FILM: LET ME IN

Elliot Hyams invites in the Hollywood remake of a Swedish classic.

Remake, no other word in the English language inspires as much fear in the heart of a film fanatic. Whilst there is the argument that remakes bring a story to a wider audience, allowing for new interpretations of the narrative and serving as good publicity for the original, it is impossible to ignore the fact that more often than not they seem to miss the point, bastardising the best elements of the original and serving to sully its good name. Films like Gus Van Sant’s Psycho, Vanilla Sky, and Stallone’s Get Carter need not have been made because much better versions of these films already existed. But, every so often a remake can change the way we look at a film, making the story its own. Which optimistically brings us to Let Me In, the American remake of the acclaimed Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In.

Based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel, the original was a sensitive and subtle tale of love between a young boy and the mysterious girl next door, and despite the relocation from snow drenched 80s Stockholm to snow drenched 80s New Mexico, the narrative of Let Me In has remained more or less the same as its predecessor’s. Owen, played by The Road’s Kodi Smit-Mcphee, is a lonely twelve year old. Bullied at school, and ignored at home, his life is empty until the arrival of the new neighbours, Abby, played by Kick Ass’s Chloe Moretz, and her strange ‘father’. A friendship begins to develop between the children, but as a string of unexplained deaths begin to occur in town and Abby’s behaviour grows continually stranger, Owen begins to suspect that his new friend may not be all she seems. As Elias Koteas’s police detective begins to unravel the shocking truth about what is going on, Owen is forced to decide how far he is willing to go for love.

As a stand-alone film Let Me In, is actually quite good, it’s a thoughtful and well constructed love story that far surpasses the angsty nonsense of the Twilight saga, but at the same time it’s impossible to watch it without comparing it to the original. Lindqvist, who adapted his novel for Let the Right One In worked with director Matt Reeves on the screenplay for this second adaptation, as a result of this a lot of the dialogue is repeated verbatim from the original. But this isn’t where the similarity ends, many of the scenes appear to be perfect recreations from the original, bringing back horrible memories of the Psycho debacle. A lot of the subtle nuances of the first film have been dropped, for example Owen’s relationship with his alcoholic father, and the now almost complete absence of Owen’s neighbours. But these grievances won’t affect anyone who hasn’t seen Let the Right One. New viewers will enjoy Let Me In, and fans of the original won’t be too offended by the remake. But the problem remains that this film already exists, so really, what was the point in making it again?

Review by Elliot Hyams