Laisse-moi entrer

Whether you are a fan of Gothic horror or not Let Me In is well worth a viewing and by no means is it just a "scary film" it is so much more than that. Before I go into the film itself I have to comment that this is a re-make of a Swedish film called "Let The Right One In" from 2008 and both films come from the novel of the same name by Swedish author Tomas Alfredson.

The film itself is a masterpiece and hats off to director Matt Reeves for brilliant work on what was a difficult task re-making an already loved film for American audiences (and all those who don't like subtitles). The film is shot in the eerie Los Alamos, New Mexico snow, mostly at night time and it is truly gorgeous and the dark, cold land gives a real genuine vibe to the tale and you feel Owen's despair .

The story itself centers on Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is a twelve year old child whose parents are going through a divorce and is a victim of bullying, he lives with his mother and is dangerously isolated and becoming slightly weird. All his problems are answered when the amazing Abby (Chloë Moretz) moves into the apartment next door. She is a self assured twelve year old who helps Owen overcome his bullying problems, gives him someone to love and their friendship blossoms.

However all is not right with Abby who is played by the highly capable Chloë Moretz, (Hit Girl in Kickass) her performance is remarkable and the chemistry with her and Kodi Smit is all the more special when you take into account they are only children. You feel every touch, you love every second Abby and Owen are together their bond is beautiful yet you know all is not well. Abby is a vampire, she "needs blood to live" and she will do anything to get it, indeed even jump on an innocent persons back as they go for a nice jog and feast on their blood. Yes there are plenty of shock moments in this film it is scary but its more than that.

Like Owen we (the audience) has to see past the fact Abby is a vampire and become immersed in this special and beautiful friendship and we do; thanks to the performances of both Kodi and Chloë, that are nothing short of brilliant, and long may they succeed.

When I heard that this film was being remade in America, my first thought was "Why?". I saw the original two years ago at a festival and it was beautiful, moving and dark.

Had I not seen the original, I may have liked the remake. Although, it still would not have captivated me in the same way. The two child actors playing Owen & Abby I have to say do a wonderful job in their roles. The story is there. But that is where it ended for me.

I was really disappointed, shocked even, to see the use of cgi. Why. It was so not needed. The music, the setting... It just didn't bring anything.

What bothered me even more was that sentimental and intimate scenes which had been drawn out so beautifully in the original, caused audiences to giggle and laugh out loud. It didn't carry itself as a serious film.

I can find no point to the remake of this movie other then to bring it to an audience that can't be bothered to watch movies with subtitles. But what should be realized is that that kind of audience, big screen - big budget, is not there to appreciate the beauty of original film making and non-standard stories.

The original film was a masterpiece. The remake I'm sad to say does not do anything for a truly unique story.

A remake that's almost as good as the original.

What would you do, if you just couldn't change, so set in your ways, with habits quite strange; how would you live, in a divisive world, when the city's awake, while you're hidden and furled; would you hold out your hand, to stave off the brink, would you stake all you've got, just float and not sink; when you look in the mirror and nothing is there, in the darkness of night, only pain and despair; then a saviour appears, with their own set of fears, an innocent soul, undefiled, sincere; someone to trust, a protector by day, who'll carry your secret and promise to stay; unaware of the pact that you've drawn them into, endeavours they'll end up performing for you; until the time comes, to repeat and replay, like a school game of tag, I think it's called child's play.

Let Me In is an emotionally wrenching film. My opinion/review is for this film, not the original.

Hopefully you know that the gist of the movie is about a lonely boy who is bullied at school and then a young girl moves in next door who is a vampire. By emotionally wrenching, I want say how expertly this film made you feel: anger and fury at the bullies, helpless for the boy Owen, sadness at both Owen and Abby's isolation, frustration at Owen's parents, hope for Owen and Abby with their budding friendship, and genuine surprise/horror at the violence of Abby's vampire actions. You will walk out with a lot on your mind after this movie.

Definitely NOT your mindless horror/vampire film and as a movie on its own (not compared to the original) it is capable of pulling lots of different emotions. It also definitely had some jump-in-your-seats moments, too.

This movie for kids? Definite NO - this is not a sappy romance with pretty actors. It is a dark movie with heavy themes. You need to gauge it appropriately for tweens -- it has some heavy plot lines regarding the kids at school and what Abby&'s father-figure is willing to do for her.

I believe that many viewers of this movie are fans of the original Swedish movie LTROI, so I won't be emphasizing on how much I am fond of the original one – and here we are for the American remake.

That being said, I just watched the remake. In general, I am not disappointed (if not a little pleasantly surprised) by this remake, though it still cannot catch up with the original one as a whole.

Honestly, I was a little worried when I went to the cinema, being afraid that the story would be degraded into a superficial Hollywoodian fest of clichés and pure visual stimulations. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

In general, this remake is in line with the original book (and the original movie). Many settings are almost identical with the Swedish one, so are quite a number of actors' lines (well of course they spoke English in this one, no Svenska LOL). More importantly, the tranquillity resembles a lot to the Swedish one. We can tell see that the filmmaker had no intention to challenge the basic tone of the story, a beautiful love tale under vampire's cover. This, on the other hand though, might disappoint some fans who watch the remake in search for a revolutionary interpretation of the old story, YMMV.

Sure, there are still many differences. The first one is the ambiance colour tone of many scenes where Owen and Abby meet. The director has obviously chosen a warmer tone (under orange-yellowish street lamp) in which our two protagonists interact, as compared to the sharp contrast of white snow vs dark sky in the original one. Personally I give credits to that change, as it better alludes to the tenderness of Owen and Abby's friendship / love.

The real gender of Abby is one of the hottest topics amongst fans. Here, instead of giving a direct shot to Abby's under (which I find totally unnecessary in LTROI), the director chose to interpret Abby's gender in a very ambiguous way, leaving much room for interpretation.

Also, I feel that the American remake is more "focused" on the two protagonists than the Swedish one. "More focused" has two senses: in one hand, filmmakers tend to let Owen and Abby physically occupy a bigger part of the screen, instead of the wide-angle lens in LTROI; in the other hand, the director cut many "peripheral" scenes (scenes where actors other than Owen and Abby interact). I am personally neutral to that change, though I believe that we need not give further emphasize to Owen and Abby for a better character depiction.

OK, now time for some negative comments. As a whole, I find the remake's interpretation of the gory scenes as a failure. They are too violent, bloody, and explicit, which, I think, largely spoils the basal tone of the movie, inserting some cheap and inconsistent horror elements in this supposedly beautiful, ambivalent movie.

Last, the music. Here I have to say LTROI's soundtrack totally outworks that of the remake. LMI's OST is, to its most, up to a "hardcore" horror film's suspense scenes, whereas LTROI's music is as beautiful, as poignant as the movie.

In conclusion, a good remake, loyal to the original story. One can tell the director's effort to re-interpret some minor details without changing the story's basal line/tune, though many of the modifications aren't as successful as they expect.

Basic story line: LTROI = LMI: 8.5 (basically the same) Settings: LTROI = 8.5, LMI = 9 (I am esp fond of the colour tone…) Scene interpretations: LTROI = 9, LMI = 6.5 (not so implicit...) Actors: Eli = 10, Abby = 9.5, Oskar = 8.5, Owen = 8.5 (those young actors are just gorgeous – both in Swedish and in American versions, Owen may not be as good looking as Oskar, but his acting is as excellent) Music: LTROI = 10, LMI = 5 (I bought the Swedish OST to fill my iPod. The American one? no thanks) Originality: LTROI = 10, LMI = 6 (afterall, LMI is a remake that has borrowed a lot from LTROI)

OVERALL: LTROI = 9, LMI = 7.5 congrats to both, good job done!