DVD - Let Me In *mild spoilers*

or: That Let the Right One In remake.

One word to sum it up: Surprising.

Growing up is hard. You go to school, and suddenly you are surrounded by people who are all competing to be the best. There are those cliques who like to show that they're the best, and they're happy making everyone else miserable. They never spare one thought for their victims and they see bullying as something that will make them cooler. But what's life like on the other side? Let Me In's protagonist, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) shows exactly that. He would put on a mask and make these fellas beg for mercy, but of course, he's a little too scared. So instead, he suffers in silence, and when he's not at school he's living with his mother in an apartment block in New Mexico, hoping that he might have enough courage to stand up to his tormentors. One day, he comes across a new neighbour, Abby (Chloe Moretz), a young mysterious girl who seems to have a heater installed inside her, because she walks around in the snow with bare feet. Along with her comes an older man (Richard Jenkins), which leads Owen to wonder about what this young girl is. The pair strike up a friendship, and Abby becomes something similar to a mentor to Owen. All the while there have been a few unexplained murders going on around town and Owen discovers that his new friend - however good she might be for his confidence - isn't all she seems.

Now, you're probably expecting me to spend the rest of the review comparing this to Let the Right One In. I thought I would too. But I have very few things to say about that. First of all, you probably know that the original is my ninth favourite movie of all time. I absolutely love it to bits. So naturally, unless Let Me In burst out of my screen and made a pretty fireworks display outside of my house, I wasn't going to like it as much. In fact, I was adamant that I would hate it. I thought the Americans would, well, tarnish it with their American-ness. Alas, this did not happen. Everything was kept slow and restrained, as beautiful as ever. The only things that bugged me in the way of comparison is the fact that I'm so used to this film being in Swedish that I got pissed off that they were speaking in a language I could understand.

Let Me In does the inevitable, though: it improves on the original. This film starts in the middle of the story when Abby's 'father' is in hospital, and then centres the film around that scene. They also bring in a cop, played by the ever-brilliant Elias Koteas, which brings the story fluidity, even if it reduces the role of Virginia (Sasha Barrese) and her boyfriend, slightly. Let Me In also cleans the story up, as it doesn't have all of the strange subplots coming out of it. It just picks a point and it runs straight for it. I imagine, if I saw Let Me In before Let the Right One In, then I may actually find myself gravitating towards this version much more, but I don't imagine I would have been as taken by it as I was taken by the original. I still love my Let the Right One In to death, and nothing can take that away from me.

The vampire genre has become something of a phenomenon, ever since they started sparkling in the sun and going to school like old Edward Cullen. Now, those Twilight fans are looking for every blood-sucking fragment of air they can find. Unfortunately, they'll be disappointed by Let Me In, as it's as slow as anything. Well, sorry guys, but this is the way a vampire movie should be. Abby is evil trapped in an innocent facade, not a bloody wimp stuck in a wimpy facade. She's 12 years old, the ripe age when kids start learning more about themselves and start to become more wary of who they are because they are trying so hard to find their feet. Well imagine being stuck in that exterior for 400-odd years? Having to see people live the life that was given to them, while you stay paused in reality? Not only that, the only way of surviving is at the expense of others? Let Me In does a brilliant job of portraying that, really getting into the psychology of being a vampire. Which is why it isn't like all of the other vampire movies. It's just a movie about being different, and having to deal with it, in whatever way possible.

Matt Reeves is obviously being faithful to being a wonderful tale of friendship with a supernatural theme rather than being a movie supernatural movie with a bit of friendship. He keeps things as beautiful as they ever were, with long, lingering shots that prove that the film hasn't been made just to give gore and guts fans a good time. However, he definitely remembers the fact that this is still a horror, and there is a lot of blood. Abby, as cute as she seems, is terrifying when he goes into full vampire mode. Her eyes glowing while her face loses colour and has blood dripping from everywhere is enough to give me nightmares. One scene that works really well is the scene where Virginia catches on fire due to sunlight. One minute, she's sucking on her own blood (a sight which is haunting my dreams at the moment), the next, she's turned the whole room into a sea of flames. There are plenty of genuinely scary moments, just like this one, which are hard to shake after watching the movie.

Last, but not least, the performances are absolutely brilliant. Kodi Smit-McPhee continues to impress with his performance as creepy loner Owen. He just looks like the type of boy who would be bullied, and isn't the kind who could possibly stand up for himself. He does the fragile thing really well, and holds really nice chemistry with his co-star Chloe Moretz. With this film, Moretz confirms herself as not only a very capable young actress, but probably the most exciting we've seen in a long time. Her performance in this is absolutely amazing. I don't know how she played such a tortured soul so well at just her age, but I have to admit defeat to jealousy. Richard Jenkins, too, is great, even though he only has a small part. I personally think that his character is the most interesting, considering he is the one who has to commit most of the evil for Abby since she is too young to be anything but innocent, and Jenkins brings this emotional integrity to the role which is absolutely great. But considering 85% of this films success comes down to a pair of young actors, it does extremely well for itself, and makes for a wonderful adaption/remake.

THE VERDICT: Fans of the original need not worry: Let Me In doesn't tarnish that film in any way. It's scary, beautiful and haunting, which is exactly what a vampire movie needs to be.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Let the Right One In remake gets a trailer, and what a fail it is.

Remember that blog post I did a while back about the Let the Right One In remake? Well, there's now a trailer for the upcoming Let Me In...and now I have more evidence to suggest why it wasn't a good idea to remake such a great film.


List of things that are wrong:

• Remake. FAIL.
• Chloe Moretz. Talented but not Lina Leandersson. FAIL.
• Kodi Smit-McPhee. Um, I don't know what to say about that one. SEMI-FAIL
• The music. WTF?! FAIL.
• It's American. MAJOR FAIL.
• The hoodie is present. I know it's cold, but actors get paid to act, right? Lina Leandersson didn't need a hoodie. Despite that, the hoodie is a great addition to any wardrobe. ACHIEVED.
• That blouse Chloe Moretz is seen wearing. FAAAAAAAAAIL.
• "I need blood to live." Uh yeah, you're a vampire. We've seen that all before in Twilight. FAIL.
• Stalking the she-vamp. The she-vamp who looks pretty much like an average girl I'd see in this town. FAIL.
• "Among ordinary people." Well done. Vampires do live around ordinary people these days. See: True Blood, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries...ACHIEVED (based on the fact that they established vampires live among ordinary people).
• That scene where the blood comes out of her head. Eli made it freaky, Abby makes it a freak show.
• That floating white sheet. What is it? MERIT (I want to know what it is)
• Morse code. Swedish people make it look better...and that was just weird. FAIL.
• Looking forward to it factor? ACHIEVED (for comparison reasons only)

Okay, okay, I'm biased because I absolutely love the original and I hate it when Americans steal other stuff. But hey, this is one they shouldn't have touched because the film really only works in Sweden--it captures the beauty of it.

This is one film I'll be waiting for when it comes out on DVD...until then I can make do with Let the Right One In.

Trailer grade: FAIL.

America: 'Hey Sweden, why don't we just remake your great films?'

Americans need to get their own ideas.
So yeah, remaking The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is understandable, because:
1. It is a critically acclaimed book series, which anyone-whose-anyone has read. So, if these people are a bit tired after reading those massive books, then they probably don't want to read the subtitles to a movie, which probably isn't as good as the book in the first place.
2.David Fincher's directing it. At least he's a director who knows what he is doing, not some guy who last directed a comedy which was 'Rotten'. If David Fincher is directing it, you know you have a winner.

But America has got their paws on Let the Right One In . Which is possibly the greatest vampire movie of all-time. And also one of the creepiest. This movie does not deserve to be given the American treatment. Because the Americans will literally take the idea, dumb it down to the lowest common denominator, and the magic left in it will be ruined by their idea of popular culture. Now, I don't mean to hate on the person that is the director of this- Matt Reeves , director of Cloverfield-because I'm sure he means well. But he just isn't David Fincher.

Let the Right One In has been changed to Let Me In, and the lead characters names have been changed from Oskar and Eli to... Owen and Abby.

Seriously?

Chloe Moretz will be playing Abby, and so far she has been proving to be one of the greatest young smart-ass actresses ever. Not that I hold that against her. She was terrific in (500) Days of Summer and has been getting quite good reviews for Kick-Ass. But can she handle the role of the she-vampire with the right intensity just as Lina Leandersson did? Well, she's been given a hoodie, so I guess that's starting a new punk look for the vampire...or maybe she found it too cold to be parading around the snow in a white blouse.

Chloe Moretz, complete with hoodie, as she-vamp Abby. Not quite the Eli we remember, but you know, I'd imagine that this 400 year old girl is quite down with the yong ones. Which is why she's in the hoodie, and making faces with her breath on the window, you see.

Lina Leandersson, playing the original 400 year old she-vamp Eli. No hoodie, just white blouse with a bit of blood coming out of her. You gotta love her for that.

Kodi Smit-McPhee will be playing Owen, who is a bullied young boy who befriends the she-vamp (haha, I like that way of putting it). Smit-McPhee is a young Australian actor who got his big break opposite Eric Bana in Australian flick Romulus, My Father. But you've probably seen him in the apocalyptic film 2012, just kidding, The Road. Not bad for a little Australian guy, starring in a film like this, which will get all of it's publicity from the controversy surrounding it.

Abby and Owen puzzle over a Rubik's cube-and possibly why they chose to remake this film-out in the cold courtyard. Look like a fine coupling to me. A little like a younger version of Bella and Edward. So if K-Stew and R-Pattz quit Breaking Dawn due to pay disputes, you know where to find Chloe and Kodi!

The director of the original, Tomas Alfredson, is understandbly not to happy with the Americanization of his film. That's because his film is a masterpiece, and he know's it. Everyone knows it. You just can't beat the originals, even if they are made in some funny language and require you to read for one and a half hours of your life.

Will I be going to see Let Me In? Probably not in cinemas. I understand it is going to be given a wide release, which is unfortunate because Let the Right One In was given a really small one. But I will see Let Me In one day. What I imagine it to be is full of gore and blood--just plain sillyness you get from average run-of-the-mill horrors these days. There will be an uber-awesome soundtrack, filled with rap music and possibly Justin Bieber (to, you know, keep up with the cool crowd), instead of the lovely harmonious pieces of music which can make even the hardest heart go soft. And Abby will become the next style icon--she will do for the she-vamp what Carrie Bradshaw did for the maxi-dress. Trust me, after you have seen Let Me In, you'll want to be seen in a hoodie (as pictured to the right, the simple black hoodie can make you look so much cooler).

So anyway, I did mention The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the beginning of this post. I'd love to see Carey Mulligan playing Lisbeth Salander. Ten dollars says that they will change her name. It'll be interesting to see sweet Jenny playing a pierced computer hacker. And she'll still be going for the older men. Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Johnny Depp are all rumoured to be playing Mikael Blomkvist. This could be alternatively called An Education 2: Jenny Moves On? Because, you know, Americans like changing names of other peoples stuff so it seems like their idea.

Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There's a really fun-loving, Care Bears watching, pink princess under all of that tough guy act, somewhere.

Ah, there's our Carey Mulligan playing Jenny in An Education. The Americans will water the role of Lisbeth down a little, because we would hate for Jenny's repuatation and look to be diminished! (oh right, she was having an affair with an older man...)

Just in case you were wondering:
Let Me In will be released in America in October 2010.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is slated for release in 2012. But the next two parts in the trilogy (all Swedish) will be coming later this year. However, critically speaking, the sequels haven't been doing well.