Let Me In Review

 There are small spoilers in this review.

PLOT: A bullied young boy befriends a young vampire who lives in secrecy.


THE GOOD: Acting. There's a chemistry that really works with Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz in Let Me In. These two kids are some of the best actors for their ages. Richard Jenkins also does a fine job, but is not in the film enough.

Not that bad. Kind of a weird category, I know, but here's the thing. I had my doubts about this remake of the 2008 Swedish original, Let the Right One In. Let me say it right now that if you have not seen it, please watch it now or at least before you watch the remake. Hollywood does not exactly have the best track record for the remaking of foreign films. That being said, Let Me In is not that bad as far as remakes go. It captures a lot of the friendship tones that the original does, as well as the problems kids face with divorce and bullying. My issues are with the little interpretation differences, but that doesn't affect my overall thoughts too much. Here's the thing though, had Let the Right One In not been created, would Let Me In stand up well on its own? I'm leaning towards no, and it kind of shows in the box office numbers. It opened at #8 with only $5,300,000 in 2,020 theaters.

Courtyard scenes. One thing that I found better than the original were the scenes in the courtyard of the apartments. Loved the lens flare, the orange tint, and the close proximity of the main characters.


THE BAD: DBP. 7 producers, 4 EPs, an associate, and a co-producer were involved in making this film. Just in case you cannot add, that's 13 producers! The film feels over-produced. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that it feels over-directed, over-edited, and over-written. I think the producers complicated a very simple, captivating story. That's what's so great about the original. It's subtle and straightforward, yet it is beyond titillating and intriguing.

CGI. And I thought the CG in the original looked bad! Forgive me. The CG in Let Me In is far worse. Every time Abby goes into vampire mode, I was literally rolling my eyes. It looked terribly fake. Why did you have to do that, Matt Reeves? WHY!? The final scene in the pool can sum up the differences between the original and remake all alone. It tried too hard to one-up the original. The pool scene in Let the Right One In was one of the best scenes I have seen in film in the last five years. To this day, its images haunt me. Cannot say the same for the remake.

THE END: Let Me In is not as bad as I expected, but it's still not a very good remake. The film is certainly worth seeing, and in the end, I think that's what you're going to care about the most. Please, please, please watch the original though. As far as Let Me In goes, check it out in the cheap theatres or rent it.


DISCUSS: Did you like Let Me In? Did you like it more than the original? Why is one better than the other? Do you like Twilight more?