The following is an explanation as to why I prefer Let The Right one In to Let me In. Many people think it's pretentiousness to prefer the Foreign film to the domestically made one but really, it's not. It simply was a bad a film.
1. I don't like the CGI. I see no point in adding blood with CGI. It looks awful.
2. I do not like the implication that the boy is to be the next henchman (or whatever term you want to use). It goes against the original novel and the original theme of rare and true unconditional love without sex. The purist and most innocent love through darkness. That was at the heart of the original story and what made it so endearing. Also to claim Eli had known her/ his henchman since that henchman was a boy is wrong. He's too bungling and incompetent. He clearly is not experienced at killing and disposing of the body so how could he have been doing this his entire adult life? That version of the character in the remake does not make sense.
3. The setting of the remake felt wrong. I like atmosphere and I like the unearthly quality of vampires and you lose some of that without the bare footed child in a t-shirt walking in snow and you can't see her breath but you see everyone else's.
4. Making it clear that Eli was really a boy was important because it was the result of that mutilation that Eli was anti-social, avoided human society, was clearly awkward and shunned society with it's gender roles. Eli did not trust the outside world because of his secrets and because of what he suffered and some of that was lost. It takes away from the child vampire's tragedy. And the solidification of the fact that their love was NOT sexual but something far deeper.
I think it's kind of depressing that we Americans can accept monsters but we can't accept that the child vampire was really a boy? The fact that being a blood thirsty monster seems "more acceptable" to the audience than the idea of the child being a boy says something is really wrong with our society right now.
5. I feel the Swedish actress was simply a better actor in general. The girl who played Abby is now in Dark Shadows and I've been watching interviews with her and she's spacy and acts... well, kind of high...
6. I just tend to prefer films that follow the original source material better.
7. Let the Right One In was the first good vampire film since Twilight. And by "since Twilight" I do NOT mean that Twilight is good, but rather the first good vampire film since the whole annoying fad started!
8. The remake disappointed me for another reason as I expect more atmosphere from the recently revived Hammer company and they let me down.
9. I don't like finding out that the reason the title was changed was "The original title is too long for Americans." (real reasoning). That offends me. Especially when the original title was based on an English language song by Morrisey and the song definitely suits the movie. And the follow up short story is named for the next line of the song, Let the Old Dreams Die.
The interpret it that OsKar / Owen (what's the point of changing the name? We have Oscars here in the US) is the next henchman hurts the film and the entire theme of the movie that love, actual unconditional affection, without need of sex, can bloom in the strangest of situations. That was at the heart of the story. For the boy and for the monster. And if you deliberately strip that out for the sake of your "interpretation" the entire message and meaning of the movie is lost just to appease contemporary and cruel cynicism. It's wrong to completely twist the very heart and meaning of the story to appeal a cold, modern interpretation based on the disturbing fact that people today have become too cynical to accept the notion that love can bloom anywhere at ny time with anyone. The heart of the story was that Oskar could love despite the fact that Eli was a monster and not really female and that Eli would love to a degree of fierce protectiveness she/he never gave to the henchman. To dismiss this and turn the film into something colder and shallow. And to be honest the mindset that does this... disgusts me.
The writer of the original story said what it's about and wrote a follow up story to prove the way it's supposed to be seen. He says that Eli eventually makes Oskar a vampire after they finish the blood pact when they get off the train. To act as if he's wrong about the outcome of his own characters is like telling a child they are wrong about their own imaginary friend. That it's not a pink rabbit but rather a green bear.
Watch the original, skip Let me In.
1. I don't like the CGI. I see no point in adding blood with CGI. It looks awful.
2. I do not like the implication that the boy is to be the next henchman (or whatever term you want to use). It goes against the original novel and the original theme of rare and true unconditional love without sex. The purist and most innocent love through darkness. That was at the heart of the original story and what made it so endearing. Also to claim Eli had known her/ his henchman since that henchman was a boy is wrong. He's too bungling and incompetent. He clearly is not experienced at killing and disposing of the body so how could he have been doing this his entire adult life? That version of the character in the remake does not make sense.
3. The setting of the remake felt wrong. I like atmosphere and I like the unearthly quality of vampires and you lose some of that without the bare footed child in a t-shirt walking in snow and you can't see her breath but you see everyone else's.
4. Making it clear that Eli was really a boy was important because it was the result of that mutilation that Eli was anti-social, avoided human society, was clearly awkward and shunned society with it's gender roles. Eli did not trust the outside world because of his secrets and because of what he suffered and some of that was lost. It takes away from the child vampire's tragedy. And the solidification of the fact that their love was NOT sexual but something far deeper.
I think it's kind of depressing that we Americans can accept monsters but we can't accept that the child vampire was really a boy? The fact that being a blood thirsty monster seems "more acceptable" to the audience than the idea of the child being a boy says something is really wrong with our society right now.
5. I feel the Swedish actress was simply a better actor in general. The girl who played Abby is now in Dark Shadows and I've been watching interviews with her and she's spacy and acts... well, kind of high...
6. I just tend to prefer films that follow the original source material better.
7. Let the Right One In was the first good vampire film since Twilight. And by "since Twilight" I do NOT mean that Twilight is good, but rather the first good vampire film since the whole annoying fad started!
8. The remake disappointed me for another reason as I expect more atmosphere from the recently revived Hammer company and they let me down.
9. I don't like finding out that the reason the title was changed was "The original title is too long for Americans." (real reasoning). That offends me. Especially when the original title was based on an English language song by Morrisey and the song definitely suits the movie. And the follow up short story is named for the next line of the song, Let the Old Dreams Die.
The interpret it that OsKar / Owen (what's the point of changing the name? We have Oscars here in the US) is the next henchman hurts the film and the entire theme of the movie that love, actual unconditional affection, without need of sex, can bloom in the strangest of situations. That was at the heart of the story. For the boy and for the monster. And if you deliberately strip that out for the sake of your "interpretation" the entire message and meaning of the movie is lost just to appease contemporary and cruel cynicism. It's wrong to completely twist the very heart and meaning of the story to appeal a cold, modern interpretation based on the disturbing fact that people today have become too cynical to accept the notion that love can bloom anywhere at ny time with anyone. The heart of the story was that Oskar could love despite the fact that Eli was a monster and not really female and that Eli would love to a degree of fierce protectiveness she/he never gave to the henchman. To dismiss this and turn the film into something colder and shallow. And to be honest the mindset that does this... disgusts me.
The writer of the original story said what it's about and wrote a follow up story to prove the way it's supposed to be seen. He says that Eli eventually makes Oskar a vampire after they finish the blood pact when they get off the train. To act as if he's wrong about the outcome of his own characters is like telling a child they are wrong about their own imaginary friend. That it's not a pink rabbit but rather a green bear.
Watch the original, skip Let me In.