Let The Right One In is a compelling movie of the vampire genre that does not necessarily rely on violent scenes to remain captivating. It enters even a child-like view of the world by resurfacing experiences we may have seen or worse, be a part of. It is through the relationship of Oskar and Eli and their innocent love and how it is portrayed that makes the movie so amazing. Eli, despite being a vampire, is more than just a monster. She/He/whatever (you’ll know later) is a living, thinking, breathing being that only has different feeding habits. We feed on meat and veggies, the vampire feeds off of hemoglobin.
Oskar is a troubled child. We see that his parents have separated and that he has no friends at school. His school experience is further worsened by the presence of bullies whose antics go beyond the usual bully habits. He was whipped and they even wanted to push him to a hole in a frozen lake which can potentially kill him. Oskar only managed to gain the courage to fight off his bullies because of Eli who told him that if he is hit, he should hit harder. Eli is an apparent vampire, but is one that is beyond a monster. We see a relationship between a human and a monster blossom as if they weren’t any different from each other. The naivety of children is employed much like how sexism or racism is never really evident for children. As long as you can be a friend, you are a friend and not any less than that.
The budding relationship of the two started off as odd acquaintances as Eli saw Oskar stab a tree with his knife appearing to release his anger at the expense of an innocent tree who did nothing wrong but live and grow. It further escalated as Oskar gives Eli a Rubik’s Cube as a gift for not having a birthday nor any birthday gifts. Trust is further given to each other to a point where after feeding off the “father,” Eli creeps in Oskar’s home and sleeps beside him naked. Oskar then asks Eli if she can become his girlfriend to which Eli replies: “But Oskar, I’m not a boy.” Despite the fact apparent fact that Eli isn’t a female, Oskar is unfazed as he still desires to have a deeper relationship with Eli. Their relationship takes a serious turn when Oskar sees what Eli is capable of and even challenges her to see if she is a vampire by making her enter his home uninvited. Their relationship further escalates as they sleep in Eli’s home to a point Oskar took a peek at a naked Eli only to find out that she really isn’t a girl, but he was a boy because of the lack of a penis. Instead what remains is an apparent scar. The true bond of trust is shown when Oskar decides that he is capable of killing for the sake of Eli and likewise, Eli will murder for Oskar as shown in the final scene.
Despite all the drama and touching scenes, we see that the movie does not tarnish the general idea of the vampire. We see classic themes such as their amazing strength, fanged teeth, immunity to the cold, inability to enter homes unless invited, and weakness to sunlight. Luckily they did not make use of the said ability of the vampire to turn to a bat, which would most likely ruin the experience of the movie. That aside, we see a form of puppy love beyond the norm. That monsters have emotions, as shown in the death scene of Eli’s “father” after a failed attempt at getting blood for her. We can say that feeding off and killing the man was an act of mercy for Eli, to show to her “father” that he still did what he needed to do for his child, prevent them from getting hungry.
All-in-all I give the movie a 9/10 as it compelled me to look beyond the monster, an actual lesson we should apply in life. Furthermore, the suspense of a monster and how Eli interacts with the world is an interesting take to the vampire genre which is usually just action-packed and gore-filled, such as in Underworld and Blade. It sort of even gives a feeling of the old Dracula movies, who, despite being a monster who lives in Transylvania, is still seen to have a royal, charismatic aura. Eli feels somewhat similar to a point Oskar would not dare betray Eli not because she is an imposing figure, but rather an individual he is attracted to.
COM115.9 (2016) Course Blog 