LET ME IN (2010)

[indianasmith]

(I did a search and found a topic about the trailer for this movie, but not a thread about the movie itself.  If I missed it, mods feel free to merge this thread with an earlier one.)

I got to see this movie this afternoon (we are home on the second day of the ice storm that hit North Texas Tuesday morning), and I was very impressed with it.  It was, I thought, a very faithful adaptation of the original foreign film, with excellent casting and wonderful acting.  The girl who played the vampire Abby was spot-on perfect for the role; in some ways I thought better than the young actress from the original.  The young boy Owen's sexual curiosity about the girl was handled with good taste but not obscured - in a way that was less disturbing than the original.  But overall, the movie remains very atmospheric, creepy and innocent at the same time, and one of the best vampire films EVER.

And, without giving away any spoilers, it has the absolue MOST haunting use of a candy commercial jingle in the whole history of film.

[Trevor]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure I heard that Hammer Films were involved in this. Are they back? Hope so. 

[Mofo Rising]

The production company was Hammer Films, so it looks like they are trying to revive the brand.

I watched this the other night and was pretty impressed. It successfully avoids the stigma of "American remake" and ends up being a good film in its own right.

The rest of this post will be ***SPOILER*** intensive.

The American version jettisons most of the side stories in the movie in favor of focusing on the relationship between the two young leads. I understand the choice, and it works, but I really liked the collection of sad sacks from the local bar. Without their stories the hospital/fire scene, while still looking good, lacks the emotional punch of the Swedish version.

I did like the animalistic/Gollum movement of Abby in her vampire form. Really very effective, and it adds a shocking intensity to the sudden, but rare, explosions of violence.

I think the pool scene was done better in the Swedish version, but that could be because I saw that one first. There's a fantastic car crash scene in the American version.

At any rate, both film versions cut out quite a lot of what was present in the book. Both do include different aspects of the book which are not present in each version. There's a lot of uncomfortable stuff in the book though. When Eli/Abby tells Oscar/Owen that she isn't a girl, she isn't just intimating she's an inhuman vampire. Also, the book has a no-faced rape monster that I can't imagine anybody putting to film.

I really liked the American version, though. If I had to choose between the two, I would go with the Swedish version because it was more subtle, but they're both very good films.

[indianasmith]

I'm not sure which one I would choose.  Both had some real strong points; both had some scenes that were awkward.  The bullies in the Swedish version were so overplayed as to be unbelievable; the American bullies were a bit more realistic.  I think that this is definitely a cut above most American remakes.

[Hammock Rider]

Thanks. i was debating whether or not to watch this. I think I'll give it a shot.

[Couchtr26]

I'm not sure which one I would choose.  Both had some real strong points; both had some scenes that were awkward.  The bullies in the Swedish version were so overplayed as to be unbelievable; the American bullies were a bit more realistic.  I think that this is definitely a cut above most American remakes.

The bullies from the original threw me quite a bit in their scenes.  They seemed cartoonish in a way.  I haven't had a chance to catch the remake but the original was very good and would like to see the remake to see the differences or different ideas.  However, all told the story portrayed properly is excellent. 

[HarlotBug3]

Let me in was a different adaptation of the novel than Let the Right one In. Both were primarily strong in their own right and reading the novel is high on my list.

See them both. I'm not sure if one is best watched before the other, only that I was expecting to be disappointed with American version and that might have led to the old 'it was good but expecting crap made it seem great.'

 

[BTM]

I wanted to jump in as the original film is one of my favorite movies.

Me, personally, I didn't like the original nearly as much as the remake. For starters, I didn't really care for the "every night scene is orange overcast" and certain other aspects in the look of the remake.

I didn't care for the way the film handled several of the scenes. For starters, I thought the CGI was a bit overdone. I thought the "puberty gone bad" look they gave Abby for when she goes without feeding for awhile was horrible, and I didn't like the way she was bouncing around off the walls like a monkey on crack while attacking people. To me, that just took me out of the realism of the story

Probably the biggest thing though is a LOT of the ambiguity of the storyline is taken away with the remake. In the original there's a few different ways you can interpret the motivations of the various characters, but the remake strips most of that away. Now, I admit, I'm biased, I personal prefer the "two lost souls finding each other" view of the original film rather than the "scheming, ages-old vampire finds a new slave" version. But the remake goes full out with idea that Abby (Eli in the original) is nothing more than a cold-hearted manipulator.

What I mean, you ask? Well, for starters, we see a photo of Abby and a younger (about Owen's age) version of her "dad" in the apartment. In the original the relationship between Eli and her "father" is quite vague (although the novel fills in this background detail) so, you don't really know why they're together and it can be view more than one way.

In addition, after the "hemorrhage" scene, Owen asks Abby if she could have died if she lost too much blood, Abby just rather casually responds, "I knew you wouldn't let me die." That just goes off as really... well, icy.

The remake turns their relationship from something special into Owen being just another caretaker. Hell, even the actor who played the boy said in an interview that when Owne dies, Abby will just find someone new.

Anyway, that's my take on it.