Friday, October 3, 2008
Time to Let the Right One In
I’m not really a huge horror-movie guy. There’s some brilliant stuff in the genre, don’t get me wrong, but slasher flicks and monster movies don’t really turn my crank. (I will explore this some more in my upcoming review of the ridiculously-packed three-disc DVD of Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake, which, if the Internet is any indication, I am in the minority for enjoying quite a bit.) So when I start hearing ridiculously positive buzz around a horror movie, I remain a bit more skeptical than I usually do. But I’ve been reading about a strange little Swedish vampire movie called Let the Right One In for a few months now, and I’m very intrigued. It’s receiving some pretty high praise, and not just from the types who consider torture-porn schlock like Hostel and Saw high water marks of the horror genre.
The premise of Let the Right One In is what immediately grabbed me: it’s about a shy 12-year-old boy who strikes up a friendship with a similarly-aged girl who moves in next door. Except that the girl is actually a centuries-old vampire. The idea of an old vampire who appears to be a child is creepy as hell, and is explored quite well in 1987’s Near Dark, my favourite vampire movie of all time (if you haven’t seen it, check it out, it’s brilliant). In that film the child-vampire is one of the supporting characters, so that concept as the focus of a full movie is a great idea. And in the advance film-festival reviews I’ve been reading online, the word “masterpiece” is being thrown around enough to really pique my curiosity.
As with any awesome foreign movie, Hollywood’s got a hankering to piss all over it with an unnecessary remake, this time apparently directed by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves. (A perfect illustration: the horror flick Quarantine, opening next week, is a quickie remake of an acclaimed Spanish zombie movie called [rec], and the original filmmakers are apparently less than thrilled with the American version.) Thankfully, a potential American remake doesn’t erase the original, and Magnolia pictures will be giving Let the Right One In a limited U.S. release starting Oct. 24, but in the meantime, check out the spiffy new trailer below. I for one can’t wait to see this thing.
The premise of Let the Right One In is what immediately grabbed me: it’s about a shy 12-year-old boy who strikes up a friendship with a similarly-aged girl who moves in next door. Except that the girl is actually a centuries-old vampire. The idea of an old vampire who appears to be a child is creepy as hell, and is explored quite well in 1987’s Near Dark, my favourite vampire movie of all time (if you haven’t seen it, check it out, it’s brilliant). In that film the child-vampire is one of the supporting characters, so that concept as the focus of a full movie is a great idea. And in the advance film-festival reviews I’ve been reading online, the word “masterpiece” is being thrown around enough to really pique my curiosity.
As with any awesome foreign movie, Hollywood’s got a hankering to piss all over it with an unnecessary remake, this time apparently directed by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves. (A perfect illustration: the horror flick Quarantine, opening next week, is a quickie remake of an acclaimed Spanish zombie movie called [rec], and the original filmmakers are apparently less than thrilled with the American version.) Thankfully, a potential American remake doesn’t erase the original, and Magnolia pictures will be giving Let the Right One In a limited U.S. release starting Oct. 24, but in the meantime, check out the spiffy new trailer below. I for one can’t wait to see this thing.
Labels: horror movies, Movie news, Random thoughts, trailers, vampires
¶ 9:51 AM
