Let Me In - Vampires and Bullies

Okay I know the deal about this movie: It's the American version of the swedish horror movie awesomeness that is Let The Right One In. As soon as the American version was announced, helmed by Cloverfield's Matt Reeves, fans of the original swedish film were a buzz. From the studio pressure of aging the characters to make it more accessible to American audiences to the usual questions of "why remake a movie that doesn't need to be remade" type of questions that are not original or unique - so I'll never understand why people keep asking them.

 Before moving on to my review I would like to answer the popular question of "why remake a movie that doesn't need to be remade." Because it can be done. A remake does not ruin the original. End of story. If you don't like it, don't watch it, chill out. Like really.

Let Me In is an almost shot for shot recreation of Let the Right One In. kinda' like Gus Van Sant's Psycho. A viewer of the original film can see exactly where Matt Reeves put his own personal view on this version though, like the awesome car crash scene and the opening which has us start in the middle of the film's plot and then go back 2 weeks earlier.

The theme of bullying gets a new resonance in this film especially due to the media attention that bullying has been getting in the news as a result of homophobic behavior in schools. That thought is not lost in this movie as the bullies always call our main character, Owen (Oscar in the original), a little girl and are very brutal in their bullying of him. At times I thought I was watching Shawshank Redemption Jr.

Our female lead, Chloe Moretz, plays Abby (Eli in the original) and she is quite a sight. She looks like an angel, but is no doubt hiding something more sinister, which should be no surprise to anyone who's seen the original, or hell to anyone who's seen the trailer as well. I also love how she says at times that she's "not a girl" exactly. A subtle nod to the original novel which I highly recommend you read as it is probably one of the best pieces of gay literature around.

I loved this movie no doubt. I thought it was beautifully filmed and incredibly romantic. An interesting contrast to all the horrific bloody scenes. I'm pretty sure that fans of horror will find something to love in this almost perfect feature.

Check out these links:

Blood: The Last Vampire - Got Blood - Check out this kick ass vampire movie
Let Me In [Blu-ray] - Buy the movie on Blu Ray
Let the Right One In [Blu-ray]  - Check out the original Swedish Film
Let The Wrong Subtitles In - A Report on the above mention Blu Ray for the original film
Let me In [Let the Right One In] [Hardcover]  - Read the Book.