Let The Right One In MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 Content: +1/2

Foreign/ Drama/suspense/horror.

FILM SYNOPSIS: Twelve-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy's wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father. Only Eli isn’t really twelve. She’s a vampire who’s been around for quite some time. But even children of the night need a friend. While the two youngsters begin to bond, Eli’s assistant (think Renfield from Dracula), goes hunting. He’s trying to bring her back blood. But more often than not, he blows his assignment, leaving Eli to her own resources. Frozen forever in a twelve-year-old's body, with all the burgeoning feelings and confused emotions of a young adolescent, Eli knows that she can only continue to live if she keeps on moving. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can.

PREVIEW REVIEW: From Sweden, with subtitles, Let The Right One In is an artsy vampire movie, and I have to admit, it is creatively realized and well-acted. It doesn’t take long for us to get drawn into the story or to realize that it has more depth than last year’s Twilight (that one about a mortal high schooler falling for a teen bloodsucker). This one concerns two adolescent outsiders who connect, forming a friendship, then a love for each other. And though it deals with the undead who think nothing about killing people in order to survive, still there’s an innocence that makes the relationship seem profound.

That said, it’s an eerie subject matter, vampires often linked by some to the demonic. And certainly this one doesn’t do much to nurture the spiritual side of our nature. So, while it is well made and may even be nominated as best foreign film, allow me to suggest another spooky thriller: Signs. Farmer Mel Gibson discovers crop circles on his land. Soon the world is crawling with hostile aliens. Added to the drama and suspense is the story’s subtext about a man losing, then regaining his faith. The film also has an intriguing take concerning coincidence in our daily lives. Do things happen by chance or do they serve to develop our nature? M. Night Shyamalan’s film is about finding our way – or finding our way back. (Caution: this one isn’t for the kiddies, either.)

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures