Let Me In – A Review by Josh Hains

When you hear that a popular film is going to be remade, the general consensus is a large groan of dismay, especially if it’s a remake of a horror film, and even more so if it’s a foreign film to boot. Let The Right One In, the Swedish film from John Ajvide Lindqvist, was such a beloved, original voice in horror cinema in 2008, that horror audiences seemed completely dumbfounded by the notion that Cloverfield director Matt Reeves was going to helm the remake. To their surprise, what Reeves crafted was far from the dreadful slop they were expecting. Let Me In is the best American horror film in years.

Owen (Kofi Smit-McPhee) is a lonely, borderline depressed 12 year old boy, constantly neglected by his divorcing parents and relentlessly bullied by an older boy at school, a royal asshole. Owen befriends a girl the same age as him named Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz), who moves in into the apartment beside Owen with her father figure, Thomas. But Abby isn’t your average girl. She doesn’t have frosty breath like Owen, who skin is perhaps even paler than his, she walks in the snow barefoot because she doesn’t feel cold temperatures; I don’t think she feels warmth either. She doesn’t go to school, and only ever seems to come out a night. But, vampires tend to stay indoors anyways.

As Owen eventually learns, Abby is a vampire, and Thomas is her Familiar, a human who acts less like a father and more like a caretaker, dispatching unsuspecting victims left and right to feed the thirsty vampire. And then there’s the unnamed police detective (Elias Koteas) investigating what he believes to be a serial killer in the area. You would assume the same if you saw the gruesome ferocity of the murders. If only he knew his serial killer was a vampire.

Let Me In makes the right choice of showcasing the inherent loneliness and desperation of the life of a vampire. This isn’t Twilight, and it’s characters aren’t moody teenagers sharing lust for each other and experiencing a contrived, improbable romance. It also isn’t jam packed with elaborate costuming and sets, like the lavish Dracula epics. This is vampirism subverted, brought down to Earth, and made all too real through its delicate handling of the relationship between the two child leads, juxtaposed with the bleak grimness of their lonely existences.

You’ll notice I have been tip-toeing around certain plot details that others may include, and that I have completely avoided comparing the film to its European counterpart. I caught some of Let The Right One In on television once a few years ago, but I wasn’t very interested in allowing myself to indulge in such a bleak, disturbing horror film. Horror isn’t my favourite genre of film (nor is it my least favourite), and the kinds of horror films I most often like, while bleak and disturbing, tend to have a certain amount of kinetic energy about them. Let The Right One In didn’t do anything for me. Watching Let Me In for the first time last year, I was cautious and skeptical right off the bat, but I figured it could be the more accessible film, possessing that unique kinetic energy I enjoy in films like The Thing. It delivered the exact dosage I require, in spades.

Let Me In may take its time, may be patient enough to allow us to grow to care for not just Owen, but Abby, Thomas and even the police officer, but it also keeps your fingers glued to the seat, your knuckles as white as snow, your pulse jacked up by the suspense, your eyes hypnotized by the stunning, dark cinematography. It’s riveting, gorgeous, brutal stuff. I’m not saying the remake is superior to the original film. I just enjoyed it more.