Let Me In

Matt Reeves’ controversial remake of Tomas Alfredson’s brilliant Let the Right One In, Let Me In follows a bullied young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Owen) as he befriends a mysterious young girl (Chloe Moretz’s Abby) – with complications inevitably ensuing as it becomes clear that Abby is, in fact, a vampire. Reeves has mimicked Alfredson’s incredibly distinctive sense of style to such an extent that Let Me In‘s very existence quickly becomes a question mark, as the filmmaker’s stubborn refusal to take the material in a new or innovative direction ultimately lends the proceedings a distinctly superfluous sort of vibe (ie why watch this when you could just watch or rewatch the vastly superior original). Having said that, Let Me In is nevertheless a very strong piece of work that generally succeeds in all the ways that its predecessor succeeded – with Moretz’s consistently enthralling turn as Abby undoubtedly matching (or even exceeding) Lina Leandersson’s stellar performance in Alfredson’s 2008 original. And although the strength of the movie’s positive attributes are generally hindered by a pace that’s often excessively slow (ie the movie somehow feels slower than the original), Let Me In comes off as a respectable remake that ultimately loses points for omitting its predecessor’s most memorable and flat-out compelling sequence (ie the “cat” interlude).

*** out of ****