Let Me In
Review
by Anthony Morris
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Let Me In
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When it comes to English language remakes of foreign language films, horror movies fare better than most. Maybe
it's because with horror maintaining the tone of the original is just
as important as copying the plot, or maybe horror fans are just more
likely to want to preserve whatever it was that made the original
work. Either way, in horror the rule that "English remakes
usually don't work" doesn't apply, and there's no better example of
that than Let Me In. This remake of the Swedish horror film Let The Right One In
shifts the location to America - Los Alamos in a snow covered winter to
be exact - but otherwise sticks super close to the original's creepy
yet touching story.
It follows a lonely, bullied twelve year old (Australia's own Kodi Smit-McPhee, from The Road) who befriends a mysterious young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz from Kick Ass) who turns out to have been twelve years old for a very long time. The
original was one of the best vampire movies to come along in years,
creepy on all manner of levels and often shockingly horrifying without
ever providing any easy moral certainties. And yet, against
a chilly backdrop of neglect and despair it was also a powerfully
touching tale of first love - which only made things all the more
horrific as the path that love led down became clear. This remake keeps all the virtues of Let The Right One,
makes them even more pointed, and then adds two amazing performances
from the underage cast to really put it over the top. Let Me In is
the best vampire film of the year; it's almost certainly the best
horror movie of the year; it's easily one of the best love stories of
the year. It'll break your heart and send it racing, and if that's not enough for you - you're already dead! 2.5 out
of 5
Let Me In
Australian release: 16th September,
2010
Official
Site: Let Me In
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, P Diddy, Ben Stiller
Director: Casey Affleck
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