Vampires have been having a bit of a bad time recently. Gone are the days of the Lost Boys, Nosferatu and Kathryn Bigelows criminally underrated debut Near Dark. At the moment, if theyre not sparkly abstinence promoting protagonists of a middle-aged womans glorified fan fiction (Twilight), then theyre glossed up, morally dubious, sexually obsessed yuppie types (True Blood). Its a sad fall from grace for the princes of darkness and as long as bored teenagers continue to feel angsty every time they have to stare real life in the face, it seems as though the descent will continue for the foreseeable future.
Occasionally though, vampires catch a break. Joss Whedon combined their romantic allure with their primal violence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and in doing so created one of the best TV series of the modern age. And last year, Swedens burgeoning film industry churned out a film called Let The Right One In, a beautiful, eerie story of childhood innocence juxtaposed with bloody undead murdering. It was a smash hit in its native country, and when it was released to critical and commercial success worldwide, the words US remake were never going to be far away.
Whether Let Me In is worthy of that dreaded prefix is a matter of some debate. The story is identical alienated young boy (Kodi Smitt-McPhee) befriends new neighbour Abby (Chloe Moretz), who is perfectly nice apart from an aversion to sunlight, the inability to enter peoples homes without invitation and the trail of bloodless corpses that follow her wherever she goes and the style and feel of the film are, give or take, almost identical. However, director Matt Reeves has insisted time and time again that this is not a remake of the film, but a reimagining of the original novel. He even states he went as far as to tell his cast and crew not to watch or re-watch the previous film for fear of tainting their imaginations.
Whatever the case may be, the idea that Let The Right One In could be improved upon is farcical, and Reeves interpretation will do little to sway opinions. Whilst not a terrible film by any stretch of the imagination, Let Me In is a perfect demonstration of how Hollywood rarely grasps the art of the subtle narrative. It is, for lack of a better phrase, a diet version of its parent film.
What Let Me In lacks is a bit of peace and quiet. This interpretation begins violently and never really allows the energy to drop from then on. In contrast, Let The Right One In was so relaxed and understated at first that, when the claret did start to flow, it was placed in even starker contrast against the playful, almost gentle nature of the story up to that point. Like a good piece of classical music, it started softly and built up to a crescendo, rather than turning the dial up to eleven in the first verse.
The underlying bleakness of the story arc is also rather shoved in our faces here. In Let The Right One In, the consequences of Eli and Oskars relationship dont reveal themselves until almost the final frames of the movie. Here, the sense of doom is thrust front and centre from a much earlier point in the story. Sure, it becomes an easier concept to grasp in its immediacy, but losing the contemplative element is much less satisfying for the audience in the long run.
All these unfavourable comparisons rather do the film a disservice, as there is plenty to like about Let Me In. Whilst subtlety has been sacrificed, the added intensity has been put to good use. Director Reeves expertly weaves supernatural violence into a suburban setting and his broader focus on a community in peril serves to make this a grander spectacle than its predecessor. His interpretation of the adults in the story also makes a more direct statement about how disconnected the world of the child, with its monsters (both real and imagined), and that of the adult can become.
The two leads are exceptional, with Chloe Moretz taking a different, but not ill-advised, direction in her interpretation of the young vampire Abby. Whilst not as spooky and with the clear detachment of the immortal as Lina Leanderssons Eli, Moretz presents a more relatable character, that of a girl who, whilst still young at heart has seen and done too much to ever go back. Kodi Smitt-McPhee, fresh off his sterling performance in The Road, presents a more naive central performance than his European contemporary, less conscious of the darkness pervading his newfound friendship.
Let Me In is an accomplished piece of filmmaking and were it an original piece, apropos of nothing else, it could be held in even higher consideration. Its an intelligent and thoughtful romantic horror and Im sure the people behind it want us to judge it on its own merits, and not against those of its Swedish progenitor. The nature of the business however, means that we must hold up the two as different branches of the same tree and, against the pure horrific beauty of Let The Right One In, this edition seems almost superfluous by comparison. Unless you have a real issue with reading subtitles, picking this ahead of the original is to make a conscious decision to invest in an inferior product.
Overall Verdict: A pretty good remake, but an entirely unnecessary one. Let Me In does most things right in its execution, but adds nothing that the original hasnt already done, and done much better.
Reviewer: Alex Hall