Let the Right One In reinvigorates the seemingly tired vampire genre by effectively mixing scares with intelligent storytelling. It scored a 98% on the Tomatometer. The Tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. It represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show.

Let the Right One In has won 57 awards and 27 nominations. Included in this is a BAFTA, and various other awards from associations like the British Independent Film Awards, and the London Critics Circle Film Awards.

Does Reeves create fright? Yes. Scare you? Yes. Intrigue you? Yes, yes. Weave a web that is spellbinding and enthralling? Absolutely. Leave you wanting more? Yes!! So much so that I look forward to a sequel to see how this boy and vampire travel and survive in the world and how their love will survive. (Elias, n.d.)

Earlier this year, the horror author Stephen King bemoaned the way in which the vampire genre has recently been hijacked by "lovelorn southern gentlemen and … boy-toys with big, dewy eyes". I'm guessing he has yet to see Let the Right One In. Alfredson's film is by turns tender and terrifying, funny and sad. And yes, OK, it is also a romance, albeit of the richest, strangest, most provocative kind. Think of it as a boy-meets-girl love story in which the girl may not be a girl at all, and where the boy knows this – and doesn't care. (Brooks, 2010)

"it’s haunting, romantic, and much deeper in its exploration of gender and child psychology than it initially appears. The mystery is why it’s not obvious to all that there’s simply no room for improvement with this one." (Kern, 2008)