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| Let The Right One In |
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| Let Me In |
After its release in 2008, Swedish horror Let the Right One In blew up, and caught attention far outside the country of its origin. John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel was a bestseller in its homeland, but this success did not prepare for the cult explosion of its first filmic adaptation. In a golden age of vampire literature and cinema, Let the Right One In possessed a charm, romance and culture that is unrecognisable in its contemporaries - it came as a breath of fresh air to a genre in need of some exceptional new blood. With the recent release of the American remake, the pressure is high to do its predecessor justice.
Let Me In brings with it a hype of its own, and there was a lot to get excited about in the build up to its release. The casting of Chloe Moretz in the role of super vamp Abbey was a major attraction, her introduction to the world as Hit Girl in Kick-Ass has built her a reputation as the most unlikely action hero. Let Me In serves as a perfect setting for her to flex those ultra-violent muscles again - and build on her growing stardom.
Cinema’s biggest sleeping giant, Hammer Horror, has risen from the dead and Let Me In is perhaps it’s biggest in a string of comeback flicks. Without a Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee in sight, the excitement to see what this British institution can offer to modern cinema is high. With mass investments across the ocean, this brand has been given a new lease of life - and bigger production possibilities than ever. Could they now produce works to rival classics such as Dracula and The Quatermass Experiment, and build on their celebrated history?
There is also the inclusion of Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves as writer and director; along with Moretz he is one of Hollywood’s biggest up and comers. The young auteur’s feel for the genre and undeniable knack for producing big screen thrills could be well exercised to give Let Me In a heartbeat of its own.
For the many who loved the original, reservations about a remake are only natural. Hollywood remakes have a certain stigma about them that sets them up for cynical assassination - there have been many good movies tarnished over the years by a failure to translate within the mainstream. Keep in mind Queen Latifa in Taxi, Fever Pitch with baseball, or a more over-the-top than ever performance from Robin Williams in The Birdcage - these are just a few examples of Hollywood producers getting it all wrong.
Rest assured that this lack of respect is not seen in Let Me In - the film is completely faithful to the Swedish version. The most important parts of the story are all related with the same compelling effect, whilst the relationship between the two leads is central and heartfelt, with two very mature performances from Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. McPhee shows a vulnerability that makes the romance seem genuine, despite Abbey’s apparent motives - he probably does a better job than Kare Herebrant did in the original, and comes across as both a brow raising oddball and empathetically outcast. For those unaware of the art house version, this is well worth a watch, and hits the same sombre notes as a first viewing of Let the Right One In.
One of the most successful foreign-language to Hollywood transitions of recent years is Scorsese’s Oscar sweeping The Departed. It followed the story of the Japanese Infernal Affairs very loyally but transferred its Triad backdrop for the crime underbelly of Boston that, alongside Martin Scorsese signature direction, ensured its own flavour and distinct style. Sadly individuality is not captured here, as Let Me In serves only to retell 95 per cent of the story it’s based upon. Aside from a few alterations to the chronology, and a several minor details retold differently, it is almost a shot-for-shot replica. The most memorable moments from the first are left un-tampered with – for example, despite a little added blood, the pool scene is shot with the same dynamic that was so breathtaking in the first. Reeves has perhaps given too much respect to the original, failing to leave his own mark on the story - if anything, the zombie-like vampire state he installs in Abbey (one of his few alterations) replaces the subtlety of her menace with make-up.
A huge appeal of Let The Right One In was its Swedish backdrop, especially to audiences outside of Scandinavia. Set in the Stockholm suburb Blackeberg in 1982, we are treated to an eerie snow-filled winter with long johns, colourful puffer jackets and chunky Christmas jumpers. If Lost Boys and Gremlins are anything to go by, ‘80s America is rife with stylistics to suit the horror genre, yet the change of country in Let Me In is unrecognisable - as well as Reeves captures the woodland and snowflakes in the streetlights, it feels imitated and lacks authenticity.
Such duplication should make this a non-event, but although it is a slightly pointless artistic effort, the film’s success is set to surpass that of the less commercial 2008 release. This seems an injustice as, although Let Me In is an honourable effort, the creative flair and insight lie with Tomas Alfredson and John Ajvide Lindqvist. With the two films brought out within a couple of years of each other, the hype and buzz circulated by Let The Right One in had barely died down before it was picked up on by EFTI and Hammer.
Another Sweedish creation that has been hitting the high notes overseas is the filmic adaptations of Steig Larsson’s Millenium Series. Production company Yellow Bird brought the already successful novels to life, introducing goth heroine Lisbeth Salander to cinema goers and rousing 5-star reviews across the international board. With the final instalment of the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, about to be released, Relativity Media have already sanctioned and began filming an American remake of the trilogy, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, and helmed by David Fincher.
Let Me In shows that it is not always the quality of a remake that reduces its creditability, but the intent of the production. Like an X-Factor winner covering a Jeff Buckley song, it would seem this new trend of American studios covering art house is financially minded. With history, literature, television and computer games all becoming the basis for mindless crowd pleasers, it seems nothing is sacred. It would be a shame to see successful independent movies scouted after like cash cows by movie executives. Why are these films not seen in their original form in the states?
The answer is the obvious one: the majority of American audiences will not read subtitles. To see Let Me In as opposed to seeing Let The Right One In would only serve the purpose of avoiding subtitles. Art house in its nature is less commonly known, but it seems unjust that to gain recognition it has to be revamped in the English language. A fine example of this is Michael Haneke’s scene-for-scene remake of his 1997 cult horror classic Funny Games in 2008 - although the film did not do well, it showed a filmmaker’s realisation that for his film to finally gain recognition, it had to be Americanised.
Let Me In made five-plus million in its opening weekend, and within a few weeks had record 13.7 million worldwide - Let The Right One in has only recorded 9 million in two years of circulation. Considering the scale of the two projects, this is not a surprise, but it would be a pity if John Ajvide Lindqvist’s story become associated more with the former.
Let Me In is a disappointment and a success. Lindqvist’s story is a beautiful one, and Reeves’ film allows it to be seen and appreciated by a wider audience. Although it has a little more convention and a little less subtle power than the original, viewers used to Robert Pattinson and glowing vampires will find something a little deeper here. The disappointment is that they couldn’t have looked a little harder and found Let The Right One In. LW
