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An adolescent Vampire romance adapted from a best-selling novel, on the surface Let The Right One In shares a lot of DNA with the Twilight movie franchise, the first of which had been released just one year earlier. However, the comparisons end there, as this chilly Nordic noir puts a considerably darker – and in places funnier – twist on established Vampire tropes.
The most obvious and striking difference is that Let The Right One In‘s protagonists are twelve-year old children. Pre-teen Vampires aren’t a totally original concept – Kirsten Dunst memorably played one in 1994’s Interview With The Vampire – but the combination of a (relatively) chaste romance between two twelve year olds and the murderous business of being undead is definitely not something you see every day.
The movie stars Kåre Hedebrant as Oskar, a child of divorce living in suburban Stockholm sometime in the 1980s. Subject to horrific bullying at School and apparently friendless, he connects with a dark-eyed, pale-skinned young girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson) who has recently moved into his apartment building. She doesn’t go to his school, she never seems to feel cold and she carries an unusual smell. Nevertheless, the two develop a quiet friendship, and she encourages him to fight back against his bullies – with gruesome consequences for all involved.
On this week’s podcast, we’re joined by returning guest and long-time friend of the show Julio from The Contrarians podcast. He explains why he chose this film to help us close off our Vampire mini-season, and joins us as we discuss incompetent serial killers, the disturbing implications of child Vampirism, CGI cat attacks and much more. As usual, we also line up a round or two of drinking games, and close off by pitching our own sequel ideas for the original film – including a look at Oskar and Eli’s life as murderous outlaws, and a musical theatre crossover that we never saw coming!
You can listen to this week’s podcast by following the relevant links at the top of this blog post, or by searching for Beyond The Box Set on your preferred podcasting app. If you enjoy our show, hit subscribe to receive a new episode every Friday morning, and please consider leaving us a rating or a review – it really helps us to connect with new listeners and keep the show fresh.
Next week, we’re moving away from the horror genre to take a look at a controversial 90s cult hit with an iconic twist in the tail. Until then, happy listening and remember – the cats always know…