Movie: Let me in

[itadakimasu]

I saw this over the weekend. I really liked it. I thought they did an excellent job... The movie is set in the 80's and I really felt like I was there. It had the feeling of a vintage horror movie in a way. I'd give it a 8.5/10.

Having said that... I just found out that it was a remake of a 2008 swedish movie entitled " let the right one in".

[mage]

The trailers looked okay but I doubt it can compare to the original. Lina Leanderson played an awesome Eli (Abby in the American ver). The budget is definitely higher, though.

I guess I'll go see it in the next day or so just to compare the two. Keep in mind the movie is an adaption of a novel, so if you want to get the full story, read that. Tons of background info was left out of the movie.

[Animeniax]

I've seen the original too. Not sure how the remake will compare, though the original was Swedish or some such and they have fewer scruples about gore/sexuality so it might be more risque. I can say that the foreign version had a quick nudie shot of a 12 year old girl which I thought was entirely unnecessary. I doubt that makes it into the Hollywood version.

[mage]

It wasn't a "nudie shot" exactly, it was a scar. It just flashed off the screen so fast it looks extremely weird the first time you see it. Can't see that going through in an American film, though. And it wasn't unnecessary, it's actually a very important shot that's required in understanding the interactions between Eli, Oskar, and her care taker without saying "it" outright. Still, it's very confusing unless you've read the book.

[Animeniax]

I'm fairly certain it was a groin shot of the little vampire, or the scar was placed exactly over her lower unmentionables. They didn't explain it at all in the movie so it came off as perverse and unnecessary. Care to explain the significance of the shot?

[mage]

Eli was/is a boy and was castrated before being turned to a vampire, which is whe "she" asks if Oskar would like her if she wasn't a girl.

(spoilers below)

Just got back from seeing Let Me In. Chloe Moretz grew on me as Abby as the film went on, but Owen just felt insignificant the entire film when it was supposed to be primarily about their relationship. The movie doesn't make you care about him the same as Oskar. Mainly I guess because the "bad" things that happen to him just ended up being funny. I mean, He gets a fucking WEDGIE and then pisses himself.

5x the budget makes the special effects look good but unfortunately to much emphasis is put on them in American movies.

They also left out the aforementioned crotch scene, and while expected for the American audience, it totally removes a major part of the story.

[Animeniax]

Ahhh that makes sense then. I thought it was a gratuitous "Roman Polanski-esque" kind of scene, which it could still be seen that way since it isn't explained at all in the film. The image passes so quickly that it looks like a sewn-up womb or could be mistaken for the befouled womanhood of a vampire.

I think this type of film requires a low budget in order to focus on the characters and relationship more. Hollywood has a tendency to overshadow everything with bright lights and fancy effects to the detriment of everything else.