Chloe Moretz (Hit Girl from Kick-Ass) stars as Abby, a secretive 12-year old girl, who moves in next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road) in this remake of vampire sensation Let The Right One In.
Let Me In is a fantastic vampire film and could be one of the best American horrors for years. It bends the well-worn genre into something fresh and powerful, bearing more relation to David Fincher's Seven. In fact, judging by director Matt Reeves following his Cloverfield with this, he shows great potential for being a very fine director. He keeps the pace consistent across a narrative with a clear sense of purpose and superb set-pieces that feel organic to the plot. It's thrilling and scary and brilliantly staged.
The tone is that of a dark and twisted fairy tale and like some of the best horror classics (beyond film), it centres on children. Their frank insight into a big and scary world can make children of us all and Let Me In successfully taps into the nostalgia and tangible trepidation in a simple tale of two awkward friends, the lonely bullied Owen (Kodi Smit-Phee) and the strange girl, Abby (Chloe Moretz). As Abby's true nature is revealed, all the clichés of the vampire myth are given a small twist to feel fresh again while the relationship between the kids is moving, despite the gore and violence!
If you enjoy horror films, don't be put off by the fact it's about a vampire. I know, they've become so over-used they pretty much have their own sub-genre! But really, this is so fresh and brilliant, it deserves your attention.
Sadly though, as any film fan knows, it isn't that simple and there's an elephant in the room: Let Me In is a remake of the superb Swedish Let The Right One In that's only a couple of years old itself. Regardless of how brilliant Matt Reeves has handled an extraordinary cast, his film is ultimately pointless and only of interest to those who don't like subtitles. I'm pleased that those viewers will get to understand why this story is so incredible and at least for them, this is exciting, fresh and original. I'm almost envious! But it makes me sad that world cinema is being side-lined again.
For what it's worth, Reeves does deserve the praise above. It's pretty much shot-for-shot the same, but for the smallest moments (largely to remove ambiguity), however his grasp of the material is so good, he has made it a very American film and most important of all, it has a conscience of its own that justifies it being set in the 1980s. It would have fitted in very nicely had it have been made then. In that sense it's clever. And in the hands of a committed cast that includes Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas, it feels honest, even though it isn't!
In another world, where Let Me In wasn't a remake, it would confidently pick a place in horror history between The Exorcist and The Omen. Instead, it is destined to always be a second place forgotten rerun, which perhaps is all it deserves. Still, you can't deny the skill involved; this is no straightforward cash-in and an interesting choice for the resurgent Hammer studios. If you really can't handle subtitles and I know a lot don't, then enjoy Let Me In for what it is: a bloody good horror film.
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Matt Reeves writes and directs this vampiric coming-of-age romance based on the Swedish novel 'Let the Right One In' by John Ajvide Lindqvist and Tomas Alfredson's 2008 Swedish-language film adaptation. Kodi Smit-McPhee stars as Owen, a solitary 12-year-old in 1980s New Mexico who is continually tormented by a gang of bullies. When the enigmatic Abby (Chloe Moretz) moves in next door, the two form an unlikely friendship that will change Owen's life forever as it emerges that Abby is a 200-year-old vampire, frozen in childhood and condemned to live on a diet of fresh human blood. With Abby on his side, Owen is finally able to face up to the bullies - but Abby's unquenchable thirst for blood gives rise to a fresh set of problems.
Please note this is a region B Blu-Ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-Ray player in order to play. CLOVERFIELD’s Matt Reeves adapts Tomas Alfredson's cult Swedish hit LET THE RIGHT ONE IN with this remake for the Overture/Hammer Films production. The horror pic based on author John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel concerns a bullied 12-year-old boy (THE ROAD's Kodi Smit-McPhee) whose friendship with a new female neighbour (Chloe Moretz -KICKASS) coincides with a series of bloody murders in their small town.
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