It's rare when a remake equals the original and even rarer when it surpasses its progenitor. Unfortunately, most remakes just don't need to exist. Let Me In is just such a remake. The original film, Let the Right One In, is easily one of the best vampire movies ever made. Its only crime was apparently having subtitles, which means it doesn't exist in Hollywood's mind. Based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In examined the darkness inside humanity through a chilling, unconventional love story that puts the teenage soap opera pap of the Twilight Saga to dire shame. The rights for the American adaptation were picked up by Hammer Films, producers of many classic Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The reins of the remake were handed to Matt Reeves, the director of Cloverfield, a Blair Witch-style take on the giant monster movie. Despite talks that Reeves would re-interpret the Lindqvist's book, Let Me In is simply a rehash of its predecessor.
Let Me In is set in the far removed town of Los Alamos, New Mexico in the year 1983. The Road's Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Owen drifting through the awkward pangs of pre-adolescence. His parents are in the midst of a messy divorce. Dad is never seen and is only ever heard during one phone call. Mom is always working and when she's home, spends much of her time soused on the couch. To say Owen is being bullied at school is an understatement. He is being tormented by a trio of cruel bullies and the adults seem blissfully ignorant of it all.
Enter a strange young girl named Abby, played by Hit-Girl herself, Chloe Moretz. She moves into the apartment next door to Owen in the middle of the night with her "father" (Richard Jenkins). There's something odd about this little girl and not just because she walks around barefoot in the dead of winter. Owen comes to learn she is a vampire. The "father" acts as her Renfield stalking his prey and draining them of blood. Despite his initial fears, Owen grows closer to Abby as she encourages him to fight back against his antagonists.
Let Me In manages to be a surprisingly effective thriller by using the original film as its blueprint. Many of the best scenes are lifted directly out of Tomas Alfredson's version, including the climatic sequence at the gymnasium pool. Some scenes are ramped up for an American audience accustomed to blood or existential quandaries. One of the big changes in the remake is a harrowing auto accident as Abby's guardian attempts to take his latest victim. It is one of the few times in which Matt Reeves asserts his own identity as takes the camera along for the ride in the backseat. While Alfredson favored long shots to accentuate the loneliness of his lead characters, Reeves goes for close-ups to capture their alienation directly. He also excises the subplots involving Owen's neighbors thus turning them into faceless fodder for Abby's hunger.
Let Me In also lacks any of the subtleties of the original film. Abby doesn't simply feed on her victims, but practically mauls them. She climbs onto their bodies like a spider. Reeves heavily relies on unnecessary CGI for the attacks, which is blatantly obvious even though they are mostly hidden in the shadows. Reeves also hammers in the themes of good and evil. An unnamed detective (Elias Koteas) believes the murders to be the work of Satanists, the religious nature of Owen's mother causes the rift in her marriage, and everything is set under the specter of Ronald Reagan. Reeves further familiarizes the movie's setting by referencing 80's pop culture throughout. Owen's love of Culture Club and Now & Later candy belies the darkness that surrounds him, just as the cheesier aspects of the 80's served as a stark contrast to its Cold War politics. Reeves serves up a cute juxtaposition to Abby's vampirism when Owen introduces her to the gameplay of Pac-Man.
The film's young leads are both excellent and each brings a heavy soulfulness that isn't commonly found among actors of their age. The other main roles are filled by veteran character actors Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas, the latter of whom is less creepy than usual.
Let Me In will surely serve as an enthralling thriller for those who have yet to see Let the Right One In, a truly unique twist on the vampire genre. However, the burden of knowledge will rear its head for anyone familiar with the original. The remake can't escape its feeling of 'been there, done that.'
Rating: **
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