The recent domestic DVD releases of TWILIGHT and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN a mere two weeks apart re- quires some attention, if only for how completely (it seems to me) what I’ve read about both films since seeing them misses their point—and their almost uncanny, at times primal, power.
Popular critical assessment of genre films tends to be superficial at best, and TWILIGHT is such a phenomenon—as a book series and box office bonanza with its initial theatrical feature adaptation—that it’s the phenom- enon, not the movie, that’s framing the dis- cussion. As a result, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is so comparatively beneath the mainstream radar in the wake of TWILIGHT’s reign—hence ignored by the mainstream, and lionized by genre lovers as the superior marketplace underdog—that nobody seems to be noticing how these two films are such remarkable and timely companion features. A few basics: TWILIGHT (2005) by Stephenie Meyer kicked off a Young Adult novel empire which the film adaptation has only intensified in popu- larity, which cannot be said here in America for John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, which was initially published in the US in hardcover under the title LET ME IN. Nevertheless, I would argue these are clearly contemporaries and perhaps even companion novels, having been published a year apart. That Meyer is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (commonly re- ferred to, erroneously, as the Mormons) may play a role in some of what follows—note that the novel opens with a quote from Genesis 2:17—but that’s neither here nor there; I’m responding to the films themselves, on their own terms.
Secondly, vampire films remain stellar barom- eters for each generation’s cultural zeitgeist, with both the popular favorites and typically more sub- versive low-budget kith and kin providing rich turf for interpretation. That vampire films, by and large,
The cast of characters from LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and TWILIGHT, two new vampire films bringing new ideas to bear on a popular subgenre.
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Låt Den Rätte Komma In 2008, Magnolia Home Entertainment $26.98 (SD), $34.99 (BR), 114m, DVD
TWILIGHT
2008, Summit Entertainment $32.99 (SD), $34.99 (BR), 122m, DVD
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
