I often visit the foreign film rack at my local video rental store because some true treasures can often be found there. About a year or so ago I came across a film that had been released in 2008 directed by Swedish Director Tomas Alfredson, entitled Let The Right One In. The movie was produced from the novel and screenplay written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and what I witnessed was a true cinematic experience which was not soon forgotten.
While horror films only take up a small portion of my ever expanding DVD collection, this was one that I considered to be a true cinematic experience. In 2009, when New Moon released the first of its series, I could not help but think of this Swedish film. While the film and story were totally different, they had one common thread with retrospect to falling in love and allowing the wrong person, or should I say “being”, into your life.
This past weekend, the American remake of the original Swedish film was released and I could not resist going to see it, wondering if they had done it justice. Much to my great surprise I really enjoyed the movie from its opening scenes to the conclusion of the movie.
The first thing I noticed was that Director Matt Reeves knew exactly what he was doing by staying with the original screenplay. By using flash backs and additional sequences, while short, he brought much more meaning to the story that had been so subtle in the original movie that they were missed in my viewing. The camera work was well done, using a variety of close-ups and creative lighting, thereby creating a masterpiece without having to rely on a lot of special effect work afterwards. The musical score was also well done. It didn’t detract from the film but rather enhanced the especially intense scenes which, even though I knew the story well, brought more excitement to the viewing.
To be honest, what made me go to the cinema rather than wait for the DVD was the fact that young Kodi Smit-McPhee ,who I best remembered for his recent acting roles in The Road (2009) and Romulus, My Father (2007), was playing the lead character (Owen). Having seen both of those films, I knew this young Australian was an amazing little actor and I could not wait to see how much he had grown in his abilities.
Of course Chloe Moretz (Abby), whom I had just seen in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Kick-Ass was also the clincher to my decision to go. These two youngsters possessed the perfect magnetism that was necessary to bring this story to fulfillment on the screen and drew me in like a moth to the flame with their flawless acting abilities.
Because this film was just released, I do not want to give away any of the added sequences or variations to the original film. But what I will say is that this film is a must see for those of you who enjoy vampire movies. Not only does it contain the suspense you enjoy, it also will haunt your mind and make you think twice about looking in the back seat of your dimly lit car before you sit behind the steering wheel.
Take my word for it. Let Me In is captivating, well directed, scripted, and casted and will definitely be taking its place on my DVD shelf in a few months. That being said should be enough, because like I said, I only choose a very few select films in that category for my own collection. Let Me In is worthy of the placement.
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I did watch the film yesterday ( thankfully not in the cinema ) – and honestly I did not like it. The whole atmosphere is gone – and trough the musical score was intriguing at times to me the whole idea was weakened . When it comes to the actors – the only one whose performance I really liked was Kodi Smit-McPhee – but that was not a surprise after seeing him in ” Marching Jack ” ( https://theskykid.com/movies/matching-jack-2010/ )
I must say that as it is evident from my previous comment – I had high expectations about the film and now my opinion is quite similar to the one that Felix wrote .
Ironcell, Thank you for your comment! You were able to summarize my feelings with fewer words than I! Of course, I agree that this film was an exception from the norm and this is exactly why I wanted to give it the praise I felt it deserved. For me ,this movie helped bring the loose ends together that the first one left out. Especially with respect to the relationship of her caretaker. Maybe I just overlooked this in the first film but it was clearly made evident in the new version. Thanks again for taking the time to express your feelings about the film.
What is it with Americans and their ignorance about other countries?
Let The Right One In is from Sweden, not Norway.
On a different note: Let Me In was crap compared to the original. They ruined pretty much everything about it. And what for? Because Americans can’t be bothered to see films with subtitles.
Oh I just noted the country mistake , will fix it. In general I tend to share your feelings towards remakes – and I have been refusing to even hear of this remake. Yet I tend to trust the opinion of the author of the review above based on other films we have discussed – yet as I am yet to see Let me in , I can`t yet comment on the film itself . However I did like the original as you may read in my review : https://theskykid.com/movies/let-the-right-one-in-2008-review/
Felix,
I apologize for the error! I’d like to say I did that purposely just to get a comment but I’m afraid that was not the case. I was working on two articles at the time and I feature a duo from Norway and I must have had them on the brain. You can clearly see that my first paragraph clearly stated Swedish Director so it was not ignorance just an error. As far as your opinion you are certainly welcome to it and I thank you for expressing it. I normally do not like American remakes of foreign films and I watch plenty of foreign films. Yes I need subtitles for most of them but I quite frankly enjoy using them. I will continue to speak highly of this new movie however, as I thought the added scenes (especially the one where a photo is discovered of Abby’s caretaker) was a work of genius. The Director’s use of flash backs giving a new opening was also well done. He did not deviate from the screenplay much at all.
Of course this is not to take anything from the original film. I have praised that on other billboards and places that I have found reviews written. Both films are worth seeing and owning. At least they are for my collection!
I must admit that after reading the review and watching the trailer ( for a very first time ) I am now considering a trip to the cinema as well. The music really seems perfect for a horror flick and now that you mention it I think that the cast is selected quite well . And this is coming from someone who stated that remakes…oh well will watch it . Thank for inspiring me to