About

Welcome to my page. I started this page as a container for all of my thoughts about the wonderful Swedish vampire film, Låt Den Rätte Komma In, or as it is known to us Anglophones, Let the Right One In. I first saw this film when it bubbled to the top of my NetFlix list in early April of 2009. I watched it one evening with my spouse and I enjoyed it immensely. However, I had the feeling that I had missed something.

I wondered if perhaps Eli had all along just been manipulating Oskar into being her new Renfield, so I immediately watched the film again with this in mind. I determined that this second time I would view all of Eli’s actions from a cynical viewpoint to see if she was indeed just using Oskar. It turns out that many people who view the film come to this conclusion, and the film does show us some things that could give credence to this view. Then I came to the bathroom scene for the second time. Lacke has finally found Eli – Eli who has taken from him both his best friend and his lover. Lacke should have been a completely sympathetic figure. Despite knowing the film’s ending, I should have been rooting at least a little bit for things to turn out well for Lacke. But as I watched that scene for the second time, as I watched Lacke pulling back the blankets that covered the bathtub, I found myself yearning for Eli to wake up, to protect herself. Once again I wanted Eli, monstrous little Eli, to kill poor Lacke since he had become a danger to her.

This is where my fascination with this film began. How had the filmmakers managed to manipulate my emotions despite my conscious efforts to the contrary? It took me a long time to figure out why this film was able to affect me like this, and along the way I mused upon many of the things that I saw (or heard) on the screen. This page is a repository for some of those musings.