Vampirism in the Let The Right One In Universe

[Sasutaschi]

I recently watched "Let The Right One In" and it is by far the best vampire movie, if not one of the best movies I've not one of the best movie I've ever watched.
I still hope to learn more about the mythology of said universe, but am unsure whether or not I will read the book anytime soon, because from what I've heard some characters are really different, Eli is not even a girl (movie Eli has breasts nuff said), therefor I hope that this fandom ("We, The Infected" that's the sickest [pun intended] fandom name) can help me to clear some things up.
1. Throughout the movie Eli says numerous times throughout the movie that she can fly, who exactly does she do this. I read somewhere that she can grow wings in the novel, but is she literary growing wings or just shapeshifting her arms?
2. Can Eli supernaturally stick to any surface or is she just using her claws?
3. Wikipedia (though not the best source) states that vampires in the LTROI universe can feed on animals, if that’s the case, why isn't Hakan, just buying it from slaughterhouses, and if it that isn't the case why isn't he trying to work in a hospital or for the matter any other ways to get blood bags?
4. Can Eli starve to death, or is she just feeling immense pain and hunger?
5. How much blood does Eli have to consume?
6. If a single bite can turn a person into a vampire, shouldn't there be more of them?
7. How strong exactly are Eli's psychic powers, I know that she transfers her memories through a kiss, but is there more to it?
8. How immortal are vampires in the LTROI universe, can they only be killed through decapitation, stake, sunlight and fire, or are there other methods to kill them, how about silver?
9. What happens if a vampire dies in the LTROI universe, do they dust?
10. Will we ever get a sequel?

[SpartanAltego]

Shapeshifting his arms is how Eli flies, thanks to the description given when he arrives to save Oskar. I'd say that between Eli's ability to form claws and impressive grip strength that you wouldn't need to have him able to pull an outright Spider Man with his capabilities.

Wikipedia definitely has it wrong, because the story breaks if Eli (who hates being a vampire and dislikes killing) could simply feed off animal because the audience puts implicit trust in the narrative that no easy solutions exists and thus is able to better focus on the story being told. We know that starvation causes Eli great pain, but whether he can die from it is unknown. Given the infection seems to feed off it, I'd say he'd either die or it would feed off his own blood until he withered into a husk.

Estimations have been made for Eli's average blood consumption. I generally place it at about 1.5 to 2 liters total, because of the scene in the novel where a hungry but not necessarily starved Eli feeds off Tommy (non-lethally, mind you. The book has a lot of great stuff) and takes about a liter's worth.

Transmission of infection does indeed occur via bite, but the only vampires we see either commit suicide (Virginia) or actively ensure their prey don't rise again (Eli). The novel actually goes into depth about this as well, during a chapter set from Eli's perspective that explains most vampires commit suicide eventually due to the trauma of living as a murderous animal. The only ones that can handle it are the psychopaths and people like Eli who want to live more than they want to follow their conscience.

Eli's psychic abilities are fairly nebulous, and the extent is not agreed on very much beyond the kiss and a possible field of influence used to lull people into a false sense of security. Vampires are exceptionally durable down to their very blood in the LtROI universe: the leftover blood from Eli washing himself after the "you have to invite me" scene wriggles like a tadpole when Oskar notices it. Hakan's zombie-vampiric husk has its heart ripped out, eye gouged out, and is beaten into a pulp of still twitching meat but still not entirely dead. A sick woman Eli infects and then disposes of by fire walks around for some time before finally falling over. And there's Eli himself, who can sustain such damage like bleeding out of every orifice or being folded in half quite literally when he's assaulted by Zombie Hakan.

Death doesn't dust them, even by sunlight. Silver and other trinkets don't appear to have any notable effect, if only because Eli never thinks to use any against Hakan when he arises again.

As for a sequel, you get an epilogue of sorts in the Let the Old Dreams Die short story, but it's not a direct sequel nor do Eli or Oskar appear in person. Oskar is now a vampire and the two of them have been roaming around Spain, alive and well as of 2008.

[dongregg]

"Welcome to the forum, Sasutaschi!

You wrote:

I recently watched "Let The Right One In" and it is by far the best vampire movie, if not one of the best movies I've not one of the best movie I've ever watched.

You're definitely in the right place! I feel so deeply about the film. Beyond that, I've made some good friends here. I bet you will too!

[metoo]

I have supplied some comments on some of the answers that SpartanAltego supplied. If a question is omitted, I basically agree to SpartanAltego's answer...

1. Throughout the movie Eli says numerous times throughout the movie that she can fly, who exactly does she do this. I read somewhere that she can grow wings in the novel, but is she literary growing wings or just shapeshifting her arms?

Shapeshifting his arms is how Eli flies, thanks to the description given when he arrives to save Oskar.

There is also the episode where Eli had escaped to the roof of the Hopital after visiting Håkan, and is seen by some people below:
Människan på taket bredde ut sina armar, förde dem över huvudet. Någonting sträckte sig mellan armarna och kroppen; en hinna ... membran.
The person on the roof spread his arms, raised them over his head. Something stretched between the arms and the torso; a film ... membrane. My translation.
(Note that the Swedish original does without assigning any gender to Eli here.)

As it happens, I once made a posting about the realism of Eli flying: About wings and flying
Towards the end of that thread, I have supplied a sketch of what I think Eli could look like in flying mode.

2. Can Eli supernaturally stick to any surface or is she just using her claws?

I'd say that between Eli's ability to form claws and impressive grip strength that you wouldn't need to have him able to pull an outright Spider Man with his capabilities.

I would agree. However...
Eli supposedly climbed the hospital to reach Håkan's window. This particular hospital, Danderyds sjukhus, appears to have a very smooth glass façade, so...

4. Can Eli starve to death, or is she just feeling immense pain and hunger?

We know that starvation causes Eli great pain, but whether he can die from it is unknown. Given the infection seems to feed off it, I'd say he'd either die or it would feed off his own blood until he withered into a husk.

Perhaps. However, the infection (the vampire part) is capable of "turning off" the human brain (and with it the mind of the host). Therefore, it is conceivable that the infection might just take over and get what it needs on its own, if the host doesn't comply.

5. How much blood does Eli have to consume?

Estimations have been made for Eli's average blood consumption. I generally place it at about 1.5 to 2 liters total, because of the scene in the novel where a hungry but not necessarily starved Eli feeds off Tommy (non-lethally, mind you. The book has a lot of great stuff) and takes about a liter's worth.

I would agree. Also, Eli seems to require feeding about once a week in the novel.

6. If a single bite can turn a person into a vampire, shouldn't there be more of them?

Transmission of infection does indeed occur via bite, but the only vampires we see either commit suicide (Virginia) or actively ensure their prey don't rise again (Eli). The novel actually goes into depth about this as well, during a chapter set from Eli's perspective that explains most vampires commit suicide eventually due to the trauma of living as a murderous animal. The only ones that can handle it are the psychopaths and people like Eli who want to live more than they want to follow their conscience.

My reply to this is simply: Yes. There should be more of them. The suicide explanation of the novel doesn't quite make it, in my view. Therefore I have come up with this alternative explanation: While Eli seems to take care to kill off his victims because he doesn't wish anybody else to endure such an existence, certain other vampires may have a different view upon it. Perhaps they just don't want any other vampires around, for the sake of their own protection. More vampires equals greater risk of discovery.

8. How immortal are vampires in the LTROI universe, can they only be killed through decapitation, stake, sunlight and fire, or are there other methods to kill them, how about silver?

Vampires are exceptionally durable down to their very blood in the LtROI universe: the leftover blood from Eli washing himself after the "you have to invite me" scene wriggles like a tadpole when Oskar notices it. Hakan's zombie-vampiric husk has its heart ripped out, eye gouged out, and is beaten into a pulp of still twitching meat but still not entirely dead. A sick woman Eli infects and then disposes of by fire walks around for some time before finally falling over. And there's Eli himself, who can sustain such damage like bleeding out of every orifice or being folded in half quite literally when he's assaulted by Zombie Hakan.

About the leftover blood wriggling like a tadpole: This was indeed an impression Oskar had, for a brief moment. Then he realised that the little droplet of Eli's blood wasn't actually alive, but just had appeared that way as it was flowing down the side of the washbasin when Oskar was cleaning up after Eli.

[Sasutaschi]

Thank you all very much, for answering my questions so detailed and fast.
@dongregg
You're definitely right, from a movie-making perspective the movie is absolute brilliance, from the atmosphere, to the lighting, the dark-blue-cold colors and of course the acting (especially from Lina Leandersson). Even the special and practical effects, look awesome, real and down to earth compared to most Hollywood movies with the budget times 20.
I know some fans of the novel might have some nitpicks, but I do love certain changes, like the added scene at the end when Eli and Oscar are using Morse Code to communicate in the train, or that Hakan is a completely different person, who gives the viewer a hint, on what Oscar's fate may be.

"Let Me In" is also a great movie and in my opinion and even improves some aspects, while failing miserably at others.
What it gets right is Chloe Moretz, I basically only watched the movie (2 years before the Swedish film) because of her and she does not disappoint, for the matter of fact Abby may very well also be the reason why at least movie Eli is a girl to me. What it also gets right is some of the music like Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' for You" and some of the special effects, however this is also where it starts getting bad, as over the top as the cat scene (gives me some "Evil Dead 2" vibes, not that that's a bad thing) from the Swedish is, the remake over-Americanizes way too much. The setting and name changes are at least for me somewhat tolerable (that being because we already got the Swedish film), but stereotypes ranging from the completely overaged bullies, the alcoholic mother and the cop, while removing the other resident's altogether just feels forced. The movie even takes away the innocence of the sleepover scene, as Owen is clearly spying on his neighbors in the beginning of the movie, I also didn't like the actor, but that's only my humble opinion and did I mention the mask. Where the remake however really pales in comparison to the original is in creating the right atmosphere. The colors felt way to bright and warm, something I didn't even notice until I watched the Swedish film, but now just seems so out of place and straight up wrong. Last but not least, sometimes less is more and that is from what I remember true for most of the gore in the remake, although I must say I outright love the scene where Abby is wearing her hoodie with blood covering her entire face.

[ltroifanatic]

Hi Sasutaschi.Welcome to WTI.I watched LMI then LTROI (novel) then LTROI (movie) in that order.It was rather confusing.As I was reading the novel I had pictures of Abby and Owen in my head.Then when I watched LTROI I thought I had started it in the wrong place due to the movies starting with different scenes. It all came together after watching the Swedish movie.I have never seen and doubt that I ever will see a better movie.An instant classic that has changed my life forever.Then the icing on the cake,WTI.A place where we can all share this beautiful masterpiece.

[SpartanAltego]

I'd say that between Eli's ability to form claws and impressive grip strength that you wouldn't need to have him able to pull an outright Spider Man with his capabilities.

I would agree. However...
Eli supposedly climbed the hospital to reach Håkan's window. This particular hospital, Danderyds sjukhus, appears to have a very smooth glass façade, so...

We know that starvation causes Eli great pain, but whether he can die from it is unknown. Given the infection seems to feed off it, I'd say he'd either die or it would feed off his own blood until he withered into a husk.

Perhaps. However, the infection (the vampire part) is capable of "turning off" the human brain (and with it the mind of the host). Therefore, it is conceivable that the infection might just take over and get what it needs on its own, if the host doesn't

Transmission of infection does indeed occur via bite, but the only vampires we see either commit suicide (Virginia) or actively ensure their prey don't rise again (Eli). The novel actually goes into depth about this as well, during a chapter set from Eli's perspective that explains most vampires commit suicide eventually due to the trauma of living as a murderous animal. The only ones that can handle it are the psychopaths and people like Eli who want to live more than they want to follow their conscience.

My reply to this is simply: Yes. There should be more of them. The suicide explanation of the novel doesn't quite make it, in my view. Therefore I have come up with this alternative explanation: While Eli seems to take care to kill off his victims because he doesn't wish anybody else to endure such an existence, certain other vampires may have a different view upon it. Perhaps they just don't want any other vampires around, for the sake of their own protection. More vampires equals greater risk of discovery.

Vampires are exceptionally durable down to their very blood in the LtROI universe: the leftover blood from Eli washing himself after the "you have to invite me" scene wriggles like a tadpole when Oskar notices it. Hakan's zombie-vampiric husk has its heart ripped out, eye gouged out, and is beaten into a pulp of still twitching meat but still not entirely dead. A sick woman Eli infects and then disposes of by fire walks around for some time before finally falling over. And there's Eli himself, who can sustain such damage like bleeding out of every orifice or being folded in half quite literally when he's assaulted by Zombie Hakan.

About the leftover blood wriggling like a tadpole: This was indeed an impression Oskar had, for a brief moment. Then he realised that the little droplet of Eli's blood wasn't actually alive, but just had appeared that way as it was flowing down the side of the washbasin when Oskar was cleaning up after Eli.

As always, you're a fountain of insight, Metoo. I myself don't entirely buy the suicide element as accounting for the presumably low Vampire population. There's other factors to consider, of course, the biggest being that it is entirely possible that certain groups or individuals have killed vampires that would otherwise be active. Eli's hibernation state in particular gives the impression of a state of extreme vulnerability: a vampire who picks a poor place to rest could find themselves incapacitated or never wake at all.

I, too, believe that even other vampires of dubious ethics would avoid spreading the infection purely out of pragmatism or perhaps a basic animal instinct. You don't want competition and added exposure in your feeding area, and I'm sure there was one or two vampires who would just kill another solely for the thrill of dominance over another predator. But that's just speculation or perhaps a bit of authorial appeal slipping into my thought processes.

Even accounting for all this, should there be more? I'd say so, especially since not all infection events are within the attacker's control - Eli infecting Virginia was unintentional, the result of an interrupted feeding. Hakan, too. I'd apply the Schrodinger principle to this one: Let the Right One In is an extremely insular, self contained story focused on one tiny part of the setting with characters whose knowledge and perspectives are limited. In a planet of billions, hundreds or thousands of nocturnal predators could eat all across the globe, moving and shifting and hibernating, and never run into each other. The question of their prominence is answered by the reader's own preference.

As for the blood wriggling, I'm actually rather disappointed that that's the case! Between that, the autopsy report and blood work on Hakan, I was quite taken with the idea that the infection is so deep as to exist in even a drop of blood. There's an eerie and alien quality to it that I like, something akin to the "blood test" scene in John Carpenter's version of The Thing. Knowing better now, I still do think I'll keep that as part of my mental canon for writing exercises at least, but it's good to know the difference nonetheless.

I find that it's best to look at the novel and its two adaptations as being variations on a theme rather than just comparing them out and out to each other on a scene for scene basis. I'm one of the rare few that actually considers Let Me In a more interesting adaptation in several respects because of the tone shift and different focuses, despite loving the Swedish film quite intensely. What ultimately held Let Me In back was that it wasn't different enough. What it did on its own was pretty good, but what it mimicked it could never really live up to. That said, the novel remains my favorite even if my first experience was with the two films.

[metoo]

As always, you're a fountain of insight, Metoo. I myself don't entirely buy the suicide element as accounting for the presumably low Vampire population. There's other factors to consider, of course, the biggest being that it is entirely possible that certain groups or individuals have killed vampires that would otherwise be active. Eli's hibernation state in particular gives the impression of a state of extreme vulnerability: a vampire who picks a poor place to rest could find themselves incapacitated or never wake at all.

I, too, believe that even other vampires of dubious ethics would avoid spreading the infection purely out of pragmatism or perhaps a basic animal instinct. You don't want competition and added exposure in your feeding area, and I'm sure there was one or two vampires who would just kill another solely for the thrill of dominance over another predator. But that's just speculation or perhaps a bit of authorial appeal slipping into my thought processes.

Even accounting for all this, should there be more? I'd say so, especially since not all infection events are within the attacker's control - Eli infecting Virginia was unintentional, the result of an interrupted feeding. Hakan, too. I'd apply the Schrodinger principle to this one: Let the Right One In is an extremely insular, self contained story focused on one tiny part of the setting with characters whose knowledge and perspectives are limited. In a planet of billions, hundreds or thousands of nocturnal predators could eat all across the globe, moving and shifting and hibernating, and never run into each other. The question of their prominence is answered by the reader's own preference.

Yes. I might add that my "additional explanation" certainly isn't sufficient to explain the scarcity of vampires. Let's just have a look at Virgina - although she finally committed suicide by sunrise, she intended to feed on Gösta. If Lacke hadn't been there, she would have succeeded. Would she have known that she needed to stop the infection? Hardly, so Gösta would have been infected, and able to continue spreading the infection.

It only requires a very small number of victims that forwards the infection for it to spread - if the ratio is greater than one by just the tiniest amount, the number of vampires would eventually explode. So, for the sake of suspension of disbelief, we need to disregard mathematics here...

As for the blood wriggling, I'm actually rather disappointed that that's the case! Between that, the autopsy report and blood work on Hakan, I was quite taken with the idea that the infection is so deep as to exist in even a drop of blood. There's an eerie and alien quality to it that I like, something akin to the "blood test" scene in John Carpenter's version of The Thing. Knowing better now, I still do think I'll keep that as part of my mental canon for writing exercises at least, but it's good to know the difference nonetheless.

Yes, it's an intriguing concept, so feel free to use it!

I find that it's best to look at the novel and its two adaptations as being variations on a theme rather than just comparing them out and out to each other on a scene for scene basis. I'm one of the rare few that actually considers Let Me In a more interesting adaptation in several respects because of the tone shift and different focuses, despite loving the Swedish film quite intensely. What ultimately held Let Me In back was that it wasn't different enough. What it did on its own was pretty good, but what it mimicked it could never really live up to. That said, the novel remains my favorite even if my first experience was with the two films.

Personally, I came to the story of Oskar and Eli first. I watched a TV show where TA, his father and his brother discussed being a film director, exemplified by one film for each of them. In TA's case, the film of course was LtROI. They discussed the story only briefly, but I immediately knew that I wanted to experience it. The next day I purchased both the DVD and the novel, and then I watched the film and read the novel in that order, in a single day.

I still am most focused on the story, and I agree that the adaptations are variations on a theme. Like you, I prefer the novel, because (for obvious reasons) it has the most depth.

[Sasutaschi]

SpartanAltego that "living" blood concept of yours sounds really fascinating, while at the same time quite nasty.
The infection flowing through, no "living" in every single drop of blood would turn it into something far more grotesque that would give completely new meaning to the word immortality.
And can be even argued to be accurate, since poor Eli is literally bleeding from every orifice and pore when entering Oscar's home uninvited.
Also, do you believe that Eli could survive by only feeding on blood bags or is fresh blood necessary at least once a while?

[dongregg]

...Also, do you believe that Eli could survive by only feeding on blood bags or is fresh blood necessary at least once a while?

If the blood is "old," it doesn't work, but I don't recall anyone mentioning whether refrigerated blood would be okay. Whether it is consistent with the canon or not, when Eli gets to Barcelona in Book 3 of my ongoing story, Mr. Ávila will bribe a phlebotomist or other kind of doctor to ensure a steady supply of blood so the kids don't have to kill anyone. Since I don't have a story arc for Barcelona, it will probably be a year before I really know how I'm going to deal with the blood issue. With a little help from my friends, if it goes like books 1 and 2!

If it isn't clear by then, I'll just make something up. I mean, it is fan fiction, so I want to satisfy fellow fans, but it's still fiction, so fantasy solutions are fair game if the story requires it.