Directed by Tomas Alfredson, 2008
Written by John Ajvide Lindqvist from his novel

Knowing what is left to come and what has come before, I can’t imagine any film this year better equipped to touch quickened hearts, arrest lungs and widen minds than LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.

There is a reason Tomas Alfredson’s film currently finds itself with a 98% on the Tomatometer, an 8.5 on IMDB, and a place close to my genre marrow.  There is a reason I now feel indebted to the gent who passed the film along to me.  There is a reason I’ll be thinking about it for days.  There is a reason I want to watch it again right away.  There is a reason I wish it never ended.  There is a reason R.J. Sayer calls it, “one of the top 10 vampire films of the last 20 years”.  There is a reason it will not be dethroned as Best Genre Film of 2008.  There is a reason I do not believe any of the sentences just written are exaggerations, as none share the same reason, rather a myriad of inspirations.

Forgive the abstraction, but I can’t help but think of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN as an ember in the fireplace of vampire mythos.  An ember from an overly familiar source.  Our ideas of what vampire movies are has become safe.  Watching LTROI one can feel the undeniable warmth, but only with closer examination can one realize the temerity of that heat.  In certain light the ember doesn’t even look aflame.  Dim the surroundings and its radiant scorch glows.  Dim further and the ember revels its true color, the deep red of beating heart.  No matter the light, though, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN will hypnotize, drawing senses closer still, bracing for a burn it never quite lets you prepare for.

Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• SAW V - Clip
• LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - Red Band trailer
• HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT - Trailer
• THE UNBORN - Trailer

Studio News and Attachments

• Paul W. S. Anderson is writing a RESIDENT EVIL 4 as well as a present-day remake of THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY.  Everyone wonders why to both.
• John Hillcoat’s adaptation of THE ROAD bumped from this November to an indeterminate point in ‘09.  Insert Sad face here.
• For those few still possibly interested despite the non-hype, the official site for REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA has a full list of theaters that’ll be exhibitting the rock opera.
• Milla Jovovich joins the cast of long ago video game adaptation CLOCK TOWER.

Remakes

• HELLRAISER gets another French director attached to it, this time MARTYRS director Pascal Laugier.
• Certainly not horror, but geek enough to mention the fresh depressing news: Brett Ratner is directing CONAN.
• I know she has her devotees, but I’ll confess to only having seen one movie with Tiffany Shepis in it.  Either way, she has kicked up a blog about her experience on the remake of NIGHT OF THE DEMONS.
• Johnny Depp reboot of DARK SHADOWS on the fritz.

Indie, Foreign and Random News

• Larry Cohen to direct PETER, a movie about a weight loss addict, a weight loss drink and some insanity.
• Rob Zombie is hosting AMCs Fearfest once again.
• Winners from the official competition at Sitges announced, Jennifer Lynch’s SURVEILLANCE beats out LET THE RIGHT ONE IN for Best Motion Picture.

Non-Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• VACANCY 2: THE FIRST CUT - Trailer
• COMING SOON - English sub trailer

God damn it all.

So I’m wandering over to Cinematical when I see a post from the only person named Weinberg who matters (nevermind that pussy Harvard Nobel laureate physicst Steven Weinberg) detailing the release plan for a little movie you may have heard of called LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.  You know, it’s that Swedish vampire movie more commonly referred to by non-physicsts who have seen it as the coolest fucking horror movie of 2008.

But let’s back track before sadness swept my hopes like The Nothing.  A few days ago I was driving around with my lovely fiance Christine talking about movies on the horizon when I mentioned LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, that it is vouched greatness but lamenting it had a limited release, a marketing term that roughly translates to ‘Fat Fucking Chance, Northern Virginia’.  I provided some relief, though, as I theorized that if it came anywhere around here, it would probably come to the Landmark E Street theater in DC; an underground (literally) theater that is worth the schlep.

Fast forward to two minutes ago, when I read said post and to my surprise…First day on the list: November 7th, Washington, DC: E Street Cinema.

Awesome!  Oh.  Wait.  I’ll be on travel for work in Cote d’Ivoire, AKA the Ivory Coast, AKA the delightful country about which the US State Department has these messages of encouragement:

Last Week in Horror I realized that the studio horror future is looking grim.  No, not talking quality, talking quantity.  I haven’t come across a new, full trailer for a theatrical studio picture in weeks now.  I’m sure that will change in October as, THE WOLFMAN, FRIDAY THE 13TH, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and, well, a million other remakes will probably all have their trailers attached to SAW V.

Anyways, on to the tidbits.