This October we here at Dark of the Matinee are counting down our 31 favorite horror films. Join us daily as we countdown from #31 starting on October 1, 2012 leading up to #1 on Halloween!
#29 – LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)/LET ME IN (2010)
Dir. Tomas Alfredson/Matt Reeves
Here we are; it’s already the third day of October which means it’s time to talk about number 29 on our Countdown to Halloween Horror List. Now this might be taboo in some circles, and I’m not even sure Matt was on board with this decision 100 percent, but we decided to combine Let the Right One In and Let Me In into one post. That’s right you get a twofer! The reason I voted to combine these two is because while the original has a soft spot in our hearts, both films have a similar feel and are both great films. I’m going to go ahead and focus on what I like about both films as a whole while referring to the characters from the U.S. version and will refrain from going into the differences. Enjoy!
Let the Right One In/ Let Me In isn’t your typical vampire film; it focuses on a young boy named Owen. He’s a bit of a loner and is getting bullied at school. He spends his time hanging out in the courtyard of the apartment building where he lives with his divorced mother. His neighbors come and go and don’t seem to pay attention to him. One day a young girl, Abby, walks by with an old man and Owen immediately takes notice as she seems to be his age. After some time, the two befriend each other and Owen starts to notice some strange things about the girl. Eventually we learn that she’s a vampire. Through their friendship, Owen starts to learn more about his self as well as life in general.
Abby isn’t like most vampires. While she can take care of herself, she depends on her caretaker, the old man, to do most of the work for her. The caretaker kills for her and collects the blood for her to feed on. It’s only in desperation that she allows her demons to come out. Abby’s caretaker starts to become jealous of Owen and asks Abby to stop seeing him. Abby ignores his wishes which seem to diminish his spirits and he realizes he may no longer be cut out to care for Abby.
Through the lore of horror films we know that Vampires generally have eternal life and don’t age. Normally we see this through someone who was turned into a vampire as an adult. However through these films we get to see the dynamic of someone who was turned into a vampire as a child. We know that Abby has been alive for a very long time and she has the wisdom of ages, but she still has that child-like adolescence that we don’t get to see in horror films. This is one of the characteristics that set these films apart from many vampire flicks. The story does a really great job of building the characters of both Owen and Abby and how their relationship affects one another; the monster part of it is really just a bonus.
Both films are in the perfect setting and all of the special effects are done really well. They are slower than what you might expect from a horror film, but it pays off and heightens the tension when there is violence. If you’re unfamiliar with the films, Let the Right One In is the 2008 original film from Sweden and Let Me In is the Matt Reeves 2010 U.S. remake. The settings are almost identical and the U.S. version boasts some names you’d be familiar with (Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins). Both films deserve to be on this list and both are worth your time to check out.
Brett O. Walker
I am a little bit scandalized :) The original is a masterpiece. A true work of art. Not just a stunning horror movie but stunning movie period. The American version, try as it might, consistently misses what is great about the original. I certainly didn't envy Matt Reeves trying to remake 'Let The Right One In' without simply doing a shot by shot duplicate. But save one great sequence, nothing works nearly as well. Take just two examples, Abby's first appearance in the yard of the apartment building, and her crawl up the outside of the hospital. Neither moment in the remake in any way comes close to the original. I'll give Reeves and his team this, though: the car wreck was genius, a worthy twist and update to the sequence in the original.
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DeleteAs for the two movies, I won't speak for Brett, but I will chime in with my thoughts. :)
While I do think Let the Right One In is the better film and I love it, I don't think it's too far superior than Let Me In. With that said, I did see Let Me In first, so my opinion may be a little skewed because of that. Had I seen Let the Right One In first, I could very well feel completely differently.
I must give Reeves credit for keeping the pacing of the film very similar. Let the Right One In moves a lot slower than American audiences are used to, and the early trailers made it seem as if Let Me In would be a quick moving, horror/thriller almost.
When you're remaking a film as beloved as Let the Right One In, especially so soon after he was made, you're always going to be at a disadvantage. Yet at the end of the day I feel like Reeves made a very entertaining and good film, even if it may lack some of the qualities that make the original so spectacular.
Overall, Let Me In probably helped Let the Right One In by giving it a bigger, wider audience and that's always a good thing. :)
-Chris
I agree that the film one sees first tends to be the one liked best. I have two films in my past I can't even mention, or it would destroy my credibility, where I saw the remake first and the remake remains my favorite. Also agreed that LMI must have given LTROI a lot more attention. Always a good thing!
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to find out what these two films are!
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