I was watching "Let the Right One in" last night and I got to wondering how often a vampire needs to feed. I would think once every 28 days if they had drained a victim completely. I'm making this assumption just bases on the human cycle.

Has this ever come up in any books, stories, theories? Just curious.

Depends. Type O is not as filling as A or B.

************Spoiler alert************
Not meaning to derail, but I saw it for the first time last night, as well, and wanted to see what others thought about the original gender of Eli. She tells Oscar that she is not a girl (which could be taken to mean she is a vampire), but then there is the quick peak at her crotch by Oscar (which is mutilated & scarred). I have not read the book, but I saw a post by someone had and it was indeed the case in the novel. As far as the 'moral of the story' is concerned, the original gender of Eli is nether here nor there. It would serve to show that something cruel & brutal happened to Eli as a child and makes her empathetic to Oscar's plight with the increasingly dangerous bullying.

Anyway, the movie leaves loose ends & that's a good thing.

spoiler below:

Eli is a boy. I didn't think it was particularly clear in the movie, I knew there was some ambiguity in it though. In the novel it is pretty clear cut.
I was at a Q&A with the director and he said that originally the US book publishers wanted to call it Let Her In, which said to him immediately, they hadn't it read it at all
But yeah, Eli is a boy. 100%

As for the eating thing... Interview with a Vampire (film) seems to give it a couple days, there's a UK TV series, Being Human, where I think they go almost a week.
on the other hand, there's films like 30 days, where they are ravenous and seem to need it non stop, or Underworld, where they can go into suspended animation indefinitely.
All open to interpretation I suppose.

I was watching it too and had another question, Why did Eli start to bleed when Victor wasn't letting him/her in? Maybe I missed something.

lots of questions will be answered if you read the book. PM me questions if you have to know. I don't like to post spoilers.

you definately missed something !
the scene and dialogue explains why at the time !!
anyways one of the best genre films i have seen in about 10 years, why you lunkhead americans need to remake it is anyones guess !!

americans + subtitles = remakes

American moviegoers are, for the most part, completely idiotic.

Remakes make me sad. But no one wants to READ a movie. Morons.

Anyway, I encourage any of you with "Gender questions" about Eli to read the book. It is all explained much more clearly there, as well as the relationship between Eli and Håkan. Its also a lot more gruesome/horrific than the film. I'm sure that even the light bit of gender stuff that the Swedish film touched on will be completely ignored in the American remake.

They are already planning to redo this movie?


*SPOILER ALERT*

I think I got something different out of this movie then anyone else. It wasn't sweet and sentimental to me at all but rather sad and pathetic. I felt she hunted for the kid, her next caretaker, as much as she did food. The bully thing wasn't such a big deal that the average kid would become a serial killer from it. There must have already been something more twisted in him to take vengence so far as to turn his back on humanity. She sought that type of person out as her last one aged and started to make mistakes. I felt sad for the life that was to become for him.

The sexuality aspect seemed explained when she got in bed with him. She could only have a relationship with him when he promised that nothing would change by her rejecting him. It couldnt be sexual in any way as he was going to become a man and she was going to remain a 12 year old undead child. His love had to be of devotion and not of romance.

I was left feeling empty and unattached from this film. I am always glade for different views on genres and this film had a lot of great qualities but enjoyment wasnt one of them.

Interesting take. Hadn't really thought of it that way before.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Is being remade in the UK by the newly revived Hammer Film Productions, it was announced last May. The English version is being written and directed by Matt Reeves (CLOVERFIELD).

I have always wondered in blood-carried disease could be transferred to a vampire. could the get a bad case of herpes or g-warts? lolz

I got a similar thing out of the film,
I have to say I found the movie weak and lacking,
I didn't care for it at all (being a huge vampire fan in general).
I've debated checking out the book but...
I was disappointed in the movie.

Funny thing, I saw it on Saturday the 14th, as well. I enjoyed this film a great deal. While I haven't seen a whole lot of vampire movies, this is easily the best of those that I have seen. It certainly is different from any other vampire film I've seen.

For those who didn't already know, in some vampire lore, a vampire cannot enter your home without being invited in. I guess that's where the notorious vampire charm and charisma come into play.

I found the film cute and touching (they found eachother) as well as sad and a bit pathetic (He will age and she will not. Also, he will likely become a killer.) I've been talking this movie up to everyone who will listen to me. It's probably a bad thing that they are making an English version.