Review of Let Me In (2010) by Wisaaka — 03 Oct 2010

I really, really wanted this to be a better film. That's not to say it's a bad film. It's quite a bit better than what passes for a vampire film these days. The problem is that Hollywood tends to take source material and "up-sell" it with loud sound effects, car crashes and explosions. I see this time and again with comic book movies and films made from novels. Less often, we get good foreign films that are changed around to fit what a Hollywood director or studio wants to sell to the American audience. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Let The Right One In. It had a creepy isolation vibe, sympathetic lead characters, a good plot, nice pacing, good editing, etc. I really don't feel that Let Me In captured the feel of the original. There were some good scenes left out or changed which really added to the building suspense with the town's residents as they realize something is very wrong. The car crash scene replaces a very tense scene and just doesn't feel right.

The editing was slightly wrong to me as well. The opening scene in the remake does not occur until much later in the film. I've always thought the flash-forward/flash-back technique is overused, but here it's just tacked onto the beginning to grab the audience's attention. It doesn't really add to the film, and in my opinion, subtracts from the later events as you already know where they are going to go later, you just have the details filled in for you as the film progresses.

Long story short: There's no really compelling reason to see this one if you've seen Let The Right One In, but if you haven't, get on Netflix NOW.