Waiting for the press screening of this film to start at Fantastic Fest, a friend asked what I'd heard about it, and all I could recall was something about vampires and that it was European. I recommend you not read much more about the plot or the movie's major setpieces than that, or you risk ruining one of the most accessible, carefully-crafted genre films I've seen in years.
The Movie
Sweden, 1982. Oskar is an outcast at school, bullied and socially awkward. Eli and her father move into Oskar's apartment complex, and his life changes soon after. Eli only comes out at night. It's adapted from a novel (allegedly quite well).
The interesting implementation of the vampire myth here is that vampirism becomes a more morally ambiguous thing than usual. Traditionally, there's always some sort of good/bad dynamic where all the vamps are good, all the vamps are bad, or there are a few "good ones."
Here they're treated like any other species, with no explicit sympathy conferred to them. Let the Right One In asks you to wonder just how different from humanity they are, taking the allegory back to its roots. I much prefer this to their treatment as pseudo-superheroes as they have been many times of late.
This is nothing like Twilight. They both feature vampires, but there is no undercurrent of chastity or merchandise-pushing. They play with dominant/submissive themes and adolescent sexuality, so I have no idea how this material is going to reasonably translate in the remake that starts rolling this spring under the direction of Matt Reeves (Cloverfield).
I'm of the opinion that the remake (Let Me In) is happening solely due to the presence of a foreign language and subtitles, but I'll still watch it regardless. My greatest concern is that the studio may intend to make the Let Me In something of a Twilight for Middle Schoolers.
If you know someone uncomfortable with watching it due to the "bloody violence and disturbing images" advertised on the box, they have nothing to worry about. The "R"-ness of the film is as palatable as the violence in The Dark Knight.
Let the Right One In was one of the best-made films of 2008. If you don't like steak, you don't like steak, but this movie is grilled to perfection tenderloin.
Video & Audio
If possible, the transfer looks cleaner than I remember the print looking last fall. If you want a great disc to test your contrast settings with, this is the one. That said, they used a single layer BD-25.
There's a great deal of stark black & white mixed with a muted color palette that could have benefitted from the other 25GB of space. This is especially noticeable in scenes that feature lots of black. Detail is great, but the deep, deep black levels the format is capable of aren't absolutely perfect. We're not likely to see a double dip, so it would have been nice to have the second layer of data, especially since the extras are pretty minimal.
The lossless audio track is crisp, clean, and an excellent mix. You shouldn't have to do any volume adjustment after putting the disc in so long as your audio setup is well-calibrated.
The only thing I have to complain about in this department is that the disc defaults to the English dubbed audio rather than the native Swedish. This is a battle foreign film enthusiasts may never win, but it should be said that doing this does not help make a foreign genre film more appealing to anyone's "I don't feel like reading" relatives.
Extras
Deleted Scenes (4)
These are mostly minor snips that take nothing away from the final product. Extended scenes and a couple additional short vignettes.
Behind the Scenes with director Tomas Alfredson (7 min.)
This is the biggest tease on the disc, and I'd rather it been 70 minutes long rather than 7. It's interesting what they get away with packing into 420 seconds, from a bit of Alfredson directing the kids to a couple practical effects shots.
Photo Gallery
Poster Gallery
The photos are mostly promo shots, but the posters are worth looking at if you're into design. European posters haven't quite fallen victim completely to the disease that has come to most US genre posters. They're into subtlety and iconography more than serving as torture pin-ups.
Final Thoughts
Magnolia's Magnet Releasing label made a hell of a debut last year with this title, Timecrimes, and Chocolate. Magnet has set the bar very (but not impossibly) high for themselves as a genre specialty label. If the next year is half as good as their "Six Shooter" slate has been to this point, they may prove that you don't have to be a franchise title to make money in horror/sci-fi.
If you don't trust me enough to buy it outright, rent it and then find yourself buying it. Let the Right One In has won over everyone I've shown it to, whether a gorehound horror fan or a gore-averse cinephile. You can find it online for 20 bucks last I checked, and this title is more than worth it.