One underseen gem every Sunday.
It’s incredibly rare that an American remake ends up being better than its foreign original, but with Let Me In, that’s the case. 2008’s Swedish Let The Right One In was and is a near-masterpiece, and fans understandably cried foul when the American remake was announced, as well as the filmmakers’ intentions to make the two leads older.
The story revolves around a young boy named Oscar who is a loner and on the verge of violently lashing back at his bullies. A young girl and older man move in next door from his apartment, but Oscar starts to notice strange things about the two neighbors. The windows are completely covered in cardboard, and the girl, named Abby, only comes out at night and smells weird. She’s also an ace at completing a Rubik’s Cube. Yes…Abby is a vampire.
The American remake keeps everything that was so great about the original (the innocence of young love, spooky atmosphere, brutal bullying), and even brings more to the plate thanks to the talents of director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield). There is one sequence involving a car crash that may be one of the best filmed sequences in any movie of all time, and that’s no exaggeration.
The kids are played here by Kodi-Smit McPhee (The Road) and Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass) to perfection. It’s amazing that so much emotion can come out of such young people, but you really end up caring for these characters. Richard Jenkins was perfectly cast and is heartbreaking as Abby’s caretaker/father/who knows.
I love Let The Right One In…it’s one of my favorite movies of the past 5 years. But if I ever decide to experience this story again, I will almost always pop in its American remake.
Inside My Movie Mind 