Under normal circumstances, I hate vampire movies like fire.  Mostly because about nine out of ten vampire movies are all basically about the same thing, a bunch of mincing, prancing bloodsuckers who get by on acting superior to human beings just because they feed in much the same fashion as leeched, mosquitoes, and various other forms of insects.  Yes, sure, in many cases vampires can jump around and fly and change shape and run fast (and in rarer, less savory cases sparkle in sunlight) but they can’t go out in full sunlight and they have a serious problem with churches.

So when I heard all the fuss about relatively unknown title Let The Right One In, a vampire horror flick from Sweden, I knew there was reason to be interested.

First, a basic plot rundown:  there’s a Swedish twelve year old named Oskar, who gets picked on a lot at school, and is for some reason referred to as “piggy” despite the fact that he’d likely fly off in a stiff wind.  Anyway, while out in his apartment building’s courtyard one night, he runs into a twelve year old girl who lives in the building named Eli, and he finds himself somewhat attracted to the girl.  She’s a pale, somewhat serious sort who loves puzzles and throws up when trying a piece of candy.  With her recent arrival in the building comes a series of baffling murders in which the victims are all drained of blood.  You can pretty much figure out where this is going.

Now, this one’s interesting for a couple reasons.  One, the Scandinavians have been getting involved in the horror market like no tomorrow recently, offering up scads of material in conjunction with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures as well as a few more independent releases.  Generally, they’ve all been solid, well put-together affairs–Danish horror likes to blend in a bit of humor, the Norwegians can do a great snowbound horror, even the Finns have been known to throw a chunk or two in.  And now, I discover that they’ve done a surprisingly simple job of building a lightly tense environment with some interesting twists.  I haven’t seen the concept of kiddie vampires done like this, or so well, since Salem’s Lot. Any comparison to Stephen King is gratefully welcome, and must be well-deserved to make.  I don’t make them lightly, folks.  Even better is that the movie actually manages to get scarier the farther in it goes.  Some of the best stuff will happen after the movie is about an hour in.

I’ll admit that there are some rather creepy parts–I kept looking for Chris Hanson to come in at some point when the two twelve year olds were naked in bed together (no, it really DOES happen, and yes, it’s as creepy as you imagine), but it’s over quickly enough so the squick factor on that is pretty minimal.

Even the ending will prove to be a bang-up little ride, as it presents five solid minutes of sheer jaw-dropping mayhem.

Basically, if you’re any kind of vampire fan, or if you’re like me and think that vampire movies must inevitably suck, then you’re definitely going to want to grab a copy of Let The Right One In, because it’s certainly the right one to let in.