10 Horror Movies That Switch Villains
3. Let the Right One In (2008)
On the face of it all, Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In looks like a classic vampire flick, featuring a creature of the night stalking a small community, set against the pervasive darkness of a Stockholm winter. But while the sinister and mysterious child vampire Eli (Lina Leandersson) is set up as the film's antagonist, both in the film's first act and its promotional material, it's a little bit more complicated than that.
As it turns out, 12-year-old protagonist Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) has more trouble from his bullies than his friendly neighbourhood creature. Beset by misery and the quiet, dark desires that follow from his suffering, Oskar spends his time alone, collecting newspaper clippings about murders and fantasising of the revenge he is incapable of exacting. It is when he is on this edge, driven out from all the places a young boy belongs, that he encounters Eli.
While this could have been a morose tale of tragedy, in which Oskar is slain and becomes a vampire himself, the film instead pivots towards a narrative of friendship, romance and shared trauma. Oskar forms a close bond with Eli, recognising an affinity in her Otherness, and she winds up saving his life from the film's real antagonist - the bullies. Sure, she also grants him bloody vengeance, but what's a bit of child-killing amongst friends?