Within a couple of weeks I watched Let the Right One In & Twilight from Netflix. The movies have a few things in common which surprised me. Both are about a loving relationship between a vampire and a human. Both have young stars for the vampire and human (Let The Right Oneis pre-teen, Twilightis teen). Both have solitary humans. Both have the human knowning that the vampire is a vampire, although not at the beginning, and maintaining the relationship afterward. Both have a similar feel of quietness in the landscape. Both have a similar quality feel in production. This last point may not be fair but here is how I gauged it. The acting was above par in both movies. The special effects was borderline cheesy in both movies. Not campy-cheesy, just cheesy. Both put immediate violence off-sceen or blurred. Both have little or no physical contact between human and vampire to express the love. Both have humans from divorced, low-income parents.
Now, to cover how the movies are different. Let the Right One In is a quiet vampire movie while Twilight is a teen romance with a little action thrown in. Let the Right One In takes the hard choice at every chance. Twilight takes the easy choice at every chance.
Let The Right One Inuses a small girl for the vampire. The old man with her is not a vampire but he is the aide-de-camp. He bungles a murder in a park and has to leave quickly. In the process of leaving the scene, he bumps into and dumps over the jug that was collecting the victim’s blood. Comparing this to Twilight, Edward is not only a strong, fast 17-year old, he is accompanied by a family of vampires that can serve as his backup when needed.
Let The Right One In doesn’t give anyone an easy chance to win. The human is a small, bullied boy who is alone most of the time. The neighbors in the movie are also poor, and lonely. The vampire can not go out at night and appears to live in squalor. The location is a close-knit housing complex for many potential victims and witnesses. Comparing this to Twilight, Edward comes from a wealthy family. His father is a local doctor. Bella’s father is a Sheriff. The location is remote Forks, WA where wildlife are a convenient excuse for the first murder. Edward and family do come out during the day but not in sunlight.
I enjoyed both movies for what they were but the story craft of Twilight paled in comparison to Let the Right One In. The characters, location, and plot of Twilight felt like a lot of Hollywood movies without the originality and care that Let the Right One In showed in the story. Twilight overplayed everything where Let the Right One In underplayed it.
Twilight may be a financial hit but not the better story overall. In the Battle of the Vampires, Let The Right One In wins.