Let Me In

Written and Directed by:  Matt Reeves
Starring:  Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Elias Koteas

Sorry for the delay between posts folks.  I have just got back from a pair of vacations and have been rather busy.  So, my first day back, I treated myself to a double feature at the local movie theater.  I went to go see The Social Network and Let Me In for the price of one (don't tell AMC!), both of which were great films.  Being a hardcore David Fincher fan, the greatness of The Social Network came to no surprise to me.  Its 2 hour runtime flew by quicker than I could look at my watch (if I wore a watch). However, I'm here today to write about the latter of my double feature, Let Me In.

2008's Swedish Version

As most of you should know, it is a remake of 2008's critically-acclaimed Swedish adaptation, Let the Right One In.  I remember hearing a lot of buzz about it when it first came out so I decided to check it out.  All I knew was that it was based off a book about a loner 12 year old boy who meets a girl vampire and she helps protects him.  Kind of sounded like something out of a Twilight crapfest, but this movie actually turned out to done the correct way.  Like most highly successful foreign films, Hollywood decided to pounce on it right away while it was hot.  Being one of the many skeptics at first, I wasn't thrilled in seeing an extremely well-done foreign film get turned into a glossy, Americanized moneymaker. However, the more I learned about who was involved and the reception it was getting, the more excited I got about seeing it. 

2010's US Remake

The 2010 version, Let Me In, was an excellent film, but I didn't feel like it was a necessary remake (shocker).  While many hail the original being a 'masterpiece,' I found it to be just 'good.'  While I may have set my expectations too high, it didn't blow me away.  Like most vampire movies, there is an element of romance involved.  However, in this movie, the romantic aspect is heavily prevalent throughout.  I found the story in this movie to be absolutely great, but it tends to be a little slow at times. It is this reason why I find it undeserving of a 'masterpiece' label.  Going into the new one, I was expecting the pace to be a little higher, especially with the director of Cloverfield behind the camera.  Instead, it was very similarly paced and didn't really have anything new to offer.  It just seemed like the same movie, just with different actors and a higher budget.  While this is not a bad thing, I was just hoping for a slightly different take on it (besides the fact it took place in New Mexico).

I thought the acting in this remake was outstanding.  The fact that none of the cast are household names really added to quality of the movie in my opinion.  Elias Koteas (Zodiac, Shutter Island) continues to nail the greasy Policeman role.  While not given as much screen time as the children, his presence was always a bright spot.  Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) plays the physically and socially awkward boy brilliantly.  I can't think of another young male actor that looks as alien-like as him, with as much acting talent as him.  However, the true star of this movie was really Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass), playing the female vampire known as Abby.  She might very well be taking the place of the older Dakota Fanning as the best young female actress today.  Chloe has definitely nailed the cute, innocent looking girl with a bad side routine.  Both leads out-act their age by a long shot.  Both give deeply emotional performances worthy of an Oscar, but they will most likely have to settle for a Teens Choice Award for now.  I am looking forward to seeing both of them in more films in the future. 

In the director's chair is Matt Reeves, fresh off his successful shaky-cam movie Cloverfield.  While I generally hate that style of movie, that may have been the best of the bunch, along with REC.  He also was in charge of the screenplay adaptation, which ultimately remained unchanged as mentioned before.  However, I felt this movie was much better looking than the previous version.  This should always be the case in a remake, and it rings true here.  There is one scene in particular that I enjoyed involving the camera being planted in the backseat of a car as it is flying all over the place.  However, the worst part of the movie is that Abby tends to turn into a cheesy computer character a lot and jump all over the place unnaturally.  While the people getting thrown around didn't actually look fake, you were still distracted by it knowing it was.

As for the blood aspect, most fans will not be disappointed.  The first murder in the movie literally contains a bucket of blood being poured out of one's neck into an actual bucket.  After this, each death provides the viewer with plenty of red, sticky necks to enjoy.  As for the most memorable splatter, it occurs near the end, before the infamous pool scene finale.

On to my recommendation, I would say wait to rent it if you've seen the original since both versions are far too similar.  If you haven't seen the Swedish version, it is definitely worth seeing in theaters.  I would say this one is better than the original, but mainly by default.  The acting and story alone are worth the price of admission.  Even though it is slow at times, most great character studies are.  Its just that one of these characters happens to be a vampire, which makes this a refreshing take on the genre.  Sorry Twilight, but this is how a vampire love story should be told.


Total Score:  8/10
Buckets:  3.5/5



Speaking of successful Swedish film remakes, who else is excited about next year's remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, helmed by none other than my boy David Fincher?  After seeing the whole trilogy, Fincher seems like the perfect man to do it and it very well could be his next masterpiece alongside Se7en, Fight Club, and Zodiac.  Should be a great Christmas present in 2011.