Let Me In Movie Review

Went to an early screening of Let Me in the remake of the Swedish film Let The Right One in and quite frankly it was a struggle to go. Matt Reeves is only really known for doing his virally promoted film Cloverfield which was sold based on JJ Abrams involvement and from the trailers it appeared Let Me In was a scene by scene remake which rips off the original without adding anything original. I have no respect for directors who remake foreign films and release them into the US market where they can make a quick buck and mainstream America is fooled into thinking its a new film by an incredibly gifted director. That rant out of the way its time to suck it up and admit that Let Me In is a truly fantastic film and one that every true blue horror fan can love.

Let Me In is one of the best remakes of a foreign film I have seen to date. Poignant, touching and disturbing Let Me In will leave its mark on you. Let Me In is not a commercial cash in and it pays homage to the original completely while still bringing its own new elements to the game. Where I feared we would get another dumbed down Hollywood horror flick catering to the new generation of horror fans Matt Reeves delivers a classic horror film that fans of terrifying and intelligent horror films will love.

Let Me In is the story of a 12 year old girl named Eli who moves into a complex at night and draws the attention of her 12 year old neighbour. Coinciding with Eli’s arrival is a series ofinexplicable disappearances and murders. One man is found tied to a tree, another frozen inthe lake, a woman bitten in the neck. Blood seems to be the common denominator – and for an introverted boy like Oskar, who is fascinated by gruesome stories, it doesn’t take long before he figures out that Eli is a vampire.

But by now a subtle romance has blossomed between Oskar and Eli, and she gives him the strength to fight back against his aggressors. Oskar becomes increasingly aware of the tragic, inhuman dimension of Eli’s plight, but cannot bring himself to forsake her.

Frozen forever in a twelve-year-old’s body, with all the burgeoning feelings and confused emotions of a young adolescent, Eli knows that she can only continue to live if she keeps on moving. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can …

Let Me In is pretty much a scene by scene remake of the original which in this case doesn’t hurt the film to much. Matt Reeves did much more than just recreate the original film he added a lot of fine details that were not included in the original film which really added alot of polish to the film. Where as in the original Swedish film the focus was on Eli and her struggles locked in a 12 year olds body while trying to survive the remake takes you into newer directions and puts alot more emphasis on not just the strengths of Eli but her needs as well specifically from the 12 year old boy Owen next door. Impressionable and vulnerable she uses her powers not just to protect him but to lure him in to take care of her needs.

Although Eli is a very powerful vampire stuck in a 12 year old body she is also in need of protection. She must feed and she must be protected during the day and her ‘father’ and protector is responsible for this but what happens when he is gone? Let Me In is much more than a vampire movie it’s a story of love, death, sacrifice and the power of friendship.

Let Me In is a powerful and stunning film because of how Matt Reeves effectively ties the two main characters together and despite some incredible violence and jaw dropping scenes you will still feel yourself drawn to these two characters as they bond and form a friendship that will change both their lives forever.

Let Me In is easily the best remake I have ever seen and for that reason I am going to commit heracy and give it a 9 out of 10 the same rating I gave the original film. It is both violent and disturbing while still remaining a highly intelligent and well polished film that will appeal to fans of true horror that is more about bumps in the dark and cliché PG-13 scares. If you are a horror fan and do not see Let Me In you are missing out.