10 Vampire Movies That Broke All The Rules

9. Let The Right One In

The Hunger David Bowie
Magnet Releasing

Aptly released mere weeks before the first Twilight film, Let the Right One In couldn't be more different: a slow, quiet, intensely atmospheric character-driven horror-romance that actively tries to be anything but a conventional vampire flick.

Focused on the burgeoning relationship between despondent 12-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and vampire child Eli (Lina Leandersson), this supremely chilly effort from Tomas Alfredson adapts John Ajvide Lindqvist's 2004 novel with impeccable patience and sublime filmmaking skill.

Rarely has the genre offered up a more hauntingly tragic depiction of vampirism, with Eli simultaneously locked into the body of a youngster while forced to feed on the blood of innocents to survive.

Wrapping this around a childhood romance makes for a vampire film like no other that's brilliantly acted, soulful, and absolutely beautiful to behold in even its more disturbing moments.

Matt Reeves' 2010 remake, Let Me In, is also an uncommonly effective re-telling with just enough changes to the material to stand on its own.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.