edited by Jonathan Doyle

Cloverfield [BLU-RAY] (Paramount Home Entertainment, 6.3.2008) Disguised under deliberately goofy, yet deliciously edible-sounding, aliases such as Cheese and Slusho, Matt Reeves' Cloverfield was produced and rushed into theaters under an equally appetizing shroud of secrecy. From last year's incredibly elusive Super Bowl ad to the film's viral marketing campaign, Cloverfield had everybody scratching their heads and drooling in anticipation. Aside from the as-yet untitled title and the Blair Witch-ian visual style, the film's biggest appeal was the enigmatic creature who was last (un)seen hurling the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty onto the crowded streets of New York City. All we knew about the mysterious beast was that it was big and angry. Now that the highy-anticipated project has come and gone, one question has fortunately been answered: Cloverfield was a major success. (continued)

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Tomas Alfredson's Let The Right One In (Magnolia, 10.24) is easily the most strikingly unusual vampire pic that anyone's seen in I don't know how long. The fact that Overture Films and Spitfire Pictures are developing a U.S. remake with Cloverfield's Matt Reeves on board to direct speaks volumes. It's one of the standout originals of '08.

Let The Right One In director Thomas Anderson -- Monday, 10.6.08, 11:55 am.

I spoke to Alfredson earlier today -- here's the mp3 file

Let The Right One In doesn't compose with the usual brushstrokes. The vampire (Lina Leandersson) is a tweener girl and the male lead, a mortal, is a wimpy blond male (Kare Hedebrant) who's in love with her. It has about 50 CG shots but very few are "noticable." The violent moments happen suddenly and sometimes off-screen. And it hasn't been shot like a typical horror film (i.e., in a spooky-sexy-dreamscape way) but with a flat, over-bright, industrial texture. And everything in the film is surrounded -- blanketed -- with lots and lots of snow.

I spoke with Alfredson earlier today, and if the film doesn't make clear it hasn't been directed by a horror film buff, Alfredson repeatedly emphasizes this. He's not Guillermo del Toro , not by a long shot. The only significant Dracula movie he's seen, he says, is the old Bela Lugosi version from the early '30s. That means he hasn't seen Francis Coppola's Dracula or any of the Hammer Dracula films of the '50s and '60s or anything else along these lines.

Just listen to our conversation -- you'll understand where he's coming from soon enough.

The only problem, as I said before, is the title. Who in hell is going to remember Let The Right One In or associate it with tweener vampires? Talk about a title that means nothing -- nothing at all! -- to anyone. Movie titles should be aimed at the dumbest person in the room. Leo Tolstoy knew this when he called one of his novels War and Peace. Although Alfredson's, which is taken from a Morrissey lyric, does sound cooler and cooler the more you say it.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 6, 2008 at 4:29 PM

comment #1

scooterzz says ...

first of all, the dumbest person in the room isn't going to make it through the first thirty minutes of this film....
and, i think the title is extremely bright for a vampire movie.....(btw -- apparently done w/o morrissey clearence because he says he knows nothing of it)...
now, 'quantum of solace'.....THERE'S a dumb title....

Posted by scooterzz at October 6, 2008 5:52 PM

comment #2

SmilingPolitely says ...

"developing a U.S. remake"

*rolls eyes*

Posted by SmilingPolitely at October 6, 2008 5:58 PM

comment #3

Rothchild says ...

This is the best movie of the year. Don't listen to any interviews and certainly don't read any of the reviews. Just go see it. It's a masterpiece.

Posted by Rothchild at October 6, 2008 6:08 PM

comment #4

slutsky says ...

Saw this in Karlovy Vary and thought it was fantastic (it also played here at the Fantasia festival). Beautifully shot, perfectly paced, with a great bittersweet (and pretty heartbreaking, if you think about it) ending.

I actually like the title—it's a mouthful, and it's weird, but it's really stuck in my head. I like the way it sounds in the original: Let the ratte komme in or something.

Posted by slutsky at October 6, 2008 6:17 PM

comment #5

Rodrigo says ...

You are so full of contradiction, Jeff. "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is a title aimed at the dumbest person in the room, yet you have (righteously) railed on it as the ultimate symbol of American societal degeneration and pandering to the lowest common denominator as the means of securing a mass audience. You chide "Let the Right One" as a notably meaningless, boring title after trumpeting the film's other unique merits...perplexing, especially given the texture, romanticism, maturity and intelligence the title suggests. Would you rather "Bite Me"?

Posted by Rodrigo at October 6, 2008 6:25 PM

comment #6

drbob says ...

I like the title a lot. It seems generic at first, but then you realize it actually has multiple meanings.

Posted by drbob at October 6, 2008 6:32 PM

comment #7

p.Vice says ...

Uh oh... Wells is in flat-out hypocrite mode today. All bets are off for the next 48 hours on retractions and random Spielberg bashings.

Posted by p.Vice at October 6, 2008 7:11 PM

comment #8

Rothchild says ...

Why is he a hypocrite?

Posted by Rothchild at October 6, 2008 7:14 PM

comment #9

Jack Price says ...

Do you still think "The Constant Gardener" is a dreadful title or has that even crossed your mind since the film came out 4 years ago?

If a movie turns out great, do you even find yourself second-guessing what it was called or even the meaning of it?

Posted by Jack Price at October 6, 2008 7:24 PM

comment #10

huntermdaniels says ...

War and Peace is a beautiful, nuanced title.

Posted by huntermdaniels at October 6, 2008 7:51 PM

comment #11

berg says ...

when Morrissey, singing "Sweet and Tender Hooligans, intones "etcetera, etcetera, etcetera" isn't he copying Yul Bryner in The King and I?

Posted by berg at October 6, 2008 8:23 PM

comment #12

Nick Rogers says ...

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081006j.php

Posted by Nick Rogers at October 6, 2008 9:10 PM

comment #13

diesel says ...

slutsky: actually the original swedish title is 'Låt den rätte komma in". Try and say that if you can!

btw, I think your name is about the coolest around here. It even beats gruver1.

Posted by diesel at October 7, 2008 2:33 AM

comment #14

duck dodgers says ...

You know what's surprisingly good as vampire movies go? 30 Days of Night. It's tough, it's Underworld-Goth-bullshit free, and the vampires-as-Russian-mobsters notion works way better than it sounds.

Posted by duck dodgers at October 7, 2008 7:30 AM

comment #15

JapAdapters says ...

Wells, you have the wrong name under his pick. Put the right one up.

Posted by JapAdapters at October 7, 2008 8:51 AM

comment #16

slutsky says ...

Thanks diesel. The best part is, it's my real name!

Posted by slutsky at October 7, 2008 10:07 AM

comment #17

hatchetface says ...

duck, it's fitting that a lowest common denominator dumbfuck like yourself would rave about a movie as shitty as 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. Worst of luck on your mission to lowe the standards of everything from politics to film.

Posted by hatchetface at October 7, 2008 10:20 AM

comment #18