Final Paper-Let the Right One In

Society today is irrevocably in love with these mythical blood sucking vampires. Myself being one of these huge fans, I was very intrigued by the film; Let the Right One In, by Thomas Alfredson. The film was brilliantly realistic and kept the audience on the edge of their seats! Alfredson has brought such a unique film to the horror genre and has given vampires a new look.
Thomas Alfredson did a wonderful job in making this film so realistic. Being a vampire fan and having seen numerous vampire films, this specific film made me fall in love with vampires even more then before! Most of the vampire films I have seen are always drenched in gore, which is not a bad thing, and the directors make the vampires look very cheesy and typical with the whole pale skin, fangs, and extreme beauty look. However, Alfredson made his main character, Eli the vampire, look like a real life vampire. The interesting part of this movie was the fact the Eli was in fact a little girl; she was only 12 years old. Never have I seen a vampire movie where the main vampire is a young girl, they are usually adults and very sexual. Alfredson took a different approach and made the vampire a young girl. She was no typical vampire; she had a very exceptional look. Her hair was always tussled and in her face, her skin was very pale and smooth, she had dark circles under her eyes, and always had a blank expression on her
face. Eli was always quiet yet pleasant. Alfredson took a different angle when showing the attacks of her unfortunate victims. Instead of making blood squirt from every which angle during the attack, it was more settle. She would pounce on the victim and suck his blood discretely, in my opinion. He showed enough blood to make it considered a grotesque horror film, and enough to make your own blood boil under your skin. Alfredson focused on the mystery behind what Eli was, instead of the typical vampire feeding frenzy approach. Thomas Alfredson contributed a phenomenal film to the horror genre.
These days, we are all obsessed with the alluring vampire scene. Ever since the release of the fabulous movie Twilight, society has been head over heels for vampires! Why? Perhaps because we know they are so unreal and nonexistent. Everyone likes to believe in something they know is not real, it keeps your imagination alive, and leaves room for your mind to wander in a magical realm. Vampires are seen as tough, powerful, beautiful, strong, intelligent and most of all mystical creatures. These are all qualities people; women in particular, like to fantasize about. Who wouldn’t want a man or a woman with these qualities? That is why when society sees a vampire movie, you come out drooling; and I tend to find myself in despair over the fact that I will never have a vampire friend! You always want some thing you can’t have. The human eye is naturally drawn to anything withholding beauty, which is exactly what vampires are; perfectly beautiful. Vampires will continue to be a trend until someone can invent a new fascinating and desirable creature.
In a review, I stumbled across something very interesting that not a lot of people are aware of. The title of this movie, Let the Right One In, was inspired by the song titled, Let the Right One Slip In, by former singer of The Smiths, Morrissey. Not having any idea that this movie title came from Morrissey’s song is so interesting because I am a big fan of Morrissey! From looking up the song lyrics, there is a particular verse in the song that inspired Alfredson to make this movie.
“Let the right one slip in/ And when at last it does/ I’d say you were within your rights to bite/ The right one and say,/ What kept you so long?” (Morrissey)
This is a powerful verse and it is easy to see how it fits perfect for Alfredson’s film. I feel like it is addressing the fact that loneliness sometimes takes over your life, and letting the “right one in” they will set you free. This is perfectly associated with the theme of the movie because the other main character, Oskar, is a lonely young boy who is constantly being bullied by other kids at school. He is dealing with this torture at school and in turn meets Eli, his new vampire friend. The whole movie is related to this song verse because Oskar is the one who is letting the right one in. He befriended Eli and she ends up saving his life in the end, and he also gains her as his girlfriend. By letting her in his life they both benefited. She was no longer alone, considering her father had died, and now Oskar was no longer alone either. They both let each other “slip in” and now there is no telling if they will ever separate. Eli taught him how to defend himself and stand up to his bullies, both learning a lot from one another.
In The Daily Telegraph review I found something else pertaining to Morrissey that I had not known. A quote that surprisingly affiliates Morrissey to the two characters; Oskar and the stunning vampire, Eli.
“Fittingly so, for the former Smiths front man has long been a friend indeed for these who feel lonely, tentative and in need.” (Sandhu)
From this quote, it is my understanding that Morrissey himself perhaps had been very lonely throughout his life and that is why he resorted to his music. For most his other songs they tend to be about the burden of the past and home life, dramatic relationships and loneliness. The way the director related Oskar and Eli to the way Morrissey felt in his lyrics was very moving. It seems as if Morrissey is very understanding when being accompanied by ever lasting loneliness because he himself has been through a lot, which is why this verse of the song relates to Oskar and Eli so well. Alfredson did a lot of research in finding the perfect title for his film, and then building a thrilling horror film from it.

Works Cited:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/LET-THE-RIGHT-ONE-SLIP-IN-lyrics-Morrissey/52FCF188E5D63E3E482568AB003913A3

Sandhu, Sukhdev. Newspaper ‘The Daily Telegraph’. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/sukhdevsandhu/5131859/Let-The-Right-One-In-review.html 09 April 2009.

Let the right one in

Huge fan of this movie! Horror films are my favorite genre of movies, especially movies about vampires! Thomas Alfredson did a wonderful job of making this film so realistic. Most vampire movies can be very cheesy and look super fake, but this one was awesome! The way he didn’t over do it with the blood, or the attacking scenes made it more enjoyable to watch. The fact that he didn’t make Eli look like a typical vampire was different because most movies they show fangs and make them look evil. However, Eli was a little girl and the director did not give her fangs, I liked that. He focused more on the mystery behind what she was and didn’t jump in on all the blood drinking fiestas that most vampire movies have. Alfredson made a huge contribution to the vampire horror genre of film and created a wonderfully realistic vampire film! Vampires are a huge trend right now, due to the movie Twilight; amazing movie, by the way. I think we are all crazy and obsess with vampires because we know they don’t exist. It is fun to see movies about something so unimaginable, it gives our minds a chance to wander and float around in a magical realm. Vampires are seen as so “tough” and “powerful,” two qualities that any girl would love in a man. That is why when we see these vampires in Twilight we practically drool over them! They are made so beautifully. Vampires will always be a fascination.

Medea/Medea

Eerie is what comes to mind when describing this complex and interesting play. My mind was filled with confusion throughout the play, and i left confused as well. Although i could not understand what was happening or the message of the play, i can still appreciate how complex and different it was! The set was very creepy and intriguing. The costumes, or lack of costume for some, was definitely eye catching. The fact that this play had hardly any speaking lines was what made the play so interesting and difficult to act in. Actors rely on the lines of others to know when to cue in with their next line. However, in this play that was not the case. For a good portion of the time there was not any speaking just movement, so it was definitely more difficult for the actors to know when to do certain movements or act something out. The director must have such a unique mind to think up a play like this! The actors definitely had to have rehearsed multiple times to get the timing down because it is difficult to act in a play when there are no words. They had to be aware of certain sound effects and watch for specific cues from their fellow actors. This play was so complex for everyone; in the audience and the actors especially. For the audience it was difficult to understand what was going on without the speaking of the actors. I can not even imagine the amount of effort and time these actors and the director put in to construct such a difficult play. Overall, it kept my attention that is for sure!

Spirited away

This was quite an adventurous movie! I have never seen a japanese animated film, and this being my first, it was so fun and exciting! I found myself very intrigued in the plot and was very interested in the deeper meaning behind the message underlying in this film. I feel society nowadays is very greedy, including adults and children. From the start, it shows the little girl throwing a small tantrum because she did not want to move to a new city. She is also seen throwing a tantrum when she doesn't want her parents to go down the tunnel. She is spoiled like many children today. Greed is also seen when the parents are devouring the food when they have not asked to eat it nor did they pay for it upfront! And their greed turned them into pigs. This little girl was on a mission to save her parents and then her new friend, Haku. She started off as a spoiled little girl and was then forced to face all her fears and save her loved ones. This quite a transformation for this spoiled little girl. I also liked how the director showed how young children seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to ghosts/spirits. I have always heard this and now after watching the film i can somewhat believe that. It was obvious her parenta did not trust her instincts about this place freaking her out, and in real life, i feel like parents do not listen to their children enough. The director was trying to send out many messages in this film for all ages. I would definitely love to see another film by this director!

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN

“Sex, sex, and some more sex” is what came to mind when watching this film. People had warned me about how sexual this movie is and to my surprise it was much more then I had imagined. The first scene was a sex scene and was shortly followed with another sex scene. In all honesty, it kept my attention more. Having to read the subtitles quickly was not my favorite part of the film because it distracts me from the actual scenes taking place, but that is the price you pay for watching a foreign movie. I was a little confused about the plot and the message this movie was trying to portray. It left a lot of open ends, leaving room for your own interpretation of the ending. The thing I dislike most about movies is when the story involves someone cheating on their significant other! It makes me more paranoid that my boyfriend could possibly pull a maneuver like that on myself. Insecurity is what I sometimes feel when watching a movie like this. In this movie I especially liked how Luisa, the woman who was cheated on by her husband, decided to pick up her life and do something spontaneous to get away from her pathetic life with her scumbag husband. The whole movie was a big adventure about seizing life, and I that, I suppose, is the message I got from this film. It was very interesting and definitely kept the audience on the edge of their seats in excitement.