Let Me In

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Back in 2008, as Twilight first began bewitching tweens and moms the world over, a brilliant little Swedish film by the name of Let The Right One In offered its own twist to the bloodsucker genre. With a mix of sharp writing, subtle scare tactics and stunning cinematography (not to mention the tremendous acting skills of its young stars), the film found enough success on festival and art-house circuits to warrant a retitled North American remake. Sadly, despite basically following the original shot-for-shot (with a few tacky special effects thrown in for bad measure), Let Me In is decent but largely redundant. Essentially, it’s a movie for lazy people who don’t like subtitles.

Just like the original film — and the book it’s based on — Let Me In’s premise is simple, but unique. Kodi Smit-McPhee (previously seen in The Road) stars as Owen, a small-for-his-age youngster that is bullied at school. With no friends to speak of and parents going through a bitter divorce, he has nowhere to turn. This all changes when 12-year-old Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz of Kick-Ass), mysteriously barefoot while walking outside in the dead of winter, moves into Owen’s apartment complex with her adult guardian (Richard Jenkins of Six Feet Under fame). Soon enough, people start popping up with their blood drained; meanwhile, the children forge a friendship which blossoms into romance, until finally, Abby’s dark secret is revealed.

While the film’s setting has been shifted from a suburb of Stockholm to a small town in New Mexico, the film’s ’80s setting is repeatedly rammed down viewers’ throats, Wedding Singer style. Rockin’ Ronnie Reagan is on the television and the soundtrack is packed with hits of the era such as David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, The Vapors’ “Turning Japanese” and Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” We’re lucky Owen hasn’t been given a makeover with a waterfall haircut. Meanwhile, orchestral swells are employed to over-the-top effect, most memorably in a violent bullying sequence that could be crowned as the most dramatic wedgie in cinematic history.

Director Matt Reeves, best known for the shaky-cam monster movie Cloverfield, adds his own similarly unsubtle special effects to the remake, tossing in buckets more gore and turning the vampire attacks into fast-forward motion freakiness better suited to a schlock-fest like Van Helsing. One of Let The Right One In’s largest strengths was its distinctive blurring of horror and romance, making the bloodied supernatural elements a near-afterthought to the puppy love story at its core. Let Me In, on the other hand, is a capital-H horror, leaving little violence to the imagination and losing much of the Swedish film’s endearing charms in the process.

With author John Ajvide Lindvist reprising his role as screenwriter, the storyline remains captivating, and the new cast’s acting is solid across the board. All the same, there’s almost nothing to recommend here that the original doesn’t do better.