LetTheRightOneInDVD2012828_fSo I read the book that this is based on last year and I went on and on to everybody I knew about how good it was and that they should read it because it wasn’t your standard horror story, the setting was unusual etc. And everyone looked at me and said that it wasn’t their cup of tea, vampires were old hat, wasn’t it gruesome, why did I read that kind of thing, the usual, you know how it goes. So I stopped nagging.

And then the movie version came out, and critics like Mark Kermode said it was the best film of the year so far, and if not that then certainly the best horror film of the year, and I so wanted to go and see it but no-one would come with me. And so I patiently waited until the DVD was released and I bought it as soon as it came out and settled down this past Sunday afternoon, on my own because the Book God can be a bit of a wimp sometimes, and watched it. By myself. And now I’m a bit freaked.

Because this is really, really good. I managed not to be too distracted by keeping an eye on what was left in or out from the book. It’s creepy and unsettling, just like the book was. The central story is much more powerful from having some of the subplots (which admittedly gave the book its depth) removed. The central performances from the young actors are excellent, and the set pieces are brilliant.

My friend the Silvery Dude would like to watch this but suspected he would have to do so from behind a sofa. I suggested that he might want to consider the sofa being in a different room from the TV the film is playing on. I may have put him off.

I haven’t followed my normal review template for this because it is just too special; just like the novel, many of the images are stuck in my head, and once they’ve filtered through what passes for my brain I’ll watch it again. A classic. And I really was freaked, but in a good way!