotline, which reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia. The best part was probably the pool scene at the end, which I won't spoil, but I will say it was awfully satisfying. I think the kids held the movie up fairly well for child actors, although acting is harder to judge in other languages, but maybe that's a bonus for us English speaking audiences because most child actors ultimately make me cringe.

Recommendation
If you like vampires it's worth checking out, but if you think Twilight is the best movie ever, this one is probably above you.