Let Me In

I have seen the original Let The Right One in, and when I heard of a remake I was skeptical. Why did we need a remake this soon? However, I approached it with open eyes, as I have seen very faithful remakes in the past. I thought that the Swedish version was a good, sometimes very good film, but I ended up loving this new version.

I knew what story was coming, but I also knew that the journey is in the experience. Let Me In does a great job of creating a mood and tone that, while similar to the original's, it also adds a fresh perspective on it. That is in part thanks to the director Matt Reeves. I have only seen his previous film Cloverfield and while it is entertaining and rewatchable, I had no idea he was capable of the subtlety that is needed for this story. The cinematography is itself also amazing, and there are some shots that will linger in my memory.

Part of what I liked better in this version were the performances. Honestly, I think Chloe Moretz is just as great as the original performance, but I think the film definitely belongs to Kodi Smit- McPhee. He gives an incredible performance full of nuance and longing, and I do not recall being this impressed with the boy in the original version. I also feel the need to stop comparing them because a film should stand-alone on it's own, and this certainly does. It is a horror film, a drama, and a love story all in one, and along with the original, are vampire films to be celebrated among all the others in this time.

As a fan of the 2008 Swedish film "Let The Right One In", I was originally very frustrated when I heard the news about the upcoming remake. "How do you ameliorate something that is already perfect?", I asked myself. I treated the remake with hostility and vowed to stay away from it. And then, I decided to open my mind.

I attended the world premiere of this film at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, September 13. I am very lucky to live in the proximity. This was the first year that I've attended the festival. Before seeing "Let Me In", I saw "127 Hours".

I liked the idea of seeing the remake of a film that I recently gave a second viewing. I thought it would be a fun challenge to sit there and compare both films while watching.

Before the screening (or it might have been after), the director, Matt Reeves (who launched his career with "Cloverfield"), was welcomed on stage to say a few words. It surprised me to find out that he, too, thought the original was fantastic and didn't understand why he was asked to remake it. However, after reading the book as well, he had the desire to work on his interpretation of it. After this speech, I gained a significant amount of respect for this man.

When the movie began, I was only expecting something satisfactory. But as the story progressed, I was breathless. It was a very captivating, interesting take, and I loved all the little modifications. I honestly believe that "Let Me In" is one of the greatest American remakes of all time.

Nevertheless, I still see the original, "Let The Right One In", as a superior film. Although it may be a biased opinion, I preferred the mood, atmosphere, and cinematography in the original. While the remake seemed to take a greater interest in the horrific violence, the original had the perfect blend of genres (thriller, romance, horror, fantasy). Both films had many beautiful contrasts: coldness vs warmth, chaos vs peace, guilt vs innocence, darkness vs delicacy, and despair vs hope.

I must also mention that I preferred the sense of ambiguity presented in the original. Very few questions were answered, and the whole film was more of a mystery left to interpretation. In contrast, Matt Reeves was more clear and direct in his screenplay with the mystery surrounding his characters. It's all a matter of personal preference, though. I believe that most people will prefer what Matt did, since the original has a certain style that less people can appreciate.

Despite the comparison, I believe that they are both great movies that can be enjoyed by everyone. Fans of the original-- rather than being narrow-minded and boycotting this version-- should give it a chance and appreciate it for what it is. Wouldn't you want more people in North America to discover this mesmerizing vampire tale, anyway?

I really enjoyed every aspect of "Let Me In". The child actors, Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) were both excellent choices. They proved to us, once again, that they are among the only child actors who actually have talent. Now that I think of it, the only thing that didn't impress me was the music. For an original score composed by Michael Giacchino (Up), I was quite disappointed. It was mediocre, in my opinion. It didn't convey the same emotion as Johan Soderqvist's music in "Let The Right One In".

Aside from that, "Let Me In" is a surprisingly great film for the fans of the original. And it would probably be a bloody masterpiece for those who haven't seen it. And yes, that lame vampire pun was definitely intended.

7.9/10

Reeves has done it. Saw this at Fantastic Fest with director and cast present and I have to say I was very impressed. The acting is great as my heart went out to Kodi's character Owen. I honestly wanted to jump into the screen and make the cruelty stop. It was heartbreaking. Chloe is a wonderful actress and she portrays Abby very well. I wanted a bit more from that character but it is good. The scenes together are very good and sweet. Jenkins who plays the caregiver is very very good. His portrayal is a very real and creepy take. His means of attaining victims was chilling. His character climax is great, my jaw dropped.

Reeves does a wonderful job with cinematography and I loved the setting. I have been eagerly awaiting this movie and I was not disappointed. If you have seen the original you still haven't seen Let Me In.

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.

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!