Given the background to this film, I must start by saying I have neither read the book it is based on, nor seen the 2008 Swedish original. After watching this masterpiece, I intend to do both.

This is a truly sensational film. When you can't really pin a film down to a specific genre, you know you're onto something special. Calling this film a "vampire movie" doesn't really do it justice, given the preconceived notions most film goers bring to the genre. It is part horror, part dark family drama, part love story, with all 3 categories succeeding admirably.

In my estimation, the director has come on in leaps and bounds since "Cloverfield", a movie with a clever idea that was hampered by a poor cast and so-so execution. Here the director sets a mood of oppression and isolation from the very earliest frames and never lets up. The locations are used superbly, as are lighting and sound to create the gloomy world poor Owen is stranded in.

The film undeniably belongs to Chloe Grace Moretz as the young vampire Abby. This girl is an absolute powerhouse of an actress, turning in a dark, subtle and convincing performance that belies her tender age of 12. If she does not make the shortlist for next year's Oscars, the Academy needs its collective head examined. She embodies the potent mixture of lovable innocence and animalistic darkness within Abby with such ease, you will be genuinely astounded.

If anyone is in two minds about seeing this film, take the gamble and shell out your hard-earned. You'll be glad you did, if for no other reason than witnessing one of the most impressive performances by a child actor in cinema history.