Have you see Let The Right One In yet? We managed to get out to the cinema last night to catch it. What a delight. Certainly one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. The more so since seeing it came so soon on the back of being subjected to Twilight, which is surely one of the most dreadful things ever committed to celluloid. Or DV tape, or whatever it was filmed in. I mean, what a cop-out for letting the vampires go out in the sunlight; oooh, their skin glistens like diamonds, what a tragedy. Bless their little Emo souls. Oh hang on, do they have souls? Whatever.
At least these Swedish vampires obey the rules of the game. And are the first vampire characters who I think work effectively as characters that you can identify as victims. I’m sure that others with a much greater knowledge of the genre will let me know of other examples of that, but hey, I think they’d have to go some to be as effective as the ones in Let The Right One In. There are so many great things about the movie. It’s staggeringly beautiful and outrageously ugly, deliciously uplifting and heartbreakingly depressing. Often in the same instant. Wonderful.
I guess I also liked it because it touches on an idea I’ve been throwing around in my head for a while, which is that of characters who span essentially endless stretches of time but who remain the same age ("Twelve. More or less.") and are therefore unable to acquire the wisdom that aging supposedly brings. Also the ideas of impossible (or at least improbable) love and of the sacrifices made for that love, which in many respects is essentially what Let The Right One In is all about of course.
But of course it’s also about vampires, which gives me the excuse to share my vampire mix with you. I compiled it last year for my Twilight loving friends. Usual rules about buying things you like apply. If you don’t, I’m sending the vampires round to rip off your heads. They know where you live…
Blood Bitch - Cocteau Twins
Vampire Island - Drexciya
I'm A Vampire - Future Bible Heroes
Spirit Of A Vampire - The Go-Betweens
Vampire Girl - Jonathan Richman
Night Of The Vampire - The Moontrekkers
Vampire - Sebadoh
Teenage Vampire - Sultans of Ping F.C.
Secret Vampires - bis
Shopping for Blood - Franz Ferdinand
Si Vous Connaissez Quelque Chose De Pire Qu'un Vampire, Parlez M'en Toujours, Ça Pourra Peut-Être Me Faire Sourire - Stella
Blood Is Sweeter Than Honey - Jazzateers
Maize Stalk Drinking Blood - The Mountain Goats
Love With Blood - The Siddeleys
Blood - Tindersticks
(Nothing But) Blood - This Mortal Coil
Dracula - Kevin Tihista's Red Terror
The Vampire - Buffy Sainte-Marie
Vampire Forest Fire - The Arcade Fire