'Let Me In'

(CREDIT: found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Me_In_(film))

My Rank: 3.9 out of 5 <- loyal remake, but maybe too identical...

Thank God for Ville Valo. If I never read any interviews of him back in early 2010, I would have never heard of Let the Right One In. Thank God for Youtube. If the many users I often follow didn't say how impressive the story was, I would have never bought the book and watched the Swedish adaptation. And thank God the filmmakers of Let Me In didn't make this too American. In fact, all they did was tweak the location and names, and that's it.

Okay, they did a bit more, but this film greatly reflected it's Swedish sibling. The creepy mood, the awkward conversations, the combustable vampires, and the cold environment remained very well untouched. Not to mention both go slow and feel REALLY long... However, this version is less subtle and there is more blood. A few plot points were changed as well, but like the book and Swedish film no characters were pointless or wasted.

I won't spend from now until eternity arguing which one is better because Låt den rätte komma in and Let Me In are practically identical. In a way it looked like this version copied the Swedish one but changed the language, location, and themes (the boy's mother is religious; an awesome scene with cats in absent; and the focus is so much on the kids.) Because of this, I would say the Swedish version was probably the better one. I don't know, but that version stayed true to the book, while the American version was more inspired by it's sibling.

Sorry if this review isn't a good one, but I can't say much about this film. It's great, but not perfect. Let the Right One In is a great story, I strongly recommend the book over the films. The pacing can be quite painful and slow, but the content, characters, and plot are very impressive for a vampire story. Especially when Twilight plagues the world as it has been for so long.

So: BUY Let the Right One In. THEN watch the Swedish movie. PERIOD.

The first movie I've seen in a while? Wow. And the final Harry Potter movies are near... :'(