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Overview
Another vampire movie, which is interesting because we have 3 vampire movies in season 01 and Rhys doesn’t really care for vampire movies. That should tell you how different they are.
Anyway, Let the Right One In shows vampires in a different way than most other movies. First, the vampire is a kid. Second, it’s a girl – kinda. Just listen to us discuss this and watch the movie. If you don’t want it spoiled – watch before listening.
This is a Swedish film but feels like a big budget Hollywood movie. The setting is crucial to the movie and helps draw you in and give it a great dark feel. This also is one of the few movies we’ve watched based on a book – Let the Right One In.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_the_Right_One_In_(film)
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Transcript
Stephen 0:48
Okay, sure. We’re ready. Whatever.
Rhys 0:51
Absolutely.
Stephen 0:51
Episode Seven, let the right one in.
Rhys 0:55
Yes. A Swedish film from 2008 that I did not know came from a novel until Yeah, that to me, we
Stephen 1:02
we found that out that’s crazy did and we were even kind of laughing that you you have like three vampire movies you like and we just put them on season one.
Rhys 1:11
Yes. The fourth would be 30 days of night. But that’s a very popular movie. And that’s not what the two popular podcast is for. It’s right. People
Stephen 1:21
know that one.
Rhys 1:22
That’s right. Um, the book was written by a guy named john Lindquist. And it was his first book, which I find fascinating. He also did the screenplay for the movie. Oh, okay. So he’s been involved with it the whole time. Nice. This movie has been remade into an American version called let me in. And it’s really interesting. JOHN Lindquist when asked about the American remake was like, Yeah, sure. It’ll be interesting. It’ll be someone else’s take. The director. On the other hand, his name was Thomas Alfredsson. And he’s probably well known for doing Tinker Tailor sailor spy. Okay. He directed that film. When he heard about the American remake. He’s like, that’s stupid remakes are for bad movies. And this was not a bad movie. Wow. Yeah. So I kind of agree with them, you know? So
Stephen 2:25
but the funny thing is, how many times have we already said this season? Well, this is a good movie and they made a crappy American remake.
Rhys 2:33
Yeah, and let me and isn’t bad. And I
Stephen 2:37
even said that I think I’ve seen let me and I watched what the right one in. And there’s a couple scenes that are like, almost identical, they’re blocked and everything. Like it’s like, Oh, that looks just like it just like it same angles and everything.
Rhys 2:49
Yeah, I just tonality wise. I mean, it’s might sound stupid, but it was written by a Swedish guy in a Swedish setting. So when it’s filmed in Swedish, it just it seems to feel so much better in this version than the American version did to me.
Stephen 3:09
Yeah, it was a good movie. Definitely. It’s subtitled for those that are playing along and having a drink every subtitled movie.
Rhys 3:18
Wow. I’m sorry.
Stephen 3:23
We only got 10 episodes. So it’s all good.
Rhys 3:25
That’s right. Um, there are two major stars in this movie. There’s probably about eight cast roles in the movie. But the two major stars are Kara header Brandt. He plays Oscar. And he has gone on to do three movies in television series in Sweden. So not unlike lacasa Buddha, where I’m like, yeah, this person did other stuff, but you’re not gonna know it because you’re from Uruguay. Right? This is the same thing. Lina liter son was eally. And she’s also gone on to do three more movies. And again, I’ve never heard of any of
Stephen 4:06
them, because and the kids were really good in this movie. Oh,
Rhys 4:10
incredibly. Well, yes. The movie was made on a $4 million budget. So it’s not a small budget movie.
Stephen 4:17
And I have a note right here that says it’s one of our standard Hollywood movies yell like that. Even though it’s foreign
Rhys 4:26
for us. It’s not it’s not massive blockbuster. Like, this isn’t like a nine digit film. But it still you know, $4 million is nothing to sneeze at. And it grossed 13 million worldwide, which isn’t bad for a foreign horror film.
Stephen 4:42
No, not bad at all. That’s that’s more than most of the other movies we’ve watched. Yes. Yeah. And it’s crazy that they had 4 million because there’s not like any outrageous special effects. I mean, it’s a lot of practical effects and stuff that’s hinted at but not actually You know, so that I find that an interesting budget? Well, there’s
Rhys 5:04
actually a lot more technical stuff that’s going on with this movie. And most of it relies on sound and fully. Yeah, which we’ll talk about in a second. Okay, cool. But the movie was supposed to be take place in a suburb of Stockholm, called blackened Berg, or blackened Bert black. There’s no end in it, it’s black Berg. But because of I don’t know, the time or something like that it was shot further north, in a city called lulea, which is the capital of the Northern most county in Sweden, because they wanted to keep that super cold winter dark look. The whole thing. linquist and Alfredsson, the writer and the director have both admitted they don’t like vampires. They’re not into the vampire genre. And get along with them. Yeah, and maybe that’s why I like their movies so well. Because they’re like we’re gonna make a movie about a topic we really don’t like so we’re gonna have to come at it some different way.
Stephen 6:11
And, and I’ve said many times, some of the best stuff you come up with is with a restriction.
Rhys 6:16
Yes, yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s a theme. The word vampire only occurs once in the entire movie.
Stephen 6:25
Oh, I didn’t catch on. Okay, so don’t go drinking on the word vampire.
Rhys 6:29
That’s right. It would be very long, dry time for you. Although, if you compare the vampire in let the right one in as opposed to the ones in.
Yeah. And as opposed to the ones in Byzantium. They kept so many more of the vampire tropes in let the right one and then they didn’t Byzantium.
Stephen 6:55
Yes. And they even showed one in an interesting way that I don’t think I’d seen before we’ll get to that and I’m sure Oh, yeah,
Rhys 7:00
the title is based on a Morrissey song. Let the right one in is a Morrissey song. And if you get the chance, you should look it up and it’s your typical Morrissey song. It’s the I mean, you can’t help but kind of bop while it’s playing and it’s only two minutes and 30 seconds long. And it basically I mean, like the theme of the song just really seems to be Hey, if it’s not good for Yeah, get rid of it and let all the good stuff. Okay. That’s a really odd choice for kind of grim vampire movies title but and, and I
Stephen 7:35
we kind of talked about this, too, like the first half of this season was very, very dark. Very down. Yeah, we’re lightening up and this is a little bit of an in between, it didn’t have the just dense, dark foreboding feeling through the whole thing, but it wasn’t light hearted either.
Rhys 7:53
It’s funny you say that because I find this to be one of the grimmest films that we’ve had. Really. Yeah. And again, we’ll get to that later. Okay. So, there was a theme that occurred in the book. And it’s hinted at in this movie that I didn’t pick up on it until I watched it a second time. And the, the theme is that eally is not a girl. In the book, it’s, it’s explained that easily the female vampire who’s, you know, around 300 years older, so
Stephen 8:37
312
Rhys 8:38
is actually Yes. And 12 is actually a castrated boy.
Stephen 8:44
Okay, and they kind of show that She even said, I’m not a girl,
Rhys 8:48
right? And the showing part of it, when I first saw it, I like felt that scene coming up, and I was like, I’m really not gonna pay a whole lot of attention to this scene, because this is a little disturbing. Yeah. Turns out it was a mannequin that they used for the scene. Which, you know, I thought it might be a body suit or whatever. So I just kind of glazed, you know, let just let it go over. But it’s such a big deal. They specifically picked Lina to play Elian this movie because she has kind of an androgynous look about her. Okay, yeah. And her voice was too girly. So they actually had an actress named Elif salen, who’s like 40 years old, overdub all of her lines throughout the whole movie. Really? Yeah. Wow. And that’s, this is where this is where I think some of the budget went to. Because it is seamless.
Stephen 9:47
Yeah. And yeah, I don’t speak Swedish. But
Rhys 9:50
yeah, there’s no hint at all, but that’s not actually her talking. But when I listen to it, you’re like, Oh, you know what, I see that now. It’s really deep. When she’s speaking, or what would be a 12 year old girl,
Stephen 10:04
but wow, I didn’t even suspect that. Yes. And I like you talking about that as a major part of the theme. Because when I put down thinking about is like, the focus of the movie for me, what I picked up was friendship will overcome friendship is like family and becomes most important. And, you know, it ties into that all over the place. And even with what you just said, It even makes it more of a theme to me.
Rhys 10:33
Sure. It’s shot in a very muted color palette. And by that I don’t mean they D saturated it like they do in a lot of movies. They just purposely shot in places where all the colors were very muted, or earthtones. With one exception. In almost almost every scene, there will be a small accent in red. g.
Stephen 10:56
We’ve not seen that before heavily. Yeah,
Rhys 10:59
yeah. I’m in it. I mean, when I say small, I mean down to the point like, there’s a guy named Hakan in the movie, and he’s doing something and he has a jar, and the lid of the jar as it sits on the shelf in the background is red. Everything else is super muted.
Stephen 11:21
Wow. So I missed it on this one. I picked it up on Byzantium. Yeah.
Rhys 11:28
So I thought that was kind of cool. This movie is pretty universally loved. It’s well worth it. It was nominated for 133 Awards. And it won 75 of those. Wow. Yeah.
Stephen 11:45
And that was that, like any of the normal American words that we hear over these other international and Swedish Words,
Rhys 11:52
a lot of them are international awards, but it’s not like strictly Sweden, it would be like a BAFTA. That kind of thing. So a lot of it is the sound. Because they they purposely the fully work in this is crazy. Not only did they take things like sausage, you know, like freshly cooked sausage, and they would like bite into it and record it and use that for the sounds of Ellie attacking someone. They made a live sale on the voiceover lady, be the one who did the biting and all of the slurping and everything. So not only did she do all the voiceover, she also had to do so much of the Foley work as well. Unlike
Stephen 12:43
a lot of the movies we’ve talked about, this is like the the directors pet project. It’s the one that you know, and they just go that extra mile. And that harkens back to one of my favorite movies and the sound is Star Wars. I mean some of the stuff they did to get sound in that movie. Yeah, back in the day.
Rhys 13:00
I love that. I do have a note on here. Just before we get into the actual movie itself that I came across that I thought was really funny. The movie is listed on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.
Stephen 13:15
Oh, nice. Okay,
Rhys 13:16
who do you think curates that?
Stephen 13:20
Not sure who
Rhys 13:22
is curated by a gentleman by the name of Stephen Schneider? Oh, yeah, even
Stephen 13:27
though I did that in an alternate life.
Rhys 13:29
Yeah. This is awesome. Stephen Schneider. He used the v not the pH.
Stephen 13:33
Oh, he spells it wrong. That’s my alter ego, obviously. Yes. Yeah. When I lived in California, I was getting calls because I was behind on my Porsche payment.
Rhys 13:45
That really sucks for you seeing as how you don’t even get the Porsche.
Stephen 13:49
Exactly. I said, here’s where I live. Come and pick it up. Yeah, yeah. Who knows who’s they would have got? I don’t know, but come repot
Rhys 13:55
it. Yeah. All right. That’s all the notes, like opening notes that I had. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, if this movie definitely just hits as a vampire movie. If you’re looking for your typical, you know, Twilight’s or interview with vampire This is not it. The vampires in this movie are very beastial they just there’s no not a whole lot of high society in this movie.
Stephen 14:25
No it’s not a hollywood vampires Sunday and rice vampire right? It’s almost closer to the original concept of the vampire No, the the creature coming up from the grave and stalking through but it’s a girl which makes it disturbing and, or looks like a girl I guess now. And and they do hit on a lot of the vampire tropes, but not in the standard way I would say not like, upfront all the time.
Rhys 14:51
Right? Um, it’s just, it is so if you’re looking for that kind of high end vampire movie this definitely isn’t it for you, if you’re looking at for something that’s going to make you think a little bit. And it seems almost like the conceptual mental exercise of working through the issues in this movie are far more important in the vampires just the vehicle to get Yes,
Stephen 15:21
exactly. We’ve said that about a few other movies too. It’s almost a gateway movie. If you’re tired of the typical hollywood vampires, and you want something different, this is a good one to try out.
Rhys 15:31
Yeah. And the movie sets the tone right off the bat, not unlike the innocence. It opens with black screen. And now there’s no little kids singing and the black screen doesn’t last for 45 seconds. But it opens with a black screen. And very quickly, that black screen has snowfall across it and you realize, Oh, it’s snowing and it’s night. And that’s how the movie opens up. And then other night shots. There are a lot of night shots, which kind of makes sense because in this vampire movie, the vampires are allergic to sun. Very much so.
Stephen 16:08
But unlike like the the Dracula and Stephen King Salem’s lot, they’re still able to move about when it’s daytime, just not get in the sun. And that’s a slight difference. Yes, there’s a lot of vampires.
Rhys 16:20
So like, if you’re thinking of like the vampire, or the Dracula trope, if you come by his place during the day, he’s out, He’s unconscious, he can’t do anything. And will you find in this movie, that’s just when they like to sleep? Yeah. And if you wake them up.
Stephen 16:39
Yeah. And that comes up?
Rhys 16:41
Yeah. There’s a boy who is looking at a window. He’s got straight blonde. I mean, I don’t know that you could pick any more Swede looking kind of kid. His hair is like white. And it’s kind of log it. The movie is set in 1982. And he has like a very good European 1982 haircut.
Stephen 17:04
Yeah. Um, he’s
Rhys 17:05
got a knife. And he’s playing with that knife. And he’s doing that whole taxi driver thing, where it’s like, Hey, you looking at me? You know, we’re De Niro’s talking into the mirror. He’s doing that with reflection. And, and this is, I started thinking about this, because he’s saying something about hey, you pig. And throughout the movie, pigs are used as a slander, you know, among the kids. And I started thinking about that. I’m like, I wonder why that is. Okay. Well, pigs are traditionally large and kind of fat, gross looking, they hang out in the slop. But they’re incredibly intelligent. Yeah. As this kid is. And then if you meet, like a wild boar in the wild, they’re crazy dangerous. Yeah. Which it turns out, not necessarily directly, but this kid’s kind of dangerous Sue. Yeah,
Stephen 18:02
it’s a good good analogy, actually. Now that Yeah,
Rhys 18:05
for the insult, while he’s standing at the window, like posing and threatening, you know, imaginarily, threatening his boys and who you’ll meet later on, he sees a guy and a, a girl arrive in the middle of the night to his apartment complex, and start to move in. The next thing that we see is a shot from outside. And we see the guy who’s moving into the complex is actually boarding up the windows with cardboard. So that’s usually not typical behavior.
Stephen 18:44
Right? Now, if you don’t know it’s a vampire movie yet. The very beginning I was like, I know what it is, but I’m gonna look at it as if what could it be good to get those shocks and surprises. And really, it starts to look like this guy is a serial killer. I just got out and that’s a slasher movie.
Rhys 19:04
a serial killer with the kid, right, which by itself is a fantastic, you know, kind of theme to explore,
Stephen 19:14
but and he is but there’s a reason
Rhys 19:17
right? He is he doesn’t do it by choice. It then cuts and we see Oscar in school. And there’s a police officer standing up there doing the whole drugs or bad thing. And he like the COP is trying to make police work look like super intellectual and he’s like, we found this body and we fat we figured it was dead before. And he’s like, does anybody know why and Oscar the kid from the night before is like, because there was no smoke in the guy’s lungs. So the cops like that’s, that’s right. How’d you figure that out?
Stephen 19:53
Which again, makes Oscar look like a serial killer.
Rhys 19:56
It does. Oscar actually starts to look a lot Like a serial killer throughout this movie, he definitely starts taking on sociopathic traits. Yeah. One of the bullies is in the class, and the camera kind of pans back as the bully takes note of the fact that Oscar is just so freakin smart. Can’t stand the scrawny little weirdo. And the bully, whose name is Connie I think, yeah, and then why. And two and his two little friends like corner Oscar in the hall afterwards, and he flicks his nose and calls my pig. And I was like, oh, there’s the pig thing again. But that’s the
Stephen 20:40
that’s when that all happened. I harken back to that opening scene with Oscar that he doesn’t want to lash out to these bullies that he’s been picked on. But they’re calling him a piggy boba and it to him. You know if I had this knife. All right now you’re the piggy. Haha, I got you. You’re so it definitely was that you said sociopathic tendencies.
Rhys 21:03
Yes, yes. And it just takes a push as we find out. Um, as Oscar is walking home, he notices that the windows are all boarded up in his apartment. And then the camera cuts to inside and we see the guy who came in, you know, we’re assuming her father, his name is Hawk Han, or Hey, can I don’t know how it’s pronounced in Swedish. And he’s got a knife, and a jug and a funnel. And he’s packing it all into this travel case,
Stephen 21:35
which is a very nice, yes. Well packed in there. Like it’s
Rhys 21:39
made for it. It is. Yeah. And he’s got this, this kind of this canister with a mask on it to like gasp people and knock them out. You’re like, oh, okay, maybe I see where the windows are boarded up now. Then it cuts to an outdoor scene where he’s outside. And some guys walking down through the snow. And he like stops and asks him Do you know what time it is. And as they’re having this conversation, he just comes out and gasses the guy drags him off into the into the woods. Strings them up like a deer and starts to bleed him into a jug.
Stephen 22:26
very disturbing scene
Rhys 22:27
it is. And then he’s interrupted because some people don’t follow leash laws.
Stephen 22:35
These I don’t know what the leash laws in Sweden are like, though. These girls
Rhys 22:39
are walking their dog. And the dog is not unleash, and he gets interested in the dog comes running over. And Hawkins trying to get the dog to go and the dog won’t. And so here’s the owners coming and he just runs. Yeah. And he leaves the jug.
Stephen 22:57
Yeah. Which I was like, Really? I mean, that’s the main thing you’re after you’re just gonna leave it. I mean, it didn’t seem like he was that experienced at this point to me.
Rhys 23:07
I think one of the things that this movie does so well, is it points out the difficulties you would have in modern society of being a vampire. That’s true.
Stephen 23:17
Or or Rehnquist or Renfield. Or, you know, yeah, that character.
Rhys 23:21
Right. So I thought, you know, that’s one of my issues with like, the mainstream vampire movies in this movie just comes right out and says, Yeah, it’s hard. You know,
Stephen 23:33
you got to feel for him. You know, I mean, we should, you know, help them out a little more.
Rhys 23:37
Right. Then it’s a night scene now. And Oscar is going outside with his knife and is doing that whole taxi driver threatening nobody thing.
Stephen 23:49
He was sweating in a tree. Yeah, it was a tree.
Rhys 23:51
And eally is just suddenly there behind him. Wearing like pajamas and bare feet. And this snow is deep. And Oscar is bundled up with a scarf and a hat and a coat and everything. And she’s just standing there on like monkey bars, like just hanging out. And he turns around, and they start having this conversation. And she tells him, she can’t be his friend. I can’t be your friend. And he’s like, maybe I don’t want to be, you know, like kids will do kids. Yeah. And then just as quickly as she appeared, she she vanishes. Yeah.
Stephen 24:35
But she does say I live next to you. Yes, boarded up windows. So
Rhys 24:40
it goes to Hawk on now sitting on the train, and now he realizes that he forgot the jug. And when he gets home, if you didn’t know what was going on before you start to get some bizarre sense, because when he gets home, he just lays into him,
Stephen 24:59
but they don’t show As her yet, right? figures a little mysterious,
Rhys 25:04
that’s a good point. It’s just her shadow. So it’d be an adult talking to him. Yeah, they were Larry’s spouse or something. Yeah. wasn’t sure about that one. And but she asks, you know, what do you have to say for yourself? And he just says, forgive me. Which, you know, my bad I’ve messed up. Sorry, kind of thing. Um, the next day at school? Oh,
Stephen 25:32
I did see the red in that scene. Oh, yeah, he was wearing a red turtleneck. Which I was like, Okay, well, this is vampire stuff. He’s got a turtleneck. So it’s protecting his neck, but it’s blood red, right? I was like, I like that.
Rhys 25:44
Yeah. The next day at school, the teacher is talking about the murder that has happened, this guy got strung up, and there’ll be counselors available. And I was never a big fan of this happening at school, whenever any catastrophe would happen. There’s counselors available if you want to talk and it’s like, none of these kids knew this guy who was strung up, why would they want to talk to a counselor, but I’m sure there’s counselors out there getting mad that I’m saying that probably
Stephen 26:12
from a kid’s viewpoint, and he wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway. Because that just makes them weak in front of the bullies. And they’d probably just pick on them again, right in, in kids society in school. That’s a big deal. That’s a big issue.
Rhys 26:27
Then one of the bullies says, Is it okay to kill the killer if you meet him?
Stephen 26:35
serial killer theme again, right, but
Rhys 26:37
it’s one of the bullies and as the movie goes on, we find out that they don’t really have the taste to be like, as vicious as they portray themselves to be right. As opposed to Oscar who’s sitting in the classroom next to him who’s one of the kids they pick on. who, you know, when he gets the chance, he takes it, and he kind of seems to enjoy it.
Stephen 27:04
And it’s a good kind of theme is, you know, can you kill the killer? Because it does come back up again. And it makes you question then, our two main characters throughout the movie,
Rhys 27:18
it’s, I love this about horror movies. It’s one of those times where you stop and if you boil the whole thing down, the horror movie is asking the question, is it okay to be happy that a bunch of kids get slaughtered? Right?
Stephen 27:31
That should be the theme of the haunted house we go to.
Rhys 27:35
Yeah. So the the kid throws that out there and it turns it actually is him vocalizing like a theme in the movie, which gets repeated later by eally Oscars in the bathroom at the school, and he hears the bullies looking for him, but he manages to evade them by hanging out in the bathroom. He gets home and his mom is all about you come straight home and write about now we find out that he his mother is divorced. Yeah, it is him and his mom.
Stephen 28:12
So mom really needs the counselor not the gift.
Rhys 28:15
Yeah. Like an 82. That wasn’t a common occurrence. Right? And I at worst, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why the kids you know, the bullies are picking on him. You know, maybe that’s why he’s a target because he doesn’t have a dad around now. His mom has newspaper he steals the newspaper and here’s the next sociopathic trait. He finds the article about the serial killer, cuts it out and puts it adds it to his scrapbook of very disturbing things that he’s been collecting
Stephen 28:46
added to the collection. Yes. We’ve got Hannibal Lecter going on here.
Rhys 28:55
Now Hong Kong goes out to eat because the guy’s got to eat, right? He doesn’t live on blood. So he’s at a diner. And there’s a bunch of locals sitting around the table. One of the locals, the one who will refer to that most often His name is locka. And he leans over and he’s talking to his friends, he’s like, Hey, is that new guy? Should I go talk to him? And they’re like, hey, if you get them to buy us around, it’s even better. So he goes over and sits down and asks Hong Kong to join them which I thought was actually pretty neighborly. From a guy who does not look like he would be neighborly at all.
Stephen 29:35
No, yeah, and the rest of his actions don’t live right. Right right but but I also took it as again the bully thing that he kind of wanted them to join them so they had someone to kick around and tease for the night pic
Rhys 29:47
and, and that kind of had the feel of the interaction. Yeah, but Hawkins like I’m busy and he gets up and leaves just like that. Oscar goes outside that night. He’s sitting out in the playground of their apartment, and he’s playing with a Rubik’s Cube. And he shows up again. And he wonders what it is. And he’s like, it’s a Rubik’s Cube. It’s a puzzle, you got to make all the sides the same color. And the only side that was completed was white. Because they didn’t want to introduce a big splash of color. And every one of the other sides had read on it somewhere. He he says she can take it, and play with it and try it out. Then he mentions that she smells funny. And she should be cold. And she replies that she’s forgotten how to be cold.
Stephen 30:44
Does a great line. Yeah.
Rhys 30:46
She has a lot of those awesome line. Yeah, yeah. So he gets up to go inside. And as he’s leaving, you hear her stomach growl?
Stephen 30:57
So if you don’t know it’s a vampire movie. By now, you really should have figured it out. Because if not, it really seems like you know, Child Services needs to step in here.
Rhys 31:07
Yeah, for sure. And if you didn’t know it was vampire movie till now you find out in the very next scene. Because one of lacus friends is walking home. In fact, he sees locka and he like gives him a hug, and then they to go their separate ways. And the guy’s walking home and he walks under an overpass. And there’s this little girl like sitting against the wall, the overpass and she needs help. She’s asking for help. And so the guy goes over to help her. And she just leaps onto his back. And like, kills him and starts feeding. There’s a guy, a recluse with a house full of cats crazy cat guy who’s looking out his window and sees this happen.
He goes home and then Hakan is like all in their face about you can’t be doing this. This is too dangerous. You can’t You can’t do this. And Oscar can hear the argument through the wall, but it can’t hear it well enough to actually make out what’s being said. It’s not unlike living in an apartment. Where the couple next door is fighting you just won’t. You’re like,
Stephen 32:25
or anything else. Yes, I’ve got stories.
Rhys 32:29
Only noisy enough to be annoying, not noisy enough to be interesting.
Stephen 32:35
Maybe like this podcast.
Rhys 32:41
Let’s hope not. hockin goes outside. He leaves. We just see him leave. We don’t see anything else that he does. Until we have the the reckless shows up at the tavern. And he’s like, there was an attack and all these people come to where the attack was. And they find blood. But no body. And you can’t find the body because Hawking has put it on a sled and shrug it off into the woods.
Stephen 33:14
Yeah. Now there’s a good servant.
Rhys 33:17
There’s not a ton of like, loops, loop story holes, but this is one of them. Because if I’m throwing a body on a sled, and I’m walking off through that snowy wilderness, like two minutes before you show up, you’re gonna be able to track me if you really want to
Stephen 33:35
200 pound guy. Yes, yeah, yeah, it’s a minor loop.
Rhys 33:40
It’s small. He takes the body drags it off through the woods finds a lake nearby. And there’s a drain pipe that’s draining into the lake. And because of that, there’s a hole in the ice. So he takes the body and he tosses it into the hole in the ice, and he uses red, a red stick to poke the body until it’s underneath the ice and submerged and then he goes home.
Stephen 34:07
And I find this interesting because it’s obvious he’s killed people before and brought the blood home. But when she didn’t get that, and she was mad, she had to take it into her own hands and take care of getting somebody but she didn’t bother getting rid of the body. Correct. And one of the things I liked at least until the end, which it doesn’t follow is she’s not all powerful. But She tricked this guy and kind of surprised them didn’t just come up and like pick them up overhead like vampires was super strength. Right, though at the very end that gets a little challenged and thinking but a little but still it’s it’s not the it’s not completely typical, which was nice.
Rhys 34:48
No, and there’s, there’s a scene coming up where you see how vulnerable she is because of her age and our size. Yes. Um, Oscar goes out the next morning on his way to school and finds Ruby cube solved in the courtyard where he and Aly were hanging out. And what follows is probably the most beautiful, tranquil little montage of shots throughout the entire movie. It’s just like this beautiful winter morning in Sweden kind of thing. It’s like the beauty of the day,
Stephen 35:22
a contrast of the night before, we’re not
Rhys 35:25
attracting the ugliness of the night before, right? That night, Oscar is outside and he shows up and he’s very nice to her, like all of their standoffish kind of coquettish bantering between the two of them is now gone. She solved the Rubik’s Cube. You know, she’s cool. Now. He asked how old she is. And she says she’s 12 more or less. And she asked how old he is. And he has like down to like the hours you can tell her. And she says that she doesn’t know when her birthday is. And then she proceeds to show him how to solve a Rubik’s Cube which maybe I need vampire friends. No one’s ever shown me how to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
Stephen 36:14
You can google it now. Yeah,
Rhys 36:17
yeah. Google’s my friend. You need to hear that Google, my friend.
Stephen 36:23
Oh, you might not say too loud. You’ve got Siri you’ll make her jealous.
Rhys 36:27
Yeah, I don’t use Siri. The next scene is school. And I really enjoy this. Because this is what like every teacher ever hopes for she is reading The Hobbit out loud. And it’s that part in the hobbit where Bilbo sneaks past Gollum and all of the goblins and like successfully gets out from under, you know, the mountain. And when she finishes, she closes the book and all the kids are staring at her in rapt attention. Which is just like that kind of moment almost never happens. And when it does, you kind of soak it in and she seemed just a little bit pleased with herself. Yeah,
Stephen 37:13
I usually only like The Hobbit and its original cling on.
Rhys 37:18
Oh, okay. So we’re just doubling down on the Geekdom Yeah. Oscar
Stephen 37:27
Oh, real quick. Sorry. This scene and when I was first hearing the mic, okay, it’s a vampire movie. So she reading some vampire novel But no, it was fantasy which was a little interesting. But it’s one of the reasons I like the subtitles when it’s a foreign movie because you could hear her voice and you know if somebody that Yeah, it definitely would have had different feel the whole movies like that with the kids talking and stuff and yeah, it for for anyone that’s like Oh, I hate subtitles. There is a you know, skill in art to listening to it while you’re watching and reading. But it does help convey the feel of the movie quite well.
Rhys 38:03
It’s funny you mentioned that because there’s controversy around the subtitles. I think Miramax was the one who licensed to release it in the United States. And when they did, they had it subtitled and Alfredson came at them. And was like the subtitles that you’re using are like a child’s translation of Swedish. This is horrible. You need to get it re subtitled. And so they did but like the first two or three rounds of releases that Miramax did have the DVD have apparently horrible subtitles on it. Well, I
Stephen 38:49
question the translation of The Hobbit because I’m like, that doesn’t seem like what Tolkien wrote. I didn’t go look it up to compare but I was questioning. Someone’s actually
Rhys 38:58
pretty close. Okay, I did go through and look okay, and it. It just seems like maybe there was a sentence lifted out. So they could get to the part where he gets out into the air. Okay, um, but yeah, it was it was pretty close. Oscar says he’s staying behind is the teachers leaving the classroom. She’s like, aren’t you going? And he’s like, No, I’m waiting. And she’s like, okay, and she leaves. I thought that is something that would never happen in the States. Yeah, you know, because when it’s time for you to leave, you get out of my room kind of thing. And he’s, he’s copying Morse code down. And the bullies are very interested that he’s copying something down on paper. So when he goes to leave school, the bullies surround him and demand that he hand over what he was writing down, and he won’t do it. And so they grab a switch, and the one boy like, hits him in the legs, and he still won’t do it and like this isn’t Connie. This is one My friends, and it looks to him like, I really don’t want to be doing any of this anymore. And Kenny’s like, keep going. And so he just keeps hitting him. And eventually, they crack him across the face hard enough to draw blood. And two of the three of them not Connie, but the other two seem really disturbed by their own actions. And they all run off.
Stephen 40:24
So that’s interesting the way what you just said, because what we’ve been saying about the characters, you know, looking like serial killer tropes and stuff, but how disturbed are they by their actions? It goes back to the question, can you kill the killer? Right? Yeah, it all kind of ties in showing various sides of it with people changing from what they seemed originally.
Rhys 40:46
Right. And I think it’s really interesting that Connie doesn’t actually do any of the violence. Yeah, I love it. seems fine to be ordering people to do it for him. Yeah. demands obedience from them.
Stephen 41:00
It’s not Reggie and Archie, right? Oscar
Rhys 41:03
license, Mambo would happen since he tripped and fell. He then proceeds to teach you the Morse code and gives her a key to decipher it. And she asks him what happens and he’s honest with her. He’s not honest with his mom, because you know, you don’t let your mom know that because you’re snitching, but you can tell another kid who’s the same age
Stephen 41:26
friends and family, right.
Rhys 41:29
And this is, this is the push, she’s like, when this happens, you need to hit them back. And he’s like, but what if there’s bunches of them, they’re way stronger, she’s like, then you hit even harder, hit harder than you think you’re allowed to do it. And while the advice sounds like it sound advice, it kind of has this edge of brutality to it like, you know, if somebody is going to mess with you, you’re justified and just wiping them out is kind of how she, she put it
Stephen 42:09
well into your vampire for 300 years, your viewpoints change a bit, that’s
Rhys 42:13
true, your humanity might be a little low on the totem pole. She says that she’ll be there to help him if he needs it. And then she touches his hand this is the first actual contact between the two of them. Hawkins watching through the window. And at first I was like he’s being protective and then I was like, he’s being jealous. And then and this is where you’re talking about friendship overcomes everything. Then I think he was recognizing a grooming when he sees it. Yeah,
Stephen 42:51
cuz so that and Okay, that makes a lot of sense with what’s coming up because I was like, with his actions coming up. I love that good. Good interpretation. I love it.
Rhys 43:03
Um, they’re back in their respective apartments and they’re trying out the Morse code and like Hawkins in the way and she’s like get out of here I’ll get out of my way and she’s just blatantly dismissive to him
Stephen 43:18
and it’s very good like to because you know kids are like I want my privacy because we’re doing kid things and parents wouldn’t understand but she’s also the master
Rhys 43:26
Yeah. The next day Oscar signs up for weightlifting because if you’re gonna hit back Yeah.
Stephen 43:34
And this whole thing now so talking about all these things, but you got Oscar who’s basically a good kid, but now he starts changing because he wants to be more the bad kid in a way. Yeah. And he at some point here, he wants to be the vampire. But then you got the vampire that’s wishing she were more of a normal kid kid and stuff. So you got that those going against each other?
Rhys 44:00
Um, that might Elian Oscar go out on the town. And he buys her candy and gives her a piece of candy. And along with the standard vampire tropes, she really can’t eat it. He kind of insists. So she tries one and then she runs around the corner and throws it all up.
Stephen 44:20
So I thought that was significant becoming friends because she’s willing, she knows what will happen. She’s willing to do it. But she doesn’t want to tell him. And it’s like, well, you think grownups could be better? You know, but he says to her for it. Yeah, yeah. And but I liked what you said, Yeah, I took it all as their friend she wants a friend but the grooming thing. She wants both.
Rhys 44:43
This. This is where this is where the viewing like differs between the two of us because you’re saying like a warm friendship occurring between the two of them. And I’m thinking she’s like a 200 year old entity and she knows the last kusile human servant she has is old and is growing up. And I even thought that, yeah, and I need to replace him. And so while you were seeing this as a movie about building friendships, I was seeing it as a movie of a predator, getting rid of one useless old tool and replacing it with another. Yeah,
Stephen 45:21
I totally, totally agree and see that now it could be both at this point. Yes. Someone about her age.
Rhys 45:27
I do think I do think there’s kind of this amalgam between the two. The end result, though, is, you know, the same.
Stephen 45:37
Yeah, I love that. That’s great. Um,
Rhys 45:42
so he apologizes to her, and he gives her a hug, and it’s the stiffest hug ever, because she doesn’t like reciprocate at all. She just stands there. But she says, Would you like me? She says, Do you like me? He says, Yes. Then she says, Would you like me? Even if I wasn’t a girl? He’s like, Yeah, why? And that’s the end of their conversation about it. And that’s one of the hints that is not really a girl, because when I first saw it, I thought, Oh, she’s talking about the fact that she’s a vampire. Exactly. But then finding out like novelized like in the cannon, he leaves really not a girl. I was like, oh, okay, and you start to see the little hints as they fall along. Got it? Okay. Oscar spends the next week with his dad. And his dad lives out in remote, wintery Sweden. And it looks like a great time. He’s like, hauling them around on he’s on an inner tube, and his dad’s hauling him on four wheeler across frozen lake and stuff like that. And his dad has a coat, and Oscar just, it’s read, of course, Oscar just takes a minute just to smell it just to take in the essence of you know, this perfect time he’s having with his father, you know, just to remember it. And you know, they say like olfactory memory, olfactory triggered memories are some of the strongest because it’s the shortest pathway to your brain. And so it’s kind of this really heartwarming scene right now. And if you feel like I’m going to ruin this heartwarming scene,
Stephen 47:21
no, go ahead, you’re probably gonna say something similar to what I’m thinking. Well,
Rhys 47:25
the next scene between him and his dad is completely different. So he really needs to take this one perfect weekend and treasure it as much as he possibly can.
Stephen 47:35
And I also took it as this is the last hurrah of his normal life that he’s about to leave behind.
Rhys 47:42
Yeah, sure. I’m back in town. Hong Kong is getting ready to go out and find a new victim and he asks e li to not see Oscar that night. And she walks over. And like, with the affection you would give an aging dog in your house. She just kind of Pat’s him on the cheek.
Unknown Speaker 48:10
Then
Rhys 48:12
he goes out to a gym where kids are playing basketball. And it really does give it a little bit of a Peto vibe, because he’s standing out there watching them play basketball. He waits into the basketball games done and ends up snagging one of the kids. gasses him and by kids. They’re like high schoolers. Yeah. Has the kid trussed up in the locker room and never thinks apparently, bit. This kid might have friends waiting around for him, which he does.
Stephen 48:46
And I totally questioned this. I’m like after the other scene where he drugged one lone guy into the woods. It was just happenstance. He got caught. Why do it in such a public place with so many people around? It was like, What are you what are you doing? Do you not know how to do this by this point,
Rhys 49:02
right? Um, the kids actually come up, come looking for their friend who wakes up and he’s calling for help and they’re outside the door trying to bust in and Hakan goes around the corner. And he has a jar with him that he had packed up. And it’s caustic material like an acid. The only reason we know that is because he spilled some on a coat, which burnt holes in the code. So he says he Lee’s name and then pours the stuff on top of his head, just runs down his face. And then the directors go right from that scene, to a scene of eally sitting completely isolated, alone in her apartment, which is what basically just happened. She went from being like a daughter to being an orphan. Just like that,
Stephen 50:01
and you know as even thinking, it’s like, well wait a second if she’s 300 this guy can’t be her real father. Because originally that’s what I was taking it. Oh, my daughter got bit by vampire, but I love her. I want to keep her alive. So I’m going to do all these horrible things. But now you saying about the grooming as like, Oh man. He’s been with her for 40 years since he was 10 years old. He was an Oscar at one point. Yes. And that’s like, click. I totally see that. So at this point, because I’m like, why would he do that? He could have got away and Oh, he prepared for it. He knew he was done. He set it up. Yeah, be done. Because of what happens at the hospital. Yeah.
Rhys 50:39
Oscar goes home, goes to weightlifting. And when he leaves, he finds that his pants have been stuffed into a urinal. The bullies strike again, he should buy a lock. So he puts them in a plastic bag and walks home in his underwear and cowboy boots in a winter jacket and the stocking cap, which I just think is kind of like this very pathetic scene of Yes, this is how badly bullied this kid is.
Stephen 51:07
Yeah. I felt for this kid. Yeah.
Rhys 51:11
Ellie, here’s a radio report talking about how a con has been captured. Nobody knows where he’s at. And he’s at the hospital. Nobody knows who he is. And he’s at the hospital. So she decides to go to the hospital to find out. And she shows up and one of the first things I noticed is that she’s in her bare feet. Yeah. And she’s wearing her pajamas. And she walks up to this lady, and she’s like, whoa,
Stephen 51:29
wait before that. Yes. One of the very subtle vampire things you see from a longshot the reception is at the desk, but you hear a voice go, Oh, come on in. And then he walks in. Yes. And that was you know, again, very subtle. You had to pay attention. And it was Oh, check. There’s one vampire trope right there.
Rhys 51:49
Yep. So she goes in and says, My father was hurt. And the police brought him here. And the receptionist is like, Oh, shit, that guy. And she’s like,
Stephen 52:01
you say shit in Swedish.
Rhys 52:04
I should have paid more attention. Yeah, I
Stephen 52:05
want to learn that now.
Rhys 52:08
She says, you know, he’s under protective custody. You can’t go up and see him. He’s on the seventh floor. And then he disappears. Right? And she appears outside of the window. Seven floors up. Yeah. Well,
Stephen 52:22
the I love this because of the nurse who is running out after I can’t find her. And when that started to happen, I immediately looked at the building to look for where she was climbing up, because that was you know, that it’s like, Oh, we got to put that scene into the movie. Yeah. And she was,
Rhys 52:39
yeah. So she is outside of the window. He goes over, like he’s on some iron lung, something to like, force him to breathe. He’s been horribly damaged by half a face. Yes, reel to face kind of character. Now, he gets up and opens a window. And she asks if she can come in. And he like, lets her in. And then she proceeds to feed on him.
Stephen 53:12
He gives himself up, he doesn’t fight. He knows it’s coming. And that’s what I was confused about. Until what you said, now it makes sense. He knew he was done. And now I’m thinking about it more. You know, he was Oscar. You know, he was friends with her that he really cared for her. You know, she’s just kind of tossing literally tossing him aside now.
Rhys 53:33
Yeah. But just like anybody, you get a puppy. You love it for a while. till it’s a big old clumsy dog. And then
Stephen 53:40
yeah, after 40 years time for a new model. That’s right.
Rhys 53:43
So he falls up a window seven storeys to the ground below.
Stephen 53:48
Oh, good sound there too. Yes,
Rhys 53:51
the Foley work is amazing. Now, we see Locky for the first time in a long time, the guy from the diner and he wakes up in a sweat. saying that the guy who reported that murder said that a kid killed his friend and if he if he could, he liked to tear that kid limb from limb. And I think it there’s a lot of times throughout this film where people are just talking about committing horrendous violence on people. And I just that phrase is not a phrase you hear very often. I would like to tear this kid limb from limb.
Stephen 54:32
Almost is like everybody’s big talk except for the little girl. She has action.
Rhys 54:38
She doesn’t say much. But when she does. He goes to Oscars window and wakes him and tells him not to look at her. But he has to say that she can come in and he says see she can and so she tells him to close his eyes and then she does robes and climbs into bed with him. So she got there and she says she flew.
Stephen 55:04
Which check?
Rhys 55:06
Yep. He asked if she wants to go steady. And she’s like, what if I’m not a girl? And he’s like, you want to go steady anyways? And she’s like, yeah, and he’s like content with that. And falls asleep with a big smile on his face. Oh, she asked if they would do if they do anything different if when they’re going steady, and he’s like, no. And then she’s like, sure. And there’s this very tender seed and see like, caresses his back until he falls asleep
Stephen 55:32
with blood dripping down her leg. Well, yeah,
Rhys 55:35
yeah, that’s why he’s not supposed to look. Yeah. The next morning, he checks his window, and she’s gone. But she’s left a little love note behind. And we don’t know what that means. And to later, we might actually get to see it. They don’t show it to you. And the school takes the kids out to the pond to skate. Which I don’t know is either love lovingly indicative of the 1980s. lovingly indicative of what they do in Sweden.
Stephen 56:07
Yeah, because we barely get five minutes at a bowling alley for a field trip.
Rhys 56:11
Yeah. So they go out there. And they, they say there’s this hole in the ice. So don’t skate over there. Yeah,
Stephen 56:19
Americans would probably flip out. You can’t take my kid, there’s a hole in the ice. And they’re like, yeah, just don’t go over there.
Rhys 56:25
Yeah. Oscar goes over to the hole, and finds the red pole that how can I use to push that body into the lake with and I think it’s kind of just a nice subtle way to remind you that, hey, this is that lake. And then some bullies come over and start to threaten to throw him into the hole, it’s kind and his friends rent. And at the same time that’s happening on this side of the pond, on this side of the pond, two little girls come up to the teacher like, we gotta pee. And the teachers watching what’s happening out there with Connie and Oscar because, you know, the teachers know this kind of craps going on. So they’re trying to nip it in the bud if anything’s gonna happen. And he tells the girl says, just go pee behind the tree. Yeah,
Stephen 57:11
I love that. Yes, just, again, American audiences would probably be like screaming. Yeah,
Rhys 57:19
right. The bullies come over and he tells the bullet he tells Connie is going to hit him with it. And Connie’s like, yeah, sure you are. And then he does. And he hits him hard enough that the kid’s ear just kind of splits. Yeah. And there’s that moment, that moment of silence. And then Connie drops to his knees and start screaming. And the teachers I’m sure all ready to pounce. But at the same time, the little girls who went to pee behind the tree start screaming because they found a dead guy’s body frozen in the lake. Oscar’s face after he brings Connie two is nice. It’s just one of sheer joy. Yeah, he is just thrilled. And there’s sociopathic trait number three,
Stephen 58:09
right. Along with that, thank you know, you know, I’m sure there’s been other talk and studies or whatever. At the sociopathic traits of vampires and a reflection of society. Yeah, that shows it a lot right here.
Rhys 58:24
Yeah, absolutely. Um, he gets home and his mom is pissed off and said your son just hit another kid with a stick and he’s in the hospital.
Stephen 58:33
And he’s still smiling. Yes,
Rhys 58:35
he’s still smiling. And she’s like, talking to his dad about it. She’s like, you talk to your dad young man hands on the phone. And his his dad like instantly changes the subject and they’re like, Hey, is the is the four wheeler still running? And and the mom is super pissed off. Is the dad is blowing this off completely.
Stephen 58:57
That’s he made me chuckle. Yeah. It’s like the only chuckle Really?
Rhys 59:02
Yeah. We’re back to Oscar being in weightlifting class, and then in the pool, and one of the bullies seems to be being nice to him. But one kid who is switching his legs, seems to you know, being nice to him. And I’m like, oh, maybe they respect him now cuz, you know, he stood up for himself. The whole time. He’s there he is watching from outside through a window. She’s dressed for winter, which is clever, so as to not draw any attention on herself. She’s just a little kid looking in through the window. He meets up with her and takes her to some isolated place where older kids hang out. It looks like some abandoned apartment or something. Yeah, there’s like a crash poster on the wall and stuff like that. And he’s telling her how he hit Connie with a stick and she’s like, well done. And she’s playing some music and she He’s kind of wondering what they’re doing here. And you know, Oscar still on cloud nine from his triumph over Connie. He takes out his knife and cuts his hand because he wants to do the whole blood brother thing with Elijah is the eighth. Yes, it is. Before blood borne pathogens, yeah. And she starts to freak out at the side of the blood. And he’s a little stunned by that. And she drops to her knees and stuff to lick it up off the floor and tells him to go and he’s just like, frozen on the spot, as one would be when one’s best friend starts licking their blood up off the floor.
Stephen 1:00:41
Yeah, yeah, it happens. And what do you what are you gonna do?
Rhys 1:00:44
What are you gonna do is girl’s gotta eat? So she runs off the diner guys. Are with the cat loving, reckless, trying to convince him to go to the police with the fact that he saw child attacking their friend. yaka was their friend’s name. Yeah. He doesn’t want to do it. So locka is sitting there right next to his girlfriend. And he’s like, you know, they’ll never know, buddy, you know, basically saying I just really like love this guy. And there’s nobody else out there for me and she gets mad. And she leaves. And he goes chasing after like, wait, I’m sorry. And she tells him to get lost. And she starts to walk through the underpass. And easily, like, in a feral form, like drops down on this lady and attacks her, which
Stephen 1:01:48
I liked. And you know, it’s typical, but it’s so she had somebody getting her blood. And he hasn’t been able to do that. So I took that as she’s kind of regressing even more, and having to go out and get her own. Yeah, the hungrier she gets. Yeah, and she’s and she just ate a little bit. So you know, kind of
Rhys 1:02:08
triggered her. Yeah. Um, Locky comes running around the corner. And like, kicks Ellie and he goes flying off. And he bends down to his girlfriend, and he really like sits up for a second blood all over. Looks a little I mean, she doesn’t look like she’s in pain. But she almost looks like she’s coming to. Yeah, like she’s starting to realize the situation. She’s in that part of it. And she takes off. The next day, like his girlfriend wakes up, and a beam of sunlight is coming through her shades and hits her finger and it burns. Check. Yes. And the smell of her own blood from the bandage on her wound. Actually hungers her, and she’s upset by this.
Stephen 1:02:56
Yeah. She’s like, okay, I’ve seen enough movies. I know what’s going on here. I can’t believe this. Yes.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:03
Um,
Rhys 1:03:08
Oscar is back with his dad. And they’re listening to some cool jazz, having a nice time playing tic tac toe. And then his dad’s new friend shows up. And there’s some glances between the new friend that makes us realize why perhaps he and his mom got divorced. It seems like his new friend. This guy is Oscar’s dad’s new love. And all of that warmth that we had from the first scene with them is gone. Now the dad and his boyfriend are sitting there, drinking shots. Oscars completely ignored. And he pulls out the love note that he gave him and it said I must leave and live or stay and die because she was in his room, the sun would rise. If she was there in the morning, she would die so she had to leave. So Oscar leaves in hitchhiked back to the city. And his father doesn’t even seem to notice.
Stephen 1:04:09
Yeah, and this like the rest of the theme. You’ve got change. You’ve got the father who seems like this really great, cool guy. Totally changes to a dickhead when this other guy shows up, you know, treats his son totally different. So again, everybody in this movie goes through change. Yeah, from one extreme to the other. Right.
Rhys 1:04:29
Now here’s Steve’s favorite little scene. Lock, his girlfriend shows up at the witness’s house, probably looking to feed on somebody and the witness who has 8 million cats. The cats all start to freak out and just flat out attack her and she runs the building, covered in cats and is taken to the hospital.
Stephen 1:04:54
I found this a little interesting too because cats are typically in the middle witches familiars. So it’s like, oh, vampires against witches almost So yeah, I know that’s not what they were portraying, but and they just wanted to show an animal that kind of was going crazy and detected it. Yeah, check. Yeah.
Rhys 1:05:14
Yeah. Oscar goes to Ellie’s apartment. And she lets him into the foyer, but she won’t let him into the main part of the house. And he asks her and this is the one time it gets mentioned. Are you a vampire? And she says, I live off blood. So she doesn’t actually admit to it. He asks her if she’s dead. And she’s like, no, can’t you tell in the house asked this. She’s old and she’s like, I’m 12. I’ve been 12 for a long time, right?
Stephen 1:05:43
Typical woman.
Rhys 1:05:45
Yes. And I think this, this harkens back to something you said in Byzantium, that when you become a vampire, your aging stops not just physically, but like mentally and emotionally as well. Yeah. Because at times, she seems like a child.
Stephen 1:06:02
Yeah, definitely. She wants that friendship. You know, you see the vampires in the movies a lot. They’re very hottie and very standoffish, and, you know, I’m superior, and she doesn’t always show that with him. She’s right. You know, grooming him, it seems but also once that friendship,
Rhys 1:06:19
yes, he won’t continue to be your friend until he’s not a kid anymore. Then he’s just the adult who does things for her. Like a parent. She then lets him in and the apartment is pretty much empty and asked her about money. And she’s got this really cool egg thing. It’s like made up a bunch of different pieces of metal she says touch the top and he does and it collapses and there’s a sphere of gold inside. She says you could buy an entire nuclear power plant with that egg.
Stephen 1:06:49
Yeah, now is this the scene where she comes in? Or is that still to come?
Rhys 1:06:55
That’s still to come.
Stephen 1:06:56
Okay, sorry. Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Oh
Rhys 1:06:58
no, it’s fine. The camera pans around a bit and there’s this pile of rings tied together with a string and he asked where she got hit them and he doesn’t she doesn’t answer and at this point Oscar starts to get to be a little judgy like yeah, you are a killer like you kill lots and lots of people and so I might have some moral high ground to you even though you seem so smart all the time.
Stephen 1:07:27
Which is funny because that’s kind of what you wanted to do with the knife Oscar Come on.
Rhys 1:07:32
And she points that out eventually. Um so there’s this weird thing that happens there’s this series of quick cuts. It cuts to the new vampire sitting in the hospital and telling Locky that he must have infected her and she doesn’t even want to live and lucky you know, he seems like a jerk through pretty much the whole movie. He’s actually sitting there at her bedside talking to her so he must feel something for this woman
Stephen 1:07:59
right after he insulted her and said, You know only this guy mensing me right into me.
Rhys 1:08:06
Um, then it goes right from there to a scene of Oscar and his mom playfully brushing their teeth. Like a contest kind of thing. And it has this really wholesome mothering child kind of vibe to it. And then we go back to the visit back to the hospital again. It was really weird thing to interject in the middle was that whole toothbrushing thing. Yeah. It broke the, you know, broke the pacing up nicely. But it was an odd choice at the hospital. The orderlies there they’re gonna take some blood tests and they’re like, you might be able to go home today. And she’s like, Can you open the blinds? She knows she she’s 100% knows. And he opens the blinds and she burst into flames like Stephen King horror movie kind of burst into flames shooting up to the ceiling.
Stephen 1:08:56
Yeah. was a really good scene for that. Oh, yeah, it looked really good.
Rhys 1:09:01
Locky comes running into the room and sees this. And I think that’s what seals it for him.
Stephen 1:09:09
He kind of flips Yes.
Rhys 1:09:13
There’s a scene back at the school, because cuts to the school and Connie is back with his friends. And he’s like trying to bully kids and kids seem to be ignoring him now. And I’m like, hey, the bully lost his power. And then this big kid comes up and starts pushing them around. And Oscar sees this from a distance. And you’re like, oh, Connie is getting bullied by some other big kid but turns out it’s just his brother. And he needs the keys to go home. This is introducing you to Connie’s brother. And you know Connie’s bully.
Unknown Speaker 1:09:43
You can count which
Stephen 1:09:45
President introduced the brother earlier in the whole movie, just yeah, quick a little bit.
Rhys 1:09:50
I bet you in the book they do. Probably. That night Oscar is at home eating and the doorbell rings And it’s easily and she’s like, you have to invite me in and he’s being a complete dick about it, and he won’t do it. And he’s like, come on in, you know, it’ll happen. So she does and she like starts like hemorrhagic fever, like just bleeding from everything. And now he sees that this is a real deal. This is this isn’t messed up. And he invites her in.
Stephen 1:10:26
Which I loved because I don’t know if I can name another movie where you see the vampire come in, and something happens like that. I always wondered. Yeah, which I okay, we’ll take it as the only one. This is what happens because most of the time, like, you know, you see movies, TV shows, they say I uninvite you and they get sucked back
Rhys 1:10:46
out, right? Or they’re like an invisible barrier. They can’t get mad, just bleed up their eyes.
Stephen 1:10:51
And based on their stuff you were saying in the movie, this also kind of cements their relationship that he’s willing to do anything for her now. Yeah. And so he will take care of her she
Rhys 1:11:03
kind of it’s a good final test.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:05
Yeah. Yeah. And
Rhys 1:11:11
she’s like, seeing him practicing his whole going to catch up. And she’s like, you would kill people, if you could, if you could get away with it, you would do it. And then there’s this really intense scene where it’s like both of their eyes super close up. And she says, Please be me for a while. And at this point where the doing the I think I’m like, Dracula had this thing. If you want to go back to then where he could indoctrinate somebody, right? You could, like get into their head, the glamour and turn them into his servant. And I am like, Is there a hint of that here?
Stephen 1:11:54
Yeah, that check.
Rhys 1:11:56
Yeah, um, they’re jamming out to some music. Her clothes are covered in blood, because, you know, he made her come in without inviting her, she starts to bleed out. And so he’s like, you can borrow one of my mom’s dresses. She goes into change, and he decides to take a peek. And this is the part this is the scene that always kind of made me cringe, right? They like show you her crotch. And it’s not like you know, super zoomed in or close up or anything like that. It’s from a distance and you’re like, these kids are 12.
Stephen 1:12:28
Right? I thought it was a, but it makes sense.
Rhys 1:12:31
But it but so this time, I actually paid attention. And there’s, it’s like, covered in scar tissue. Which harkens back to the whole thing about eally actually being a castrated boy.
Stephen 1:12:44
Yeah. So it makes a lot more sense and kind of needed it. And it’s even, like we said about the big kiss in the innocence. It’s very cringe worthy. Yes, it is. It’s really seen when she crawled into bed with them. I even wrote the note down that this is less cringe worthy than what happened in the innocence. Right?
Rhys 1:13:04
Right. Because, you know, there’s something about just human contact. It doesn’t have to be anything sexual. It’s just right. You know, the skin on skin does something right? Right, right. His mom comes home and he flees, she runs away. Locky goes back to the scene of the original attack. So there’s a shot of that. And then the next morning, Oscar is an alias. And she’s left a note saying how much she likes Oscar and does he want to hang out with her that night? Locky notices that the windows in Ellie’s apartments are boarded up and see what just happened to his girlfriend. He goes in breaks into her apartment and he’s looking around and like can’t find anybody Oscars actually they’re hiding under a table but it doesn’t see him. So the guy goes to the bathroom, which is where Oscars not supposed to go. Opens the bathroom up. And he is asleep in the bathtub. Covered covered up. This guy’s got a knife and he pulls the blanket back. And he’s like I can’t see what’s going on. So it goes to cut the blinds down and Oscar yells at him Oscar has his knife out. But you know a 12 year old he would have to like surprise attack the guy but yelling is not gonna do it. Oscar yells and he wakes up and just that’s the end of lucky.
Stephen 1:14:35
Yeah. And Oscar helps. He looks at it for a second and then just slowly closes the door. Yes. Oh, he’s there.
Rhys 1:14:44
When she’s done, she comes out covered in blood. Gives Oscar a big bloody hug and a kiss and says she has to go away now. Oscar goes home and his mom is super pissed off because Looks like he was out all night long. Ma, she’s yelling at him. He’s looking out the window and he sees a cab taking up away. He goes back to her apartment and it’s completely empty. And he puts his hand against the window and takes it off. And his handprints there and it slowly dissolves just like his only friend in the world slowly disappearing.
Stephen 1:15:19
And that’s actually the whole marketing for the American version.
Rhys 1:15:23
Yeah. The next morning, he’s crying about it. And wasn’t one of Connie’s friends. The one who was acting like he was nice to him in the pool, says that he’s supposed to go to the pool that night, and the camera pans back and you find out that not only is Connie there so this is a setup Connie’s Big Brother’s there. Oscar shows up and he starts with some water aerobics with the instructor. And the bully started dumpster fire, which draws the instructor away.
Stephen 1:15:56
Yeah, again, American sensibilities will just leave a kid alone in the pool.
Rhys 1:16:03
Well, then the bullies show up until everyone to get out and everyone does. carnies brother has a knife and he is like an eye for an ear. Right? I’m going to, I’m going to hold. He’s held Oscar, I’m going to hold your head underwater. And if you can hold your breath for three minutes, I’ll just cut you. But if you come up before, then I’m going to take your I guess you know what you did to my brother? So he holds his head underwater.
Stephen 1:16:32
But Oscar’s in the middle of the pool. And he just swims up to the edge. It’s like
Rhys 1:16:36
very obedient very obediently. Yes, yeah. Two of the three boys are really not into it. And one of them even goes over and sits down on the bleachers, the other ones still standing there. And even Connie, at some point, while he’s holding Oscars, head underwater is telling his brother to stop. Yeah. And his brother’s like, No, he’s not gonna do it. And so the cameras underwater, with Oscar who’s holding his breath, and just see this arm holding him down in his head, then all of a sudden, you just see like this flash. And then you see feet getting pulled across the water. Yeah, head falls into the water. And then the arm that’s holding him under the water is no longer attached to the body, and it just starts to sink.
Stephen 1:17:23
I must say, that is probably one of my favorite scenes in movies ever. It was so good because you didn’t see the vampire running around doing the destruction. You saw the post destruction, you know, and not even all of it. It’s just such a great choice for a movie and again, it goes back to the the art piece type stuff more so than Hollywood scream and shutter movie.
Rhys 1:17:46
And you heard it here, folks that Steve enjoys it when children are killed is so important.
Stephen 1:17:51
But it has to be done tastefully. Yes, tastefully done. Yeah.
Rhys 1:17:55
Um, the camera pans back eally pulls Oscar out. And there’s one kid the kid who is sitting on the bleachers is still alive and sitting on the bleachers. Yeah. And
Stephen 1:18:11
they’re, they’re posed in gruesome way. I mean, there’s blood everywhere, and they’re deformed and their death. It’s pretty gruesome.
Rhys 1:18:20
That kid’s gonna need some counseling.
Stephen 1:18:23
Probably the movie and I have counselors standing by that earlier.
Rhys 1:18:27
That’s right. The film then fades to black, just like it starts and the snow starts to fall. And you’re thinking it’s over. But then just to let you know, it’s not Oscar sitting on a train, riding through the countryside by himself looking at a window. And there’s a box next to him. And Morse code gets tapped on the box. And he responds with Morse code. He has become the next icon and start.
Stephen 1:18:53
Yeah, that’s, it was such a good ending for the movie and stuff. And it happens quick, you know that that whole thing is, again, you get a typical Hollywood movie would have been this whole huge buildup of chasing through the halls and extended fight and I
Rhys 1:19:10
need to see to every one of her strikes and stuff.
Stephen 1:19:13
Yeah. Which is why I like done. Yeah. Yeah. That’s what makes it seem so good. Because it is different. It’s not typical. And, you know, maybe maybe it’s because it was kids, you know, they didn’t want to show that could be
Rhys 1:19:27
or it could just be if you think about it, a 300 year old vampire should not have a problem slaughtering a whole bunch of Unknowing kids hanging around a pool. It should be pretty easy for them. And it looked like it was pretty easy for
Stephen 1:19:41
us. That was the first real like super strength that you really saw with
Rhys 1:19:46
her. Yeah. So yes, she definitely had to have more strength than she would appear to. But there were kids. You know, she wasn’t tossing Locky around. Right big, fat ass 40 year old Swedish guy she was tossing around scrawny high school kids and 12 year olds
Stephen 1:20:05
well then I want to see you grab price and drag them through the water from the edge of the police pretty
Rhys 1:20:09
scary. He’s pretty skinny.
Stephen 1:20:10
might be able to do it.
Rhys 1:20:12
Probably the only way I’d get him into a pool.
Stephen 1:20:16
Filipina vampire movie
Rhys 1:20:18
filming him filming a vampire movie. Yeah. So that’s not the right one in
Stephen 1:20:23
Yeah, good. Good movie. Swedish version.
Rhys 1:20:27
Yeah. And, you know, we’re not like, experts or anything like that. No, we’re talking about it’s just our opinion. But when it gets nominated for 133 Awards, and when 75 of them I don’t really think you need us to tell you that it’s a good movie.
Stephen 1:20:42
Yeah, yeah. So give it a try even with the subtitles Absolutely. I don’t know I’ve seen the American version. I don’t remember it too Well, except flashes of seeing some of the scenes. Again, I might go watch it to compare against this but you know, I probably recommend this movie.
Rhys 1:21:00
Again, the American version is not bad. It’s just not this good.
Stephen 1:21:06
Actually, not bad is saying something. Right? Right.
Rhys 1:21:09
I mean, again, use this analogy is be like going and seeing some band cover Stairway to Heaven. Because why would you do that? They did it fine. You know, right, right. If you want to hear it done fine. Just play there’s anybody else is doing is just so right.
Stephen 1:21:29
Yeah, good movie. Good choice.
Rhys 1:21:32
Our next movie is a another end the last vampire movie on the list.
Stephen 1:21:36
Okay, good. And it’s definitely not as gruesome.
Rhys 1:21:42
I don’t want to say it’s not gruesome because it’s, it’s, uh, I think it might be Canadian, I don’t know. Well, it’s
Stephen 1:21:48
got Alex Lifeson. So I would say probably
Rhys 1:21:51
he’s just at the end, but it’s got a lot of other famous musicians in it as well. You play much more prominent roles so we’ll be watching suck next time
Stephen 1:22:01
suck yes movie I got some good notes on it had fun with that one yes.
Rhys 1:22:05
Entering into the horror comedy section of the conversation
Stephen 1:22:09
which I love and I’ll go throw this name out. Jeff strand who I know you’ve read inside was okay I love this stuff. That’s what he does. He writes he’s writes horror comedy. He could very well written suck. And what I loved about this one, and we’ll I’m sure we’ll talk about it is the music. It was surprising. Yeah. Part of that movie that I was like, wow,
Rhys 1:22:32
okay. So get a movie about a band The music better be good.
Stephen 1:22:35
And it was and the way they did it was perfect. We’ll talk about it next time. It’s such it’s well worth it. Awesome. All right, man.
Rhys 1:22:44
Well talk to you next time then.
