[I'm trying something a little different with this one. There are spoilers and some analysis under the cut, but hopefully the outside-the-cut bits will offer a decent review for those who wish it. Let me know how it works.]

It seems simplistic to say that our cultural romance with the vampire is about sex, or blood, or anxiety about either or both. But when a film like Let the Right One In cuts right to the heart of this by making the vampire a pre-pubescent girl, it's almost a relief. Finally, a vampire film (with requisite gore) that is unflinchingly not about velvet-drenched sould-searching angst or eternal-youth rockstardom.

Instead, this Swedish film (based on a novel) is about a little boy, Oskar, who slowly befriends his new next-door neighbor, a strange, beautiful creature named Eli. Eli walks barefoot in the snow. Eli does not go to school. Eli lives with an older man who may or may not be related to her, but whose relationship is decidedly not parental. Oskar is bullied at school, and spends most of his time on his own, dreaming of revenge he never takes. As his relationship with Eli progresses, it becomes clear that neither of them really has anyone else, and the secret they share unites them in a world Oskar may or may not be ready to join.

The film is starkly real without sacrificing style (except for some dreadfully unfortunate CG cats I am endeavoring to forget about), and for the most part plays out like a boy-meets-girl story with periodic violence rending the silent, frozen landscape. The contrast here, both visually and thematically, is striking and effective, and it's probably the most interesting vampire movie I've ever seen.
( contains spoilers for this film and Martin (1977) )

What's so compelling about Let the Right One In, along with the general quality of the filmmaking and acting, is that it doesn't shy away from any of these disturbing elements. Nor does it give us any clear answers. It creates a world, much like ours, where vampires are real but most people don't know about them, and then treats it from a child's point of view, with all the horror (and sweetness) that entails. The two children together are incredible, and the only reason I don't want to say that they transcend the words "vampire film" is because I think every horror movie should be saying something about our psychology or society. Perhaps most of them are, but few of them do so with the curious mix of overtness and restraint as this, and few offer so much food for thought.

Paris Opera was a living thing, full of a mad collection of people performing and doing their thing. It was somewhat like the starship Enterprise—completely self-sufficient.
-John Mathieson, cinematographer for the 2004 Phantom of the Opera

So my challenge to you: who's who? Any crew, but I prefer TOS and TNG because I know them better. And DS9 (but we already know Bashir is the Persian). Basically I don't know Voyager and Enterprise. And whatever POTO canon you can shoehorn 'em into.

Personally, I want Kirk to play everything.