Let the Right One In

Oskar: Are you really twelve? 

Eli: Yes. It's just I've been twelve for a very long time. 

I heard all sorts of good things about Let the Right One In about the same time Twilight came out in the theaters. I missed it in the theater, so when I stumbled upon the actual book, I snatched that puppy up like it was a tub of Chubby Hubby Ben & Jerry's ice cream (I can never find that most favorite flavor in the grocery store, people. If you can, you are most lucky.) It was one of the best books I have read this year, maybe even one of the best horror novels I have ever read. The movie, while beautiful and haunting in its own way, is not nearly as perfect as the original source. 

The book: Totally immersive. Descriptive and foreign. Disturbing. A whole new ball game when it comes to vampires. Not that you've never seen a story that involves vamp children, because it has been done before, but this version is way more than just a vampire story. It's more about the relationship between Oskar and Eli, the joy they find in each other. It's tender, and that's not an adjective I would ever think I would want to hear in conjunction with the word "vampire," but hey, it works. It works amazingly well. Here you have this young boy, terribly lonely, bullied, on the outside. Then he meets this strange girl who is not who she first appears to be,  a little odd, but somehow their souls know each other. I know that sounds romantic, which it really isn't...but it's like they were lost and when they met, well, they weren't. 

The movie: The movie covered most of the major plot points in the book, but so much backstory and depth was left out, it was a pale imitation of what it could have been. Now, it was good, don't get me wrong. I think if I hadn't read the book beforehand, I probably would have been enamored with it all. The visuals were striking - all of that cold and snow added quite a bit to the atmosphere, and it was nice to put actual visuals to what the book described in the way of location. The scene at the beginning in the forest is truly tense and haunting. I really wish the Blu-Ray didn't have that pesky overdubbing. The voices seemed all wrong. 

I loved the book and I liked the movie. I recommend both. If I were you, I would see the movie first, just to keep from constantly looking for the wonderful subplots and characters that you read in the book.

Rating: 5 Purrs for the book, 4 1/2 Purrs for the movie