So it turns out Hollywood is capable of making a decent remake.
Although I still dispute the right of Let Me In to exist (do we need remakes of foreign films that are only two years old? Are we that allergic to subtitles?), I’m pleased to say that this take on the story is more than passable. It’s actually really rather good.
The success of this film is down to the two young lead actors. Chloe Moretz (Kick-ass) was brilliant as Abby, who needs blood to live, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the lonely, picked on Owen. The pair clicked onscreen, and the relationship between their characters was tenderly portrayed. They will steal your heart.
I thought at first that setting the story in New Mexico would be a poor decision, since I associate the state with deserts and not with the frozen terrain of the Swedish suburb that was so haunting in the original. Evidently it can get rather cold in New Mexico, especially near the mountains in the winter. Although the film’s photography doesn’t even approach the beauty of the original, New Mexico turns out to be a lovely place for a vampire story.
An outstanding score characterized by weeping strings and chilling percussion is supplemented by a brilliant selection of 80s popular music. Blue Oyster Cult is utilized in a very suspenseful scene, David Bowie is featured prominently, and Freur’s “Doot-Doot” is used so perfectly it could make you cry.
The bloody scenes are bloodier in the remake, as was to be expected. An attempt must be made satiate the bloodlust of American horror movie fans. This isn’t always successful, but the climactic final scene is actually better this time around for it.
I predicted that the remake wouldn’t approach the novel’s creepiest subject matter, and I was on the money there. Richard Jenkin’s character is never fully explained, and something Abby says half-way through the picture is so opaque that if you aren’t familiar with the novel or the original film, you can’t help but laugh at it (and the audience I saw it with did). This is a shame, because I was hoping this film would hint at some of the story’s darker undercurrents, but it didn’t. And that makes the story unnecessarily hard to understand at times, and lot more like an ordinary vampire film.
But I won’t get all nit-picky fan boy about it here. Let Me In is a genuinely good film. It’s certainly not for everyone, especially if you like your vampires served up like Edward Cullen. There are no vegetarians vampires in Let Me In, and no blood-Gatorade or whatever it is they’re drinking in True Blood.
My hat’s off to Matt Reeves. Thank you for proving that American cinema can turn out a worthy vampire story.
