Reviews by Matt

I had an interesting experience this past weekend. It started on Saturday. I went to a friend’s house and watched “Let The Right One In,” the Swedish vampire movie that was released a few years ago. I had seen it before and one of my other friends had not. We wanted to go see the American remake, “Let Me In,” but he insisted on watching the original first. So on Sunday we went to see “Let Me In” with the original very fresh in mind.

“Let Me In” takes place in New Mexico in the winter of 1987. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a bullied 12-year old who lives with his mother in an apartment complex. One night he meets Abby (Chloe Moretz) who has just moved in to the apartment next to Owen. The two strike up a friendship and meet nightly out in the courtyard and talk. Abby, though, has a horrible secret and it may be connected to the murders that have been happening in the town recently.

There are things that were in “Let The Right One In” that were taken out of “Let Me In” that made it better. Then again there were some things that “Let Me In” added that made it not so good. Overall though, I really enjoyed it.

I thought that Chloe Moretz did a great job, she was not as creepy as Lina Leandersson’s Eli was in the Swedish version, but Moretz still brought something to the character. She made Abby more sweet than creepy, which made the scenes of her attacking people all the more horrific.

I am not sure how I feel about Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Owen. Much like Kåre Hedebrant’s Oskar, Owen is picked on at school, his home life is hard because his parents are not together and he finds himself very lonely most of the time. It is through is relationship with Abby that he finds the strength to stand up to the bully. I think Smit-McPhee does a pretty good job playing this character, but I am not sure I am totally sold on it.

So back to my story. It was weird sitting in the theater and seeing a movie I had not seen before, but know so well. There are a lot of lines and scenes taken right from the original version. It was so similar to the original that the only real difference between the two versions was the subtitles. It is kind of surreal to sit in a theater and know a movie so well. I knew what was going to happen in each scene and even some of the lines. One thing I did notice was that this version was bloodier. I know why too, Americans as stupid and need things spelled out for us, even in blood. There was a subtly to the Swedish version that I liked. There was no need for the blood or the violence, it was implied and that was almost better than seeing Abby tear into someone’s neck to get the blood she needs to survive.

8/10
Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, language and a brief sexual situation
Runtime 116 min