Review of Let Me In (2010) by Darknessangel F — 20 May 2012

I know itâ??s the cool thing to do these days â?? To bash an American remake of an obvious classic without actually seeing it. By asserting our superiority over everyone around for having seen the â??REALâ?? version, we convince ourselves (never anyone around, mind you â?? They donâ??t actually give a shit) that we are somehow better, not to mention more intelligent, than the masses. In most cases, this point of view is justified. Remakes of films are, more often than naught, completely unnecessary. With that in mind, to deny that there have been some exceptions over the years is foolish. Oceanâ??s 11, The Departed, 3:10 to Yuma â?? These are just a few successful remakes from the past decade. In addition, letâ??s not forget that Sergio Leoneâ??s â??A Fistful of Dollarsâ?? â?? A film that would inspire sequels and make him, as well as a certain Clint Eastwood, household names â?? was practically a scene-by-scene remake of Akira Kurosawaâ??s â??Yojimbo.â?? Sure, remakes are still technically superfluous in a way, but thereâ??s no denying that, when successful, they can rise above even their original source material to stand on their own merits as, simply, a great movie.

So, as this is a review for Matt Reevesâ?? controversial remake of the Swedish vampire film â??Let the Right One Inâ?? â?? A film that has already been hailed as a modern-day horror classic by critics the world over â?? the real question is whether or not â??Let Me Inâ?? completely bastardizes it by dumbing down the source material to make it more mainstream and comfortable to cater to our shallow American audiences who have been force-fed Twilightâ??s garbage for so long that itâ??s hard to recall what a real vampire is (Phew â?? Canâ??t have a review go on too long without the obligatory Twilight-bashing). The answer is a resounding sigh of relief. â??Let Me Inâ?? is good â?? Really good. In fact, itâ??s borderline great. In fact, it probably IS great. But, the problem is that itâ??s so hard to tell with an original already out there. Itâ??s not like itâ??s been a decade since it was released â?? Itâ??s only been 2 years or so. I havenâ??t seen the original film since I bought it on DVD a couple years ago, and I made sure not to watch it in the weeks leading up to the remakeâ??s release â?? I didnâ??t want to sit in the theater ONLY recalling it and being distracted by all the similarities. I wanted to take â??Let Me Inâ?? on its own merits, but itâ??s impossible to look at Reevesâ?? movie without recalling the original in practically every way. The film seemed disjointed in a way, but this was probably only a result of my mind checking off the scene list (Okay, thereâ??s the scene with the Rubikâ??s Cube; thereâ??s the scene where Owen gets pummeled by the bullies; thereâ??s the fantastic end sequence. Etc., Etc., Etc.) â?? Itâ??s just too hard to regard a film on its own merits when itâ??s clearly following a step-by-step playbook laid out by the source.

Despite these criticisms, the important thing to remember is that Reeves has made a borderline excellent movie that, if you havenâ??t seen the original, might even be an excellent movie. Itâ??s impeccably shot and incredibly suspenseful, capturing the storyâ??s somber mood with every snow-covered location. In an age when horror movies rely on cheap thrills and massive amounts of gore in order to â??scareâ?? their audiences, itâ??s absolutely refreshing to have an American film that takes a completely different path â?? Getting under the audienceâ??s skins to frighten them in a much more affecting way. More importantly, the reason â??Let Me Inâ?? works so well is because of its moving story and characters (When was the last time you could say that about a horror movie? Okay, BESIDES â??Let the Right One Inâ???). Even more successful are his casting choices, which, in my humble opinion, might actually exceed those of the original film. Kodi Smit-McPhee gives a remarkably moving performance as Owen and Chloe Moretz is an inspired choice for Abby â?? Both of these kids are so ridiculously talented at such young ages, adding layers and details to their performances in ways that no one else could possibly achieve. Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas also give very subtle, understated performances as the only two adults who get nearly as much screen time as their pint-sized co-stars.

Iâ??m keeping my fingers crossed that this movie will find an audience ignorant of the source material and the original film so that it can get the recognition itâ??s so clearly striving for. Despite the fact that this remake may be superfluous in some ways, itâ??s successful in enough ways to stand on its own as a good movie, and, when itâ??s going up against a movie as great as the original, thatâ??s something to be applauded.