I find it interesting that in my review of Let The Right One In, I comment that we live in a Hollywood that thrives on remakes. Everytime America sees a successful film, it feels the need to Americanize it. Let The Right One In was a sweet, different little foreign film that was a breath of fresh air and revitilized the vampire genre, bringing it back to its roots while introducing a sympathetic monster. America couldn't leave well enough alone and thus a remake of Let The Right One In was made for American audiences, this time named Let Me In.
Let Me In is the same story as Let The Right One In, except it takes place in America and the two main characters names have been americanized. In Let Me In we follow Owen (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) and Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz), two outcast 12 year olds that each have problems and issues of their own. Owen is dealing with some bully issues while Abby is dealing with some decidedly more serious issues, mainly that she is a vampire. Over the course of the film they meet and inevitably fall in love, leading to a dark romance.
The American remake differs from the original classic in several ways. First off, the biggest change would have to be that the film is set in the 80's. This gives the film somewhat of a retro feel. This doesn't add or subtract anything from the film in general, it's an unnecessary touch but a neat and welcome one nonetheless. The film also is more blunt about several things that the original was more subtle with, for instance the relationship between Abby and her adult guardian. The original was more subtle with the idea that the adult is Abby's lover. It gave you some hints and such, but never fully gave us any answers instead allowing us to draw our own conclusions. In the American remake, barely any time is spent on their relationship, no real hints are given (even though any intelligent human being should be able to assume things) and instead the film just drops the truth on the viewer well into the third act.
In fact, one of the things I liked about Let Me In is the time it spends focusing on the character of the adult guardian (Richard Jenkins). In the original you got a sense that he was reluctant, but in the remake it's more obvious that he has grown tired of guarding Abby and does not enjoy killing innocent people so Abby can drink their blood. He is on the verge of calling it all off and is disillusioned with the path he chose to go down with Abby. Even though he is given minimal screen time he is still one of the most intriguing characters to burst onto the American screen in quite a while.
Another welcome change is a new character in the form of a detective/policeman, played by the always superb Elias Koteas. You would assume he is suppossed to be a villain since he represents a force that would like to stop Abby but in reality he is just a befuddled, confused man who is attempting to make sense of the chaos that Abby has created (In fact, he has no idea that Abby is responsible and when he finally lays eyes on her appears to want to help her). He is a wonderfully tragic character that brings some more depth to the film.
Out of all the things the film does right, the thing it excels the best at is the character of Owen. For a film that gets several things wrong (I'll get to that later) it's a relief to see them get this part right. Kodi Smit-Mcphee is one of the better child actors out there, and manages the amazing feat of out acting Moretz in this film. He hits all the right notes with the audience as we follow his journey throughout the film.
With the Right out of the way, let's get onto the Wrong. Let's start out with the biggest sin the film commits: It fails to create a sympathetic monster in Abby. In the original she was a scared, lonely little girl that is terrified of what she has become and has to regularly resist the urge to feast on Oskar's blood (In the remake, her struggle to resist her thirst is reduced to one scene). In Let Me In, she is essentially an adult trapped in a kids body and seems indifferent to the murders she has committed. She is more intense and violent than Eli was and does not appear to regret the murders she has caused. She does not carry the same air of innocence or terror that the original's Eli had and fails to come across as sympathetic. The film aims to create a sympathetic monster but instead just creates a monster that we kind of care about, but not to the point where we feel compelled to root for her. Another addition to Let Me In are some fairly weak CGI effects that are used when Abby vamps out. The effects are obviously CGI, and only make the scenes feel more silly when that's the opposite of what the film needs. I was super disappointed with the character of Abby, she is the core of the film yet Let Me In fails in just about every way with her character.
Another thing the film does wrong is the pace of the film. Let The Right One In had a slower, more deliberate pace that slowly carved away at the viewer, having the effect of what is essentially a slow burn. Let Me In, on the other hand, quickens the pace a little bit and thus changes some of the tone of the film. The feel the film gives off is similar yet different to the one Let The Right One In had. It still feels sad, but the sadness and hopelessness doesn't cut into the viewer like it should.
People say the film is best enjoyed if you don't go in trying to compare it to Let The Right One In, and their right. Unfortunately, this is a remake so it's difficult not to compare it to it's superior source material, and when inevitably you do, it makes it all the harder to fully embrace this film. In the end Let Me In is not only a remake, it's an unnecessary one. Why remake a film if the original was already perfect. There was no possible way to top it, so Let Me In seems content with being the inevitable second dog. While as a remake it is fairly disappointing, as an American horror film it is one of the more different ones that can be sampled today and manages, despite it's numerous short comings, to stay true to the original vampire mythology and in a world gone mad with Twilight I suppose that's the most important thing this film does. In the end Let Me In, despite my complaints, is actually better than most Hollywood remakes these days (would you expect anything less from the director of Cloverfield?) and because it differs from the original in several key ways (Setting, Pace,etc) manages to emerge as its own film.
3/5 Stars
Likes- Change of setting, Change of time period, Elias Koteas, Owen, Adult Guardian, great soundtrack, car crash scene, Abby victim hospital scene
Dislikes- Abby, Pace of film, bullies, Abby victim hospital scene, CGI Vamp scenes, Adults seem totally clueless
