Review of Let the Right One In (2008) by Drake T — 09 Mar 2012

Incredibly fresh and inspiring, Let the Right One In is an intimate character driven piece of supernatural focused on friendship and romance.

Having enjoyed the remake more is not to say that the original didn't have it's own little set of merits.

It's definitely less engaging than the remake with more respectable pacing but the most notable difference between the two films was the antagonist, whom in the Swedish original witnessed the death of two close friends before making his way to exact vengeance on the "viscous" little girl. Lacke then becomes the embodiment of justice and conflict that is a result of her monstrous existence.

However, I feel that his additional journey, dimension as a character and subsequent death sends a moral message that's overly provoking with no consequence, not only that but deters from the films core protagonists and their relationship. Something that the remake streamlines, focuses and even builds upon further.

Also, for a 2008 film the horror and suspense was awfully stilted and even felt dated with no real play on lighting or camera dynamics for additional atmosphere. Simply put, it wasn't very frightening visually and as a horror movie... that's kind of a problem.