vampire love

I don't know what it is about the vampire myth that is so enduring. Much has been written on the seemingly endless cycle of repetition and variation on this theme, so I won't spend a lot of time speculating; however, I'd like to compare and contrast two examples of it that I happened to see on the same night this weekend: HBO's dramedy True Blood, and the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In. It's like comparing apples and oranges, but I still think it's an interesting cultural exercise.

I haven't always been a True Blood fan but in Season 3 (when Sookie was nursing viking bloodsucker Eric back to health from magic-induced amnesia) things got pretty hot and heavy and I admit I was hooked (apparently I wasn't the only one--the Season 3 finale drew 11.4 million viewers). There is something inexplicably sexy about the idea of making it with a vampire and the show has coasted on this for quite some time, rehashing one of the most deeply-rooted American archetypes: the good girl who loves bad boys.

For me, the other most appealing aspect of True Blood is its small-town Louisiana setting; as the brilliantly-constructed opening credits sequence establishes, the swampy ground of Bon Temp is rife with voodoo, sex and holy rolling. In classic HBO fashion, the seedy underbelly is sliced open and its entrails exposed for us to feast on.

Unfortunately, Season 4 transitions from vampire sex to war on witchcraft, and for me the show has officially jumped the shark. The writers must sense that their audience will eat up whatever drivel they dish out, penning such appallingly bad dialogue as "This fucking sucks!" when Marnie the witch gets taken down. I'm sure they'll keep True Blood on life support for a few more seasons, but I think the whole thing is getting ridiculously campy and over-the-top.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Let the Right One In. This love story disguised as a horror movie is delightfully refreshing, and not just because it seems to have been shot entirely at -30 in the dead of the Swedish winter. Its protagonist, Oskar, is an almost albino-blond 12-year-old who is so innocent and sweet he hardly seems of this world. Of course, the school bullies have a field day terrorizing him. One day, he meets a girl his age (Eli) who seems to understands him but, strangely, she goes around barefoot in the snow and can only come out to play at night. People in the neighborhood start dying mysterious, untimely deaths as Oskar and Eli get closer, until he finally beings to understand her dark secret....

The film's style is old-fashioned and it looks like it was shot 20 years ago on a $10,000 budget, but in a good way (think of what a horror film would look like if directed by Ingmar Bergman c. 1984). That being said, its restraint makes it suspenseful, and its well-spaced, creepy FX scenes give just the right amount of goosebumps. Hard-core horror fans might disappointed (although I'd encourage them to give it a chance), but for me this movie's subtle thrills and endearing protagonist make it a great thinking-person's scary movie and represents a much more sensitive, decidedly un-American take on the vampire love theme. I haven't yet seen the US remake (entitled Let Me In), but without young Kare Hedebrant's angelic face and captivating performance, it surely couldn't compare. If you need something to watch while handing out candy tonight, I highly recommend the original.

Happy Halloween!