17th MoFo Hall of Fame

Let the Right One In (2008) *spoilers*

I didn't care for this, I found it pretty mediocre...Basically a kid's romance story with some B movie vampire attack scenes. I don't like horror films, especially when they don't develop the characters or reveal something that engages me. I didn't hate this movie, but it was like eating a frozen TV dinner, nothing that I looked forward to and I was glad when it was over.

The only scene that interested me was the older lady who survives an attack and becomes a vampire. I liked the way she was confused by what was happening to her and how she didn't want to live like that. That scene especially in the hospital evoked some emotion from me...The CG cat attack and bursting into flames were the two best visuals in the movie.

The blonde boy was boring, another actor might have gave the movie some more depth. The girl was good, but I was disappointment that the film didn't explore her life more. I mean it's hinted at that she's very different, she even says twice she's not a girl...and also says she's been 12 for a long time, but we never really get much more than surface material and I wanted to know more about her.

I was sure the film in the later half would give us more backstory on her while building sympathy for her, instead we just get a silly blood licking off the floor scene, and the body parts floating in the swimming pool were kind of funny... but was it suppose to be funny?

I was also hoping the boy might learn how to stand up for himself from the vampire girl (he does once on the lake) and I thought by the end his character would be self aware and self reliant. Then at the end the girl would confide in him the misery of her own life and ask him to be strong enough to end it for her. That would've been memorable. As it was, nothing in this film will stay with me.

The Innocents manages to establish a haunting atmosphere before the opening credits roll, with a child's voice singing over a pitch black screen. That mood carries through the rest of the film, amplifying in intensity at times, and never truly subsiding completely. Despite being set in a house with large, lush grounds, there is a feeling of claustrophobia hanging over the film, which cleverly mirrors the isolation caused by the estate's rural location and the intimate proximity of those living there.

Many scenes had blackened edges, causing darkness to surround and occasionally start to suffocate the main character. Figures often felt unbalanced on the screen, which worked incredibly well with the film's more psychological elements. Stylized lighting helped create a beautiful but creepy aesthetic, and the frequent use of strange background noises or whispering voices perfectly complemented the film's eerie tone.

This is exactly the type of supernatural horror that I enjoy to watch. The story lends itself well to a number of different interpretations, so the film's ambiguity is greatly appreciated. Even if it had definitively decided for us which aspects were real, I would only be slightly disappointed since the whole of the film was incredibly well executed. The performances were exactly what they needed to be, with Deborah Kerr doing a phenomenal job drawing me in and engaging me with her character, even if she did sometimes look a little old to be a young governess.