Last year, two films were made that are similar in story. Both Twilight and Let the Right One In were love stories about a vampire and non-vampire. One is American, one is Swedish. So which one is the better film?Twilight
Right from the bat, I knew this was gonna suck. Even my sister, a Twilight book junkie, didn’t like it. I started watching with very low expectations, and well, it met those. But what I didn’t expect was that some of the scenes were actually going to be original and interesting. Some of the ways they edited were just so different from a typical high grossing film that it made sense and had a bit of that good old indie feel. The scene where Edward reveals he’s a vampire is what I’m talking about here, where they used quick cuts, and quite honestly, pretty good cinematography. That gave me a little glimmer of hope between all those pale faces, terrible actors, and borish dialogue. But, even with a few good scenes, it just couldn’t save the bland film that follows exactly how you would expect. Now, I’ve heard the books were much better, but if they’re anything like the story in this one, then they are absolutely moderate.
Let the Right One In
Now, we have Let the Right One In, where the vampires are actually… vampires, and the pale faces are accounted for by the Swedish heritage. Sometimes, I hardly think that Twilight is worth comparing to this, but they’re both basically about the same thing so I’ll continue. This is the right way to make a film, make characters you feel for, and keep the suspense perfectly throughout the movie. The two kids, around 12 years old, start to have feelings for each other after seeing each other a few times at the apartment complex playground. The girl turns out to be a vampire, one who does actually kill humans for food, but we never hold that against her since it isn’t out of hate for humans, but for necessity. The boy is troubled by divorced parents and bullies who won’t leave him alone. The ending just shocked me by how well done it was, for both suspense and romantic reasons. The biggest difference between these movies is that this one doesn’t try to be “politically correct” with its violence. There are some real bloody scenes in here, and thats how vampire films need to be since thats a big part of their life. Also unlike Twilight, you actually care for the two to be together and don’t just get cheated into liking them by their “good looks”.
I think its pretty obvious which I like better, so if you like Twilight, please try to check out Let the Right One In, I promise, its definitely worth your time.
