The Rolling Stone in its glowing review of “Let The Right One In,” recommended seeing the Swedish film before the Hollywood version screws it up. Nobody expects a remake to be as good, or any good. Well, this time they’re wrong—“Let Me In” may not as good, but it is pretty close to as good, as the original.
The original is one of the best vampire movies ever made, I even read the novel. I’m a vampire film aficionado.
Essentially, the plot is thus: Owen is a bullied young lad whose parent’s are divorcing. A strange young girl and what seems to be her father move into the housing complex. The older man kills people and drains their blood, which he bumbles and eventually is hospitalized after one such incident goes awry. The boy and girl start a relationship, he loves her in spite of her being a vampire and he winds up leaving with her—after she murders some of the bullies—taking the Renfield role of the older man—who we find out was probably the young boy several decades earlier. It’s a great, gnarly tale thick with a universal subtext—there’s no love as powerful as your first love. Vampire stories are generally metaphors for something else, often fear of death, until the 90s other metaphors such as AIDS (The Blade trilogy) began to find some traction. I like the Twilight films, but their fear of sex metaphors are very unsettling, and not in a good way. The Let the Right One In metaphor feels very fresh, and the young gal, unlike say, Twilight—is a real monster, a monster only a boy in love could love.
Rolling Stone’s expectations were misguided. Let Me In is an enjoyable, respectable entry into the vampire genre.
I agree with you, why do we need remakes and the original is always better. But luckily, the American is almost as good and that almost can be qualified by it simply not being as fresh and new, aspects the filmmaker can do nothing about.
Although the new setting of New Mexico, the U.S. film is pretty faithful to the Swedish film. Both films are set in lower middle class housing projects on the outskirts, surrounded by woods. It is winter (longer nights), lots of snow, creating a cold and claustrophobic atmosphere. Both films take place in the 80s, which the U.S. version creates with flashed of Ronnie on the T.V. and 80s music, which by the way still sucks. I guess for Generation X (and Y) this is their childhood, and they are Children of the Damned, the damned being those baby boomers who ruined our American Family with their drugs, long hair, divorces and sexual revolution. At the time, X/Y was referred to by marketers as the baby boomlet. The era in this story is set has a resonance with folks now in their late 20s and 30s; it’s their Wonder Years. Footage of Ronald Reagan as President is so creepy—the Reagan era ended in 2008 and there is a feeling that I believe is fact, is that he was one of the worst presidents and put this country on a path towards a militaristic two tier society that W. (hands down, worst president) completed. Reagan in the background, rubric cubes, Pac-Man and that awful 80s music (do you really want to hurt me...) enhance the creepiness of this film. It’s the subconscious nightmare of young (and hey, Friends and Slackers, not so young!) adults.
The film seems to have a little bit of a higher budget than the original, but it is not glitzy. Maybe slicker, but only by degrees; it is not overly Hollywood. The camera has more motion, not a negative augmentation. The special effects are enhanced; we get the evil contact lenses during the feeding times. This doesn’t hinder the film. The minor characters get slightly changed. Let The Right One In/Let Me In is a vampire saga without a Van Helsing (that’s Buffy for you youngsters) character, in the Swedish film the boyfriend of one of the victims susses out that the deaths are vampire related and attempts to slay the little monster. In the U.S., a hapless police detective (an augmentation of a detective character in the original) gets that job, but is equally clueless—he thinks the blood drained corpses are the work of Satanists (another 80s fear). The changes occurring during the translation from Swedish to American are simply tweaks however. They do not change—or distract—from the story.
The director—who made the very entertaining Cloverfield—might even be a better film maker than the Swede. He seems to have more technique. Except for the police detective, few adults are seen. Owen’s mother is never seen fully, his father is reduced to a voice on the phone, teachers are seen briefly, barely registering. This choice enhanced the childhood world of the story, deepening the film and furthering the horror.
I love the vampire, what a great monster—the blessing and curse of eternal youth, the need to kill by drinking blood—no wonder it keeps getting reinvented. But we are so familiar with these eternal blood suckers they tend not to be scary—fascinating, yes, horrifying not so much. Let the Right One In was genuinely scary vampire film, a rare feat. As Chucky and Pet Sematary know, a child monster, now that’s a monster. Anyone who has been or knows any 12 years old understands their propensity towards cruelty. Chloe Moretz, who plays Abby plays the adorable 12 year old girl any lonely 12 year old boy could fall far, but you never how much of an act it is for this immortal, because she embodies the character of the monster so well—a being that has to kill to live and someone who has been 12 for a very long time. It’s a multi-dimensional performance that underlies the very unsettling core of this character—evil is a handicap we learn to cope with, and learning to cope means enticing others to help you live. She is a special needs child, but that special need just happens to be vampirism; it’s easy to resign yourself to evil if it is the only way to survive. Let Me In likewise is pretty darn scary, doubly rare for an American vampire film and remake.
This film will forever have an asterisk, (not my rating ones) because it is a remake, but dismissing for that reason is simply an act of snobbery. Rating it though is tricky because I already knew the story. I faced a similar dilemma with the Shining. So, the rating here is done on a curve. I have to forget that I know the story—quite frankly, the story itself has gotten so well known that it is hard to tell—nobody goes into either version not knowing the little girl is Nosferatu.
For an explanation of this rating system click here.
Let Me In
Scary ****
Creepy *****
Jolts **
Suspense ****
Believability *****
Total: **** Good
Yes, a good horror film, rare for a vampire film, unexpected for a remake. The American version does justice to one of the most original vampire films since The Addiction by Abel Ferrara.
The original is one of the best vampire movies ever made, I even read the novel. I’m a vampire film aficionado.
Essentially, the plot is thus: Owen is a bullied young lad whose parent’s are divorcing. A strange young girl and what seems to be her father move into the housing complex. The older man kills people and drains their blood, which he bumbles and eventually is hospitalized after one such incident goes awry. The boy and girl start a relationship, he loves her in spite of her being a vampire and he winds up leaving with her—after she murders some of the bullies—taking the Renfield role of the older man—who we find out was probably the young boy several decades earlier. It’s a great, gnarly tale thick with a universal subtext—there’s no love as powerful as your first love. Vampire stories are generally metaphors for something else, often fear of death, until the 90s other metaphors such as AIDS (The Blade trilogy) began to find some traction. I like the Twilight films, but their fear of sex metaphors are very unsettling, and not in a good way. The Let the Right One In metaphor feels very fresh, and the young gal, unlike say, Twilight—is a real monster, a monster only a boy in love could love.
Rolling Stone’s expectations were misguided. Let Me In is an enjoyable, respectable entry into the vampire genre.
I agree with you, why do we need remakes and the original is always better. But luckily, the American is almost as good and that almost can be qualified by it simply not being as fresh and new, aspects the filmmaker can do nothing about.
Although the new setting of New Mexico, the U.S. film is pretty faithful to the Swedish film. Both films are set in lower middle class housing projects on the outskirts, surrounded by woods. It is winter (longer nights), lots of snow, creating a cold and claustrophobic atmosphere. Both films take place in the 80s, which the U.S. version creates with flashed of Ronnie on the T.V. and 80s music, which by the way still sucks. I guess for Generation X (and Y) this is their childhood, and they are Children of the Damned, the damned being those baby boomers who ruined our American Family with their drugs, long hair, divorces and sexual revolution. At the time, X/Y was referred to by marketers as the baby boomlet. The era in this story is set has a resonance with folks now in their late 20s and 30s; it’s their Wonder Years. Footage of Ronald Reagan as President is so creepy—the Reagan era ended in 2008 and there is a feeling that I believe is fact, is that he was one of the worst presidents and put this country on a path towards a militaristic two tier society that W. (hands down, worst president) completed. Reagan in the background, rubric cubes, Pac-Man and that awful 80s music (do you really want to hurt me...) enhance the creepiness of this film. It’s the subconscious nightmare of young (and hey, Friends and Slackers, not so young!) adults.
The film seems to have a little bit of a higher budget than the original, but it is not glitzy. Maybe slicker, but only by degrees; it is not overly Hollywood. The camera has more motion, not a negative augmentation. The special effects are enhanced; we get the evil contact lenses during the feeding times. This doesn’t hinder the film. The minor characters get slightly changed. Let The Right One In/Let Me In is a vampire saga without a Van Helsing (that’s Buffy for you youngsters) character, in the Swedish film the boyfriend of one of the victims susses out that the deaths are vampire related and attempts to slay the little monster. In the U.S., a hapless police detective (an augmentation of a detective character in the original) gets that job, but is equally clueless—he thinks the blood drained corpses are the work of Satanists (another 80s fear). The changes occurring during the translation from Swedish to American are simply tweaks however. They do not change—or distract—from the story.
The director—who made the very entertaining Cloverfield—might even be a better film maker than the Swede. He seems to have more technique. Except for the police detective, few adults are seen. Owen’s mother is never seen fully, his father is reduced to a voice on the phone, teachers are seen briefly, barely registering. This choice enhanced the childhood world of the story, deepening the film and furthering the horror.
I love the vampire, what a great monster—the blessing and curse of eternal youth, the need to kill by drinking blood—no wonder it keeps getting reinvented. But we are so familiar with these eternal blood suckers they tend not to be scary—fascinating, yes, horrifying not so much. Let the Right One In was genuinely scary vampire film, a rare feat. As Chucky and Pet Sematary know, a child monster, now that’s a monster. Anyone who has been or knows any 12 years old understands their propensity towards cruelty. Chloe Moretz, who plays Abby plays the adorable 12 year old girl any lonely 12 year old boy could fall far, but you never how much of an act it is for this immortal, because she embodies the character of the monster so well—a being that has to kill to live and someone who has been 12 for a very long time. It’s a multi-dimensional performance that underlies the very unsettling core of this character—evil is a handicap we learn to cope with, and learning to cope means enticing others to help you live. She is a special needs child, but that special need just happens to be vampirism; it’s easy to resign yourself to evil if it is the only way to survive. Let Me In likewise is pretty darn scary, doubly rare for an American vampire film and remake.
This film will forever have an asterisk, (not my rating ones) because it is a remake, but dismissing for that reason is simply an act of snobbery. Rating it though is tricky because I already knew the story. I faced a similar dilemma with the Shining. So, the rating here is done on a curve. I have to forget that I know the story—quite frankly, the story itself has gotten so well known that it is hard to tell—nobody goes into either version not knowing the little girl is Nosferatu.
For an explanation of this rating system click here.
Let Me In
Scary ****
Creepy *****
Jolts **
Suspense ****
Believability *****
Total: **** Good
Yes, a good horror film, rare for a vampire film, unexpected for a remake. The American version does justice to one of the most original vampire films since The Addiction by Abel Ferrara.
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