“Let the Right One In” (2008)
When I first got Let the Right One In (the Swedish original, not the American remake) dvd from the library, my husband G Grod pointed out an article that said it was flawed. Instead of the evocative translation from the theaters, where the film had been a surprise hit, the DVD used a looser, sloppier set of subtitles that fans said didn’t do the film justice. The studio said it would release a version that also had the theatrical subtitles. And it did, though this clarification isn’t on the package, but only on the menu. I can’t speak to the comparison of subtitles, but found this Swedish vampire film about a friendship between children spooky, not too gory, and even touching.
November 5th, 2011 at 5:59 am
I’m still creeped out from that movie. I wonder if we saw the same version? The one I saw — mama mia! the pool scene!!! — was very gory and unbelievably disturbing. I still have images seared in my mind of a girl with blood dripping from her mouth. And this is from someone who used to go to the morgue for fun when I was a cop reporter …
November 5th, 2011 at 8:59 am
Kristi, sounds like we saw the same one, though there’s an American remake. Did you see it w/subtitles or in English? For whatever reason, I found the images powerful and intriguing but not repellent, which they certainly could have been. We have the American remake from the library and are going to watch that.
November 5th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
It was with subtitles. Maybe it was my mood at the time. It just struck me as such a dark movie in so many ways. Now you have me wondering if I should try it again!
PS I’m really enjoying your blog. There are few people who consistently write about my two loves — books and movies — in the way you do.
K
November 6th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Kristi, thanks for the compliment! But I’d trust your gut on the movie–if it was too much for you, then respect that. I was engaged with the bullied boy, who looked a great deal like my nephew, and so wanted him to achieve some kind of happiness, which is how I saw the end: some kind of happiness. I don’t usually like scary movies or violence with kids, but somehow this one spoke to me because it respected the complexity of kids’ inner lives.