Let the Right One In: Vampires, Boys, and Snow.

I've always had an affinity towards horror movies, but in the past I always was deathly afraid to watch them by myself. It was definitely a love hate relationship with me and the horror genre. I would love the thrill that the movies gave me while I watched them, but I would hate the paranoia that filled my mind once I went to sleep at night. Last quarter, I decided to take a horror film studies class. I know, it sounds really stupid considering that I'm such a wuss and can't handle the scares, but I mustered up as much courage as I could and sat down in the lecture hall, and waited for the teacher. Since the quarter has now ended, I've realized that I have a new love for horror films. I think that taking the class and understanding the different types of horror and dissecting the films really helped me to pay attention to the stories rather than the scare.

We viewed many classic horror films, and some new age ones. One name in particular was circulating all throughout the class curriculum. The teacher would constantly talk about Let the Right One In, and I thought that we would be able to watch it as the last movie, but sadly we didn't. I've been wanting to watch this for a long time now, since my friend recommended it, but have just been too scared to.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. I thought that it was well directed and well acted. The movie centers on two young kids. Oskar is sort of the runt of the litter at school. He's constantly picked on and hides in bathroom stalls in order to avoid confrontation. A new girl moves into the apartment next to him, and they soon become best friends, but there is something different about her. Eli, is a vampire. Oskar and Eli, find a kinship with one another. They're both outsiders looking in; Oskar is a social outcast, and Eli is a lone Vampire in a world full of humans. I found myself rooting for the relationship of Oskar and Eli. They are in a sense the villains of the movie, in that they murder some innocent people, but their longing to fit in with one another makes you hope for the best. I thought that this movie was so beautifully shot, and that the setting of the events was placed so perfectly. Having the deep red blood bounce off of the crisp white snow was so visually compelling. I really enjoyed this movie, and if you aren't too squeamish about shooting blood then you should really rent it.