Not as deep as the original, but certainly more of a crowdpleaser — and it’s hard to imagine a more intelligent and well-crafted American horror being released this year.
Matt Reeves' Let Me In may be a pointless exercise, but as pointless exercises go, it's not a bad effort.
If we hadn’t already seen it in Swedish, we’d probably be talking up Reeves’ dark, gripping vampire remake – and its two lead performances – as something rather special. Actually, we’re going to do that anyway.
Let Me In deserves a fair shout for trying to revive its undead spirit.
A striking if mildly uneven adaptation.
This remake...smells of boardrooms and calculating machines.
A very good film, slightly overpraised, has been remade as a slightly good film, very overpraised.
It’s enough to give remakes a good name.
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To those who admired the Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In this American remake will not cause offence, though it signally lacks the original's haunting impact. Those who don't know the original will perhaps be more impressed.
Ultimately, Let Me In is like a faded photocopy.
Let me out!
A good story stands and, if you haven't seen the original, this is worth a bite.
Though some scenes are remade almost shot-for-shot, Reeves successfully captures the original's dark, chilly spirit by replacing the secular, sexually ambiguous undercurrents of the Swedish version with creepy religious ones more appropriate to small-town America during the Reagan era.
The paradox is that this fidelity to the Swedish film is what makes it so good – but also so missable.
(A) rather good, extremely well performed horror movie.
Interview: Chloe Moretz, actress
Let Me In: curse of the remake
Interview: Matt Reeves, film director
Chloe Moretz: the Kick-Ass star of Let Me In, shortly to work with Scorsese
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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