Let Me In

You won't hear me speak very highly of the horror genre or Vampire movies in this blog very often. The genre has become ugly with gore or sex-crazed soap opera (Twilight, True Blood). But last year there was a film from Sweden that really transcended the current confines of the genre. It was called "Let the Right One In" and it got a lot of attention from critic's groups, many of whom awarded it with "Best Foreign Film" honors. It was a master stroke to set the film in the icy landscape of urban Sweden, besides which those Swedes are some pasty-pallored mo-fo's---perfect for Vampire movies. But the real strength of the movie wasn't about spewing blood or chewing on necks. It was about loneliness and isolation and alienation-the underpinnings of all good horror.
So when they decided to do an American version of this great vampire flick, my stomach sunk. The horror.
Turns out that my trepidation was misplaced. The American version, "Let Me In", stays true to the original in some very important ways. It's not as good as the Swedish version, but it ain't bad. Here's why:
At the heart of both the original and this version is the relationship between a lonely adolescent boy and a really lonely adolescent vampire. When the boy asks the young female vampire how old she is, she answers "I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a very long time". How these two children from different worlds come to live in a creepy symbiosis, feeding off each others emotional and physical needs is what gives this story such a unique slant.
The American version does however come up short in some key ways. The boys relationship to his divorcing parents is given short shrift and curiously some of the grisliest visions from the original are softened or ignored. This version instead focuses on the young boy's adolescent voyeurism and his mother's religious obsession. Sex and God-- America's favorite pass-times. It makes the American revival a lesser film by far. So rent "Let the Right One In" unless you're one of those that has no patience for subtitles. If that's the case, you'll still find a lot to like about "Let Me In".