Let Me In (film)

Let Me In
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Matt Reeves
Produced by	Donna Gigliotti Alex Brunner Simon Oakes Tobin Armbrust Guy East John Nordling Carl Molinder Nigel Sinclair (executive)
Screenplay by	Matt Reeves
Based on	Screenplay and novel Let the Right One In  by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Starring	Kodi Smit-McPhee Chloë Grace Moretz Elias Koteas Richard Jenkins
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Cinematography	Greig Fraser
Editing by	Stan Salfas
Studio	EFTI Hammer Films Exclusive Media Group[1]
Distributed by	Overture Films Relativity Media (United States) Paramount Pictures and Icon Film Distribution (United Kingdom)
Release dates	September 13, 2010 (2010-09-13) (TIFF) October 1, 2010 (2010-10-01) (United States) November 5, 2010 (2010-11-05) (United Kingdom)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom[2]
Language	English
Budget	$20 million[3][4]
Box office	$24,145,613[3]

Let Me In is a 2010 British-American^[5] romantic horror film^[6] written and directed by Matt Reeves and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz. It is a remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in), directed by Tomas Alfredson, and the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist.^[7] It tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy who develops a friendship with a vampire child in Los Alamos, New Mexico in the early 1980s.

Interest in producing an English version of Let the Right One In began in 2007 shortly before it was released to audiences. In 2008, Hammer Films acquired the rights for the English adaptation and initially offered Tomas Alfredson, the director of the Swedish film, the opportunity to direct, which he declined. Matt Reeves was then signed to direct and write the screenplay. Reeves made several changes for the English version such as altering the setting from Stockholm to New Mexico and renaming the lead characters. The film's producers stated that their intent was to keep the plot similar to the original, yet make it more accessible to a wider audience. Principal photography began in early November 2009, and concluded in January 2010. The film's budget was estimated to be $20 million.

Let Me In premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13, 2010, and was opened wide in North America on October 1, 2010. The film received highly positive reviews from critics, becoming one of the best critically reviewed films of 2010 and was placed on several critics' top-ten list. Many critics noted it as a rare Hollywood remake which stayed true to the original film from which it was based, while some criticized it for being too similar to the Swedish film in light of Reeves promoting the film as being a new take on the original novel. The film earned $24 million in box office revenue worldwide, of which $12 million was earned in the United States and Canada. Chloë Grace Moretz won several awards for her performance with critics praising the on-screen chemistry with her co-star, Kodi Smit-McPhee. Let Me In was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on February 1, 2011, and in the UK on March 14, 2011. An official comic book miniseries prequel titled Let Me In: Crossroads was released after the film which establishes the back-story of Abby and ends where the theatrical film begins.

Plot

In March 1983, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a disfigured man (who is not shown on-screen) is being carried to the hospital in an ambulance van, which is followed by a police convoy. A police detective (Elias Koteas) enters the hospital room and tries to question him about a recent murder for which he is a suspect. The detective concludes by telling the suspect that he will catch whomever else he is in league with; the detective is then called to take a phone call outside the room and is told that the man's daughter was just downstairs and that she left the hospital. While he is on the phone, a scream is heard, and the detective finds the nurse in shock. He looks at the window and spots the man, who jumped out of the window. The man leaves behind a scrawled note that reads "I'm sory Abby." (sic)

The movie jumps back to two weeks earlier. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), an unhappy and lonely 12-year-old boy who is neglected by his divorcing parents and continually harassed at school by bullies, sees two people - a young girl (who is noticeably barefoot, despite the snow) and a much older man - moving into the apartment next door to his. One evening, when Owen is alone in the courtyard of his apartment complex, he is approached by Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), the girl he saw last night. Abby initially tells Owen that they cannot be friends, but the next night, she sees him playing with a Rubik's cube, and, because she is fond of puzzles, her interest is piqued. After this, she and Owen grow closer and start communicating by Morse code through the walls of their apartments. At school, the main bully Kenny (Dylan Minnette), and two of his friends - Donald (Nicolai Dorian) and Mark (Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak) constantly terrorize Owen - Throw things at him in class; tackle and beat him in the locker room; and they whip and scar him in the bathroom with an antenna rod. Although Owen lies to his mother about what happened, he tells Abby the truth, and she tells him to fight back and that she will help him if needed.

Abby's father (Richard Jenkins) murders a man and collects the blood, but accidentally spills it. While playing with the Rubik's Cube, Abby's hunger distracts her and she goes off to hunt by pretending to be hurt, then attacking a concerned passerby, Jack (Chris Browning), who happened to be one of her neighbors. This reveals that Abby is a vampire. On another night, the father hides in the back of a high school student’s car, wearing a black rubbish bag over his head to conceal his identity. His plan to subdue only the driver is foiled when the driver picks up a passenger. When the driver stops at a gas station, the father murders the passenger and tries to flee, but crashes the car in a nearby ditch and becomes trapped inside. He pours concentrated sulfuric acid on his face, disfiguring himself and preventing his identification. He is taken to the hospital, which leads into the opening scene. Abby learns of what happened on the local news and climbs up the hospital building to the 10th floor to see her father. She knocks on the window and asks if she could come in. The father points to his throat, unable to speak, and leans out of the window. Abby drinks his blood. The father passes out and falls to his death.

Later that night, Owen is awakened by the sound of Abby knocking on his window. She insists he verbally invites her in, and he relents. Abby spends the night in his bed and agrees to be his girlfriend. The next day, on a school outing to a frozen pond, Kenny threatens to push Owen into an ice hole. Owen defends himself with a metal pole, splitting Kenny's ear. The body of Jack is discovered under the ice, dumped there by the father. Later, Owen takes Abby to an abandoned area of their apartment complex. Owen cuts his finger, hoping to make a blood pact with her. Unable to control herself, Abby laps up a drop of Owen's blood that spilled onto the floor, revealing her vampiric form; not wanting to hurt Owen, Abby runs off and instead attacks Virginia (Sasha Barrese), a woman in the complex park, with Virginia's boyfriend, Larry (Dylan Kenin), witnessing the attack. Owen then confronts Abby at her apartment, asking if she is a vampire. Abby admits that she needs blood to live. When asked on the whereabouts of her father, she confesses that he was not really her father. Owen discovers an aged photo booth photograph of her with a young boy, revealing that "the father" had met her when they were about the same age; he had continued to age and posed as her father while she, as an effect of the vampiric curse, did not physically mature past the age of twelve. Owen immediately leaves. Abby tries to block his way, but eventually lets him go, solemnly saying to him as he leaves, "I told you we couldn't be friends." Meanwhile outside Virginia's ward, the detective questions Larry about the attacker. Virginia awakes from unconsciousness and begins sucking her own blood (Presumably because she was transfused with other people's blood, i.e. human blood, during the treatment). When a nurse draws the curtains, the daylight causes Virginia to burst into flames, killing them both.

One night when Owen's mother (Cara Buono) is away, Abby knocks on Owen's front door, asking to be invited in. Owen asks why and challenges her to enter without an invitation. She enters and immediately begins to bleed profusely through her skin. Owen shouts out a verbal invitation, before embracing her. She reveals that she might have died if he had not given permission, but that she knew he wouldn't let her. On another night, Owen sneaks out to spend the night at Abby's. The next morning, the Policeman, knocks on the door of Abby's apartment. He hears a small noise made by Owen and forces his way in. Owen hides, but the detective finds Abby asleep in the bathtub. When he partially removes the makeshift cover over the bathroom window, Abby's leg is exposed to the sunlight and begins to burn, awakening her. Owen suddenly shouts for him to stop, diverting his attention and causing him to drop the cover back over the window, saving Abby from burning in the sunlight. With the Policeman distracted, Abby attacks him to drain and feed off of his blood. As the Policeman is being murdered by Abby, Owen watches but decides to close the door rather than intervene. Abby tells Owen she will have to leave town, and he watches tearfully as she enters a taxi and leaves with her few belongings.

As Owen is taking an evening swim class, his coach is teaching him to breath and swim properly. Meanwhile, Kenny, his sadistic older brother Jimmy (Brett DelBuono), and their friends start a fire in a dumpster behind the school as a diversion to get the coach out of the building, and they lock him out from the inside before proceeding to take their revenge against Owen. They intimidate the other students into leaving the pool and pursue Owen into the locker-room. Owen retrieves his pocket knife from his locker to defend himself from his four attackers, only to then find himself cornered by them. The bullies tackle down Owen, seize his knife, and drag him across the floor from the locker room to the diving pool. As he is thrown into the pool, Owen, barely able to swim at all and in a state of panic, rushes to and grabs the edge of the pool in order to hoist himself over the water to catch his breath - Only, however, to be grabbed and ironically threatened with his own knife by Jimmy. Owen is told that he would only be cut on the cheek if he can hold his breath underwater for three minutes - But if he cannot do so, one of his eyes would be poked out. Jimmy says, "An eye for an ear," before forcing Owen's head under the water. Kenny and his friends suddenly realize the weight of the situation, and as they try telling Jimmy to stop, he angrily refuses to do so. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass is heard, the confused bullies look up to the broken window to see a winged figure coming toward them. As Owen is staying underwater nearly to the limit of his breath, he hears the sounds of the struggle above. Owen looks around underwater in confusion, until the water becomes clouded with blood, and then Jimmy's severed head falls into the water right in front of Owen. As the rest of Jimmy's remains and more dismembered limbs of the bullies fall into the water, Owen emerges from the surface of the water and desperately gasps for air. While Owen is still catching his breath, sounds are heard of the last bullies' screams of agony; their flesh being gruesomely torn apart and thrown into the water; and the furious screams of the flying attacker. As the winged attacker then stands before Owen after having finished such grisly deeds, Owen looks up into the eyes of his savior and begins to faintly smile, revealing that the winged attacker is Abby.

Owen is then seen on a train leaving town in broad daylight to an unspecified location. He is traveling with a large trunk. After the conductor leaves him, from inside the trunk is tapped out a message in Morse code (• • • • space • • = HI). Owen taps a response on the outside of the trunk (• gap • space • – • • = OX in American Morse code, short for hugs and kisses). Owen then looks out the window of his train car and quietly sings to himself, "Eat some now, save some for later."

Cast

• Kodi Smit-McPhee as Owen
• Chloë Grace Moretz as Abby
• Richard Jenkins as Abby's "Father"
• Cara Buono as Owen's mother
• Elias Koteas as Policeman
• Sasha Barrese as Virginia
• Dylan Minnette as Kenny
• Ritchie Coster as Mr. Zorić
• Jimmy Pinchak as Mark
• Nicolai Dorian as Donald
• Colin Moretz as Cashier
• Brett DelBuono as Jimmy

Production

Development

According to Hammer Films executive producer Nigel Sinclair, interest in the project initially began in the middle of 2007, before the original Let the Right One In had screened for audiences.^[8] The rights for the English-language film were later acquired by Hammer Films at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, where Let the Right One In won the "Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature," and Matt Reeves was quickly introduced as the director.^[9] John Nordling and Carl Molinder, the Swedish producers of the original film, were both involved as producers for the adaptation.^[10] Tomas Alfredson, the director of the Swedish film, was initially asked to direct the remake, but he turned it down stating that "I am too old to make the same film twice and I have other stories that I want to tell."^[11] Hammer Films producer Simon Oakes initially referred to the film with "If you call it a faithful remake, I think that's true to say that's what it is. It's not a reimagining; the same beats [are there], maybe the scares are a little bit more scary."^[12] He later said, "I call it his [Reeves'] version. I don't call it his remake or his re-imagining of it."^[13] The decision to make a new film adaptation has been criticized by Tomas Alfredson. He has stated on numerous occasions that he is not in favor of remaking his film.^[14][15] "If one should remake a film, it's because the original is bad. And I don't think mine is," he said.^[16] Producer Donna Gigliotti said, "We're incredibly admiring of the original, but to be honest with you, that picture grossed $2 million. It's not like we're remaking Lawrence of Arabia."^[17] Producer Simon Oakes made it clear that the plot of Let Me In would closely resemble that of the original film, except that it will be made "very accessible to a wider audience."^[12]

Writer John Ajvide Lindqvist, on the other hand, says that Reeves told him that he "will make a new film based on the book, and not remake the Swedish film" and so "it'll be something completely different, but it's going to be really interesting to see."^[18] Reeves has expressed his intent to retain the book's early 1980s setting and his admiration for the book and Alfredson's adaptation. "It's a terrific movie and a fantastic book. I think it could be a really touching, haunting and terrifying film. I'm really excited about what it could be", he said.^[19] In response to the criticism he said, "I can understand because of people's love of the [original] film that there's this cynicism that I'll come in and trash it, when in fact I have nothing but respect for the film. I'm so drawn to it for personal and not mercenary reasons ... I hope people give us a chance."^[20] When Reeves was initially approached, he at first was against the idea but after reading the novel gained a better appreciation for the story,

I said... that we shouldn't remake it. I read the book too and was completely taken with it and I was really intrigued how personal the story felt. I thought John Lindqvist had written this terrific story, and he also adapted it for the film... I wrote Lindqvist and told him that it wasn't just that I was drawn to the story because it was a brilliant genre story — which it is — but also because of the personal aspect of it. It really reminds me of my childhood.

—Matt Reeves^[21]

Adapting and writing

In adapting the film, a few adjustments were made, such as changing the names of the protagonists to Owen and Abby,^[22] and moving the setting from the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg to "a small New Mexico town."^[23] Reeves was also asked to change the ages of the main characters, but he refused, saying that "would ruin the essence of the story and change everything completely...we need that childlike innocence." He also told his actors to not watch the original film beforehand so "we could make our own version but stay very true to the essence of the story."^[21] The filmmakers have noted that "they intend to forge a unique identity for Let Me In, placing it firmly in an American context", while at the same time paying respect to the original.^[23] In comparing his adaptation to the Swedish one, Reeves admitted to not adding many different details from the book that weren't in the original film, stating that " the story was so big that you couldn't really add a lot of stuff in without taking away the focus of the coming of age story so I tried to have allusions and references to stuff in the book." Reeves also admitted to borrowing elements from the Swedish film, stating "There are things that [Lindqvist] adapted brilliantly in the movie and I borrowed from that because I thought he did a great adaptation. But there are some things that hopefully don't detract and fit into the context of the story. It's a mixture of details from the book, the original film and things that grew out of adapting it."^[21] In adapting the story for American audiences, Reeves stated that keeping the 1980s time period within the film was critical in exploring the theme of good and evil. He used Ronald Reagan's "evil empire speech" as an example of American thought during that time period. Reeves stated, "The idea of Reagan's 'evil empire' speech and that whole sort of school of thought was that evil was something that was outside of us. Evil was 'Other,' it was over there, it was the Soviets". Reeves felt that this idea was central to the main character Owen, as he "would be grappling with these very, very dark feelings but being in a kind of American town where there was that sort of [Reagan era] mindset and religiousness. How would you fit in? How would you feel about yourself being confused and being 12 or 13 years old and not knowing what it means that you wish you could kill those kids who were terrorizing you every day? The humanity of that."^[24]

Casting

Matt Reeves, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins, and Chloë Grace Moretz at Comic-Con discussing Let Me In

In July 2009, audition tapes were leaked to the Internet, showing Chloë Grace Moretz, Mary Mouser, and Ariel Winter auditioning for the role of the vampire, Abby.^[25] Smit-McPhee, in an interview with The Herald Sun, hinted that he may have landed the role as Owen.^[26] The casting of Moretz and Smit-McPhee in the leading roles was confirmed on October 1, 2009, along with the addition of Richard Jenkins as Abby's adult companion.^[27] In a press release, director Matt Reeves described Smit-McPhee, Moretz and Jenkins as his "absolute dream cast", and added that he "couldn't be more excited to be working with them."^[28] Both Smit-McPhee and Moretz were cast before the release of The Road or Kick-Ass, and the films' directors John Hillcoat and Matthew Vaughn respectively each praised the young actors and recommended them to Reeves.^[29]

Filming

Principal photography began in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 2, 2009.^[23][30] Filming took place in several different New Mexico locations, before concluding in Albuquerque in January 2010.^[23][31] A large section of the film was filmed at Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Los Alamos County granted a special request from the film's director and producer to name the town in the movie "Los Alamos, New Mexico." The local police department loaned the film crew 1980s style uniforms and patrol cars to use for the film and over 100 local teenagers were cast as extras.^[32] Reeves felt that Lindqvist's story was very naturalistic and wanted the film to be shot the same way. After viewing Bright Star, he hired Greig Fraser as his cinematographer because he admired Fraser's work with natural light on the film.^[33] Shortly before filming, Reeves sought advice from Steven Spielberg for directing child actors. Spielberg instructed Reeves to have the two leads each keep a diary in character with the intention of sharing with Reeves what they wrote in it. Reeves stated, "It was all a process of trying to, not only guide them, but in places, trying to let them guide me toward their perspective. That was important."^[34]

Visual effects

Moretz wore minimal prosthetic blood applied to her face for reference (left); visual effects artists later rendered the gradual release of blood in post-production (right).

Method Studios was contracted to handle the film's visual effects work. The studio's supervisor Sean Faden, worked alongside the film's visual effects supervisor, Brad Parker throughout the production. Several of the film's scenes proved to be a challenge for the team. Director Reeves wanted the "car-crash" sequence to appear as if it were filmed uncut in first-person.^[35][36][37] Several plates were shot with the first involving actor Jenkins backing the car out of the gas station and swerving, the second plate shot had a model of the car capable of being spun mechanically on a "rotisserie" in front of a blue screen which could simulate the car's roll down the hill. Jenkin's stunt double and a dummy were placed in the car as the rotisserie spun with additional effects work used to animate the dummy as the car rolled. The two shots were then combined to deceive the viewer into believing that it was one complete shot.^[35][36] Houdini software was used for much of the film's shots which involved Abby in her vampiric form. Faden noted the techniques used in another challenging shot important to Abby's character in which she begins bleeding when she enters Owen's apartment without invitation. Faden stated, "Normally in such a scene, the character would be shot on set, dressed in blood. But in this case, the timing of the bleeding was so dependent on the emotional beats of the scene that this technique wouldn’t have allowed us enough control."^[36] Actress Chloë Grace Moretz was first shot with minimal prosthetic blood applied to her face for reference. Then using techniques utilized in a prior Method Studios film, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Faden had the Houdini software track Moretz's shaking movements and render the gradual release of blood from her face.^[37]

Music and soundtrack

Let Me In: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film's soundtrack album. It was released by Varèse Sarabande on October 12, 2010. The soundtrack was composed by Michael Giacchino.^[38] Giacchino stated that scoring the film was a difficult "balancing act" for some scenes. He mentioned, "I was always trying to say, 'let's take music out!' and Matt [Reeves] was like, 'no, put it in!'" In composing the score, he stated that he also applied certain musical themes to each character for which the audience could respond to as the story progressed. Composing the score to convey the correct emotion was also a challenge for Giacchino who said, "...it was tricky finding the right balance of, well, should this be scary? Or should this be sentimental? Or should it be emotional? Or should it be this? It was a weird balance because you're dealing with a dynamic that is quite questionable as far as what everyone's intentions are in the film.^[39]

Release

Chloë Grace Moretz and Elias Koteas during the New York premiere of Let Me In at the SVA Theater on September 30, 2010.

Box office

It was announced on August 17, 2010, that Let Me In would have its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2010,^[40] and its U.S. premiere on the opening night of Fantastic Fest on September 23, 2010.^[41] Overture Films released promotional items placed in small plastic evidence bags.^[42] With a budget estimated to be $20 million,^[3] the film was released on October 1, 2010, in North America^[43] opening at #8 on its debut weekend with an estimated $5.1 million in 2,020 theaters.^[44] The film's international release began on October 6 in European markets with other markets following thereafter.^[45] During the film's 10-week theatrical run, Let Me In grossed over $24 million worldwide, $12.1 million of which was from the United States and Canada.^[3] The film was #5 among the ten lowest-grossing releases of 2010 from major studios (movies released in over 1500 theaters).^[46]

Home media

Let Me In was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on February 1, 2011, and in the UK on March 14, 2011.^[47] The disc includes an audio commentary with director Matt Reeves, a 17-minute featurette on the making of the film, a short that focuses on the art of the special effects, an in-depth video about the process of making the film's unique car crash scene, three deleted scenes, trailer and poster galleries and a digital copy of the film. The Blu-ray disc contains an exclusive featurette titled "Dissecting Let Me In".^[48] Both DVD and Blu-ray come with a copy of the Limited Edition "Let Me In: Crossroads" comic book. As of April 2011, DVD sales (not including Blu-ray) totaled over 457,000 units sold with over $6.2 million in revenue.^[49]

Comic book prequel

In April 2010, it was announced that Hammer Film Productions and Dark Horse Comics are producing a four-issue comic book limited series based on the film. Marc Andreyko will write the comic.^[50] The series, titled Let Me In: Crossroads, is a prequel to the film. The first issue has Abby and her "guardian" facing a ruthless real-estate tycoon who wants to steal their home and was released in December 2010.^[51] Original author John Ajvide Lindqvist said "Nobody has asked me about [doing a comic] and I think that the project stinks. I am looking into this matter and hope that they have no right to do this."^[52] Later, he informed fans that he had in fact unwittingly sold the rights for the comic to be made, stating that the producers had misinformed him as to the nature of the contract he had signed.^[53]

Reception

Moretz and Smit-McPhee as Abby and Owen were praised by critics for their chemistry and maturity on-screen.

Critical response

Let Me In has received critical acclaim. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 89% based on reviews from 205 critics, with an average score of 7.6/10. The consensus is that "similar to the original in all the right ways — but with enough changes to stand on its own — Let Me In is the rare Hollywood remake that doesn't add insult to inspiration."^[54] Let Me In was included on Rotten Tomatoes list of the ten best reviewed wide release films of 2010^[55] in addition to being the best reviewed horror film of 2010.^[56] Metacritic gave the film an average score of 79% based on 35 reviews, judged to be "generally favorable reviews".^[57] According to Metacritic, Let Me In was one of the ten best-reviewed wide release films of 2010^[58] and the best reviewed film of the year in the horror category.^[59] Particular praise was given to the film's two leads, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz, for their chemistry and maturity on-screen.^[60]

Acclaimed horror author Stephen King wrote "Let Me In is a genre-busting triumph. Not just a horror film, but the best American horror film in the last 20 years."^[61] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the film "is more than a respectful remake; 'Let Me In' is quietly stylish and thoroughly chilling in its own right."^[62] Lou Lumenick of The New York Post called Let Me In "the scariest, creepiest and most elegantly filmed horror movie I’ve seen in years — it positively drives a stake through the competition."^[63] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote "what makes 'Let Me In' so eerily fascinating is the mood it creates. It is at once artful and unpretentious, more interested in intimacy and implication than in easy scares or slick effects."^[64] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film while comparing it to the original. He stated, "Reeves understands what made the first film so eerie and effective, and here the same things work again."^[65] Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers, who was initially skeptical, gave the film a positive review while writing, "I thought for sure that any Hollywood remake of Tomas Alfredson's artful Swedish vampire film, Let the Right One In, would be a crass desecration. Well, color me blushing" and "Prepare to be wowed. It's a spellbinder."^[66] Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, stating, "Reeves has Americanized a very good foreign film without defanging it."^[67]

Let Me In was not well received by all critics. Some disputed Reeves' claims that he was not remaking the film but re-adapting the book, criticizing it for being too similar to the Swedish film. Josh Tyler wrote "The movie he’s made is absolutely a direct remake of the 2008 film, the two are so similar that it’s almost impossible to differentiate between them."^[68] In a similar vein, Jamie S. Rich noted that while there was plenty of content in the original novel that the Swedish film omitted, "Reeves hasn't really ferreted out anything new; on the contrary, there is actually less plot in Let Me In than in the Alfredson version."^[69] Beth Accomando wrote, "How Reeves can take the credit 'written and directed by Matt Reeves' seems almost laughable when you note how similar the script and the direction are to the original." In comparing the two films, she opined that the remake "makes obvious all that the original film made subtle and does so with less complexity."^[70] Mark Kermode called it "the most utterly redundant remake of the year".^[71] According to Sukhdev Sandhu of The Telegraph,^[72] "Let Me In doesn't need to exist unless, that is, the very notion of Swedish cinema is strange and unpalatable to you....What’s missing is the alluring otherness of Let the Right One In. That film's brittle textures and haunted ambiance seemed in some strange way to have sprung organically from the nation in which it was set. This remake, by contrast, smells of boardrooms and calculating machines."

Let Me In was a critics' pick as one of the Top 10 Best Films of 2010 at CNN^[73] and at MSN Entertainment for the 2010 Year in Review Special Features.^[74]

Author's response

John Ajvide Lindqvist, author of Let the Right One In, who also wrote the screenplay for the original Swedish film, was pleased with Let Me In. He said:

I might just be the luckiest writer alive. To have not only one, but two excellent versions of my debut novel done for the screen feels unreal. Let the Right One In is a great Swedish movie. Let Me In is a great American movie. There are notable similarities and the spirit of Tomas Alfredson is present. But Let Me In puts the emotional pressure in different places and stands firmly on its own legs. Like the Swedish movie it made me cry, but not at the same points. Let Me In is a dark and violent love story, a beautiful piece of cinema and a respectful rendering of my novel for which I am grateful. Again.^[75]

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Let Me In (film).

• Official website
• Official shooting script
• Let Me In at allmovie
• Let Me In at Box Office Mojo
• Let Me In at the Internet Movie Database
• Let Me In at Metacritic
• Let Me In at Rotten Tomatoes