Weekend of the Vampire Movies
On Saturday I went to see Let the Right One In. This was the Swedish movie I wanted to see when it came to the Rialto. It stayed only a week and I thought I had missed it for good. Then I was checking movie listings online and saw it was playing at the Roxy On the Square! Well, I washed my face, got dressed, threw on some shoes and went to see it. Fantastic movie! It's a quiet and unassuming story but still had teeth to it (pun intended). It tells the story of Oskar, a twelve-year-old boy who lives in an apartment with his working mom. He's a shy kid and is bullied daily by kids at school. One night Eli and her father move in next door. As soon as they move in they cover their windows and the body count in the area begins to rise. But Oskar is drawn to Eli who says she's twelve too, and they become friends. There's no glamour or luxury in this movie. Life for a vampire and those who love them is hard.
This movie, like most European movies, doesn't get bogged down in expository dialogue. In fact, they barely stop for it. They tell it like it is and lets the audience do their own thinking. As you watch the movie you pick up on things and put the pieces together yourself. I appreciate that.
Twilight was showing at the same theatre so I decided to come back on Sunday and see it. I had avoided it because of all the hype before it and the stir it caused after. I figured it was just Beverly Hills 90210 with fangs. And it is that, on the surface. Yet there were some very nice surprises in this movie. Set in the Pacific Northwest it incorporates Native American mythology into the vampire lore and I was intrigued by that. While the vampires here are quite well-off compared to Oskar and Eli, Edward and Bella still experience the same trials and tribulations in a vampire-human relationship. I really liked the ways the film defined family and I loved the new take on why vampires avoid sunlight. And, yes, there was bloodletting, but both movies put the relationships front and center.
I liked the earnestness in this movie. There was no campiness or melodrama. The story felt grounded in reality and the performances were believable. I'm glad I finally saw this one.
This movie, like most European movies, doesn't get bogged down in expository dialogue. In fact, they barely stop for it. They tell it like it is and lets the audience do their own thinking. As you watch the movie you pick up on things and put the pieces together yourself. I appreciate that.
Twilight was showing at the same theatre so I decided to come back on Sunday and see it. I had avoided it because of all the hype before it and the stir it caused after. I figured it was just Beverly Hills 90210 with fangs. And it is that, on the surface. Yet there were some very nice surprises in this movie. Set in the Pacific Northwest it incorporates Native American mythology into the vampire lore and I was intrigued by that. While the vampires here are quite well-off compared to Oskar and Eli, Edward and Bella still experience the same trials and tribulations in a vampire-human relationship. I really liked the ways the film defined family and I loved the new take on why vampires avoid sunlight. And, yes, there was bloodletting, but both movies put the relationships front and center.
I liked the earnestness in this movie. There was no campiness or melodrama. The story felt grounded in reality and the performances were believable. I'm glad I finally saw this one.