A list of overlooked movies in 2010 included a film that I had originally wanted to see called Let Me In, so when our local Family Video had a special for a month of half-off rentals, we decided to rent it. Those familiar with it may know that it is a remake of the film Let the Right One In, based on the novel with the same name.

I must tell you that you have to forget everything you’ve seen in the latest horrific vampire movies—and by horrific I mean awfully done, not scary, of course—and see this movie immediately. I am betting its Swedish original is worth seeing as well, but can’t personally vouch for it. (Spoilers ahead.)

The film is about a 12-year-old boy who is bullied by his peers. He is very pale and thin, what you might call a perfect target at that tender age. A new girl moves in next door to him and though she tells him they cannot be friends, they end up bonding over his nights spent outside in the winter. He is neglected by his divorcing parents, just as she seems to be with her bare feet in the snow.

You’ll know by the cover of the movie, of course, that she is really a vampire, which explains why she never gets cold, and why she is twelve “more or less.”

The eerie feeling throughout the movie, with its slow, rising tension, harrowing but brief scenes of violence, and aged look in every scene (it’s supposed to take place in the 1980s) make it an incredible film noir. Even some of the bloody scenes are mesmerizing.

The story itself focuses more on the two children rather than the horror of the girl’s situation. Abby, the vampire, has been twelve for two hundred years (according to interviews; you don’t learn that in the film) and relies on her elderly caretaker for her kills. The thing is, you guess early on that he’s not her caretaker or father, since he resents having to care for her and argues with her about it (some of the scariest scenes are these arguments, which you don’t really get to even see, but hear through the walls, and Abby’s demonic voice is absolutely chilling). He also acts jealous about her new friend. It turns out that he, too, was once Abby’s love interest at the tender age of twelve, and has been with her all of this time. (This varies from the original and the book significantly.)

The boy, Owen, does not wish to run off with Abby as the elderly man once presumably did as a child (we are never really told what his back story is); he seems afraid and even sickened by what she is and does, though he does still love her. At the end of the movie, however, she pretty much forces him to come with her by leaving him in a bloodbath of his bullies—which leaves the viewer feeling very conflicted.

Does he look happy at the end as he leaves with her on the train? Yes. But his fate is likely that of the elderly man, which is a bleak future. Did she really save him or further condemn him? It is a very stirring romance, but the conclusion itself is quite ambiguous. Even so, the movie is so well done—the acting, directing, cinematography, the works—that it’s definitely worth seeing.