Let Me In vs. Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In (2008) vs. Let Me In (2010)

Neither one of these films has increased my trust of children. In fact, they’ve just reinforced my suspicions that children are evil and now I’m going to be running past playgrounds carrying a cross and a stake just in case one of the little buggers decides to try and bust a fang on my ass. Don’t be fooled by the sweet appearances of kids; watch one of these films to better prepare yourself!

Let Me In just came out in theaters starring Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. This film is a remake of the 2008 Swedish film, Let the Right One In starring Kare Hedebrandt and Lina Leandersson. So how do they compare?

Plot: Since Let Me In is a remake, the plots are exactly the same. And by exactly the same, I mean these two films are just about scene for scene the same film. The main character is a 12-year-old boy who is being bullied in school. He soon makes friends with a strange girl who just moved in next door to him. That’s kind of it. The whole film focuses on their blossoming friendship and trying to deal with some mean bullies.

Overall: I really enjoyed both films but let me advise you not to watch them within 24 hours of each other…because it’s the same film! I did watch them both so that I could see the differences, which ended up making me pretty friggin’ bored  the second time around even though they are great movies. The story really didn’t have much overt horror – or am I just jaded to it all? Anyway, it isn’t scary to me, but it does have an interesting, original story with some action and definitely a lot of blood mixed in.

Differences (Spoiler Alert): Let Me In strayed slightly from the original in that the main boy was named Owen (Smit-McPhee) instead of Oskar (Hedebrandt), and they kind of played down the homicidal tendencies Oskar had in Let the Right One In. It was still there, but Owen didn’t seem as quick and willing to shank someone as Oskar did. There was also no weird and out of place vagina shot in Let Me In, which I am very thankful for.

One thing I am sad about is the lack of cats in the remake. The original had a hilarious scene where a gang of cats go berserk and attack a lady. Oh and the biggest difference between the two films is that the remake is all in English while the original is in Swedish with subtitles. I watch movies INSTEAD OF reading. I do not wish to mix the two! Okay I’m kidding…a little.

Action: The action was the same, same number of kills, same people dying with one exception, and same pacing. All that being said, there was hardly any action. Both were suspenseful in their story execution, but Let Me In grabs your attention a lot faster than the original just by taking one scene from the middle of the original and placing it at the beginning of the film.

So I guess as an English speaking American who loves getting to the action as quickly as possible, I think I prefer the remake, Let Me In, even though they are both very good. The remake cut out a few of the unnecessary scenes, making it a tiny bit shorter; it got to the action more quickly; and the kids all had considerably less snot dripping from their noses over here in America.

Rating: Both films get ½ savage housecat attacks, out of 5 (because they’re the exact same).

Picture coming soon!

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!