Let the Right One In

With True Blood on HBO and the film version of Twilight on the horizon, vampires are the new zombies. Bloodsuckers are hot, baby. Stick your neck out for this Swedish horror show. It's a winner, full of mirth and malice, plus a young romance you'll never see on the Disney Channel. Eli (Lina Leandersson) shows up just in time for 12-year-old Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), who lives with his divorced mom in dank Stockholm. The kids at school are always kicking Oskar's ass, which helps fuel revenge fantasies. So it's good to have a vampire on your side, especially Eli, who arrives in town with Hakan (Per Ragnar), an older dude, and a thirst for blood that must be slaked. Cue a series of bloody murders. Oskar doesn't guess what Eli is at first, except that she smells funny and only comes out at night. But when he does, watch out. The two young leads are dynamite. And director Tomas Alfredson knows how to pin you to your seat. See it now before Hollywood remakes the thing and ruins it.