What's shot in a blue filter, gothic, riddled with teen angst, and filled with good-looking vampires?
Certainly not this film, good sir!

I recently found this movie online and I must say, it is probably one of the best vampire movies of all time.

"But, Poops!", you're probably wondering, "how does such a romance/ horror, Swedish, English-subtitled movie such as this pull off such a feat?" I'll tell you how; it has sympathetic characters. It is one of those rare films where you actually sympathize AND empathize with a blood-sucking monster. The story is pretty simple; tormented, lonely boy named Oskar meets another just-as-lonely girl named Eli and a bond is built. She just so happens to be a vampire . Seems simple enough, right?

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...Right, but what's most captivating about this movie is that how well it handles its material. Now, personally, I've never read the book let alone heard that the film was based off a book. That doesn't hinder its entertainment value. The characters are troubled, each having their own ideals and morals that justify their actions. Also, these kids actually look like real kids! They aren't supermodel good-looking nor are they ugly. They look like any mundane, ordinary child you'd see at the local park. This helps the viewer to sympathize with both the main characters. (Oh, the fact that these kids can act, it only adds to the believability). More importantly, they both have terrible and shitty lives but they find comfort within each other's company. This may sound sappy but watching how the film is told helps makes this feels natural and fluid even though one of them is a blood sucking, centuries-old monster.

Not to mention, this movie is superbly filmed. The narrative flows smoothly; giving the audience just enough for them to piece together what's going on in each scene but not spoon feeding the viewer. The pacing may seem slow to some but it only helps build in the development of the characters. Each scene is captivating and each will hold your attention. Hell, in the beginning alone, already someone is hung upside down and drained of blood! Now, that's my kind of movie! The only time I looked away was when Megavideo stopped at the 72 minute mark and I had to refresh the video. A testament to how well this movie was shot was when near the end. [SPOILER] The main characters have to split and there's a brief lull in the movie to show the boy moping; I couldn't help but feel bad for him... When I can feel sorry for a murderous 12 year old boy from seeing him moping over a girl that goes about town feeding on the blood of the innocent at night; that is master film-making in my eyes.

Also, this part in the movie almost convinced me a real vampire was exposed to light just to get this shot.

I cannot stop praising this film but unfortunately, my arthritis is kicking in and I have to stop before my fingers fall off but my point is this; this movie is phenomenal beyond all praise. There were almost no flaws I found with this picture.The only thing I had a problem with is the same problem with all things dealing with vampires; why do you have to invite them to do anything? Does becoming a vampire come with the side effect of becoming extremely polite? I don't get it. Anyway, if you haven't seen it yet, you owe it to yourself as a human being to track this film down *coughherecough* and watch it till your heart's content.

On a scale of 5, this film is obviously a 5. Go see it. Go see it now.


(Additional note: I believe this film has one of the best endings of any film I think I have ever seen.)