Let the Right One In Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Let the Right One In Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 10, 2009

A heavily atmospheric film about a young boy who befriends a vampire, “Let The Right One In” (2008) delights with a terrific script and brilliant performances. The story is graphic but never overly disturbing. The Blu-ray disc contains an exclusive commentary by novelist and screenplay writer John Ajvide Lindqvist and director Tomas Alfredson. The disc also contains the original theatrical English subtitles. The film is distributed in the United Kingdom by Momentum Pictures. Region-Free.

Lonely

Twelve-year-old Oscar is lonely. He doesn’t have any friends, his divorced parents ignore him and other boys constantly pick on him. One night, Oscar encounters Eli, a skinny girl who smells strange and likes walking in the snow without shoes. Eli is also lonely and without any friends. Oscar immediately falls for her and asks if she would like to be his girlfriend. Eli agrees, but not before she reveals to the boy that she is a vampire. Would Oscar mind? No, not really.

At school, a few bullies decide to teach Oscar a lesson. They beat the boy up and later on attempt to drown him in a swimming pool. Visibly upset, Eli tells her new friend that he has to fight back. She also makes sure that they won't bother Oscar again. Ever.

I love seeing films that manipulate my mind as well as my senses. I also like seeing films that do not reveal all of their secrets. This is why I am often disappointed by Hollywood producers – the element of surprise in their works stopped surprising me a long time ago.

Let The Right One In (2008), a low-budget Swedish film based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist and directed by Tomas Alfredson, however, did. As you could see from the synopsis above, this is a film where there is plenty of blood and vampire talk, yet it isn’t a typical “vampire film”. Let The Right One In tells a story about two lonely kids who like each other.

There are a number of reasons why I liked this film aside from the fact that it caught me off-guard. First, it reminded me a lot about Spanish director Victor Erice’s classic The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), which tells the story of a seven-year-old girl who is severely traumatized after she sees James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931). The girl starts having all sorts of hallucinations where ghosts would talk and play tricks on her. Yet, The Spirit of the Beehive isn’t a film about ghosts, it is a brilliant condemnation of General Franco’s regime.

Second, the two young actors playing Oscar and Eli - Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson – are fantastic. They introduced me to the strange world their characters share in such a convincing fashion that by the time the film ended, I felt like there was nothing unusual about it. And, believe me, this is quite an achievement, given some of the more graphic scenes in Let The Right One In.

Third, this is a deliciously subversive film with a number of different overtones in it. For example, there is a strong gothic flavor which has been achieved by effectively draining the color-scheme of its colors (even fresh blood looks almost black). Furthermore, as Tomas Alfredson notes in the “Making Of” supplied on U.S. Blu-ray disc, the story also reveals an intriguing period look – the dreary apartment complex, the empty and poorly lit streets as well as the sense of being unwanted, excluded from the other world that follows Oscar and Eli’s relationship is very much reminiscent of Sweden and its role in global political events from the early 80s. Finally, there is that old man (Per Ragnar) who lives with Eli. We assume that he is her father, but just the thought that he may not be makes Let The Right One In that much more eerie.

Let the Right One In Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Tomas Alfredson's Let The Right One In arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Momentum Pictures.

This British release of Let the Right One In looks quite similar to the one Magnolia Pictures gave us in the United States. Contrast, clarity and detail are all very convincing. The film's delicate color-scheme is also intact – blues, whites and blacks are well saturated but exceptionally cold. Unlike the U.S. release, however, which is encoded with VC-1, this British release is encoded with MPEG-4 AVC. I personally do not see any major discrepancies between the two – edge-enhancement is again not an issue of concern nor is excessive DNR application. I did not detect any disturbing scratches, debris, stains, or flecks either. All in all, this is one very impressive looking disc. (Note: Even though the back cover of this Blu-ray disc states Region-B, this is actually a Region-Free release. There is no PAL content preceding its main menu either. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Let the Right One In Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

UPDATE: We have have been informed that Momentum Pictures have corrected the audio issue with the UK release of Let the Right One In. As a result, their disc contains the preferred Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. This new corrected disc is now sold at Amazon.UK.


There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc (unlike what is stated on its back cover): Swedish: DTS 5.1 and Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1. I opted for the Swedish DTS.5 1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

Well, it is somewhat disappointing to see that Momentum Pictures did not port the outstanding Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track found on the U.S. release of Let The Right One In. I personally thought that the Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 was terrific, one of the best I've heard on recent foreign-language films. This being said, the Swedish DTS 5.1 track found on this Blu-ray disc is a bit underwhelming – the surround activity, for example, is not as nuanced as it is on the Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. There are subtle audio effects that are much more prominent on the Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Of course, this is not to say that the Swedish DTS 5.1 track has any major deficiencies. Its basics are solid and I do not believe that you would be terribly disappointed with it.

The English dub from the U.S. release has been replaced with a Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1 track on this disc. Again, dynamically, I find it rather underwhelming. The dialog is clear and easy to follow, but the switches between sound and silence are not as effective as they are on the Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.

A quick note on the English subtitles: This Blu-ray disc contains the theatrical subtitles that were not included on the initial U.S. release of Let the Right One In. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Let the Right One In Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Commentary - an exclusive commentary by novelist and screenplay writer John Ajvide Lindqvist and director Tomas Alfredson, in English, not found on the U.S. disc. Suffice to say, this commentary alone is enough of a reason to recommend this British Blu-ray disc. It is incredibly informative - the two gentlemen focus on specific scenes from Let The Right One In and talk about how they were done, why, and what is their importance to the story. This being said, the commentary is also somewhat ironic, given that the two gentlemen also talk about the important role of sound (for example, they discuss how they wanted to capture the sound of falling snow, etc) and silence, which is something I also noted in my review of the film.

Picture Gallery - (in PAL).

UK Trailer - (480/60i).

Four Deleted Scenes - with optional English subtitles. (1080p).

Let the Right One In Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Let The Right One In has finally arrived in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, even though the Blu-ray disc contains the original theatrical English subtitles - which were not included on the initial U.S. release by Magnolia Pictures - it does not have a loseless audio track. As far as I am concerned, this is rather disappointing. I would recommend that British fans of the film try to get a hold of the U.S. disc. On the other hand, if the price is right, I strongly recommend that U.S. fans of the film get the UK disc - the exclusive commentary by novelist and screenplay writer John Ajvide Lindqvist and director Tomas Alfredson is outstanding.