100 Best Horror Films

Oskar: "Are you a vampire?"
Eli: "I live off blood..."
Just when it seems the vampire film is doomed to an eternity of drippy teen Goth-drams (*cough* Twilight), this Swedish chiller delivers a much needed transfusion of ideas and excitement. In early 80s Stockholm 12 year old Oskar suffers daily at the hands of school bullies, and is smitten with Eli, the strange girl who has moved into the flat next door. Standing between a happy union is the fact that she’s a vampire, but even that has its uses in this sparkling coming-of-age horror story.

To achieve the right sound effects, the film-makers chewed on sausages to replicate biting into skin and flesh and drank yogurt to sound like drinking blood.