LET ME IN

RYAN: Let Me In is the remake of a Swedish vampire movie from two years ago, Let The Right One In, which I saw and you did not.

CAROLINE: As you know, I’m not a big fan of horror movies and definitely not of scary vampire movies. This is not Twilight, people. But I was curious to see this movie since I’d such great things about the original. And then I had to suffer through this movie alone, since you’d seen it ahead of me. Not that I hated it; but ugh, it’s disgusting in parts.

RYAN: I wonder if you would have reacted differently if we’d seen the movie together. It’s hard to see scary movies alone. And though it doesn’t have the romantic angle of Twilight, it does have the lil’ actress we love from Kick-Ass, Chloe Moretz.

CAROLINE: She definitely contributed to my enjoyment of the movie, as did Richard Jenkins in the “father” role. You’ll have to see the movie to know why I put “father” in quotes.

RYAN: This is one of the darkest, creepiest, most stylized vampire movies in a while, and I found it richer and deeper than even Interview with a Vampire, which you know I love.

CAROLINE: It’s an interesting movie, but I got really bogged down in the vampire stuff. I was like, “Another vampire movie? Really?” There has been such a glut of this genre in books, TV and film over the last few years. I get it, already – she never gets cold, she sleeps during the day and plays at night, she needs blood to survive. It’s getting tired. I didn’t feel like this movie showed me anything new other than that the main characters are two kids.

RYAN: Well, vampire lore is ever present in movies of this genre, and this movie wasn’t going to change any of that. But what it does do is tell the story of a vampire in a way that makes it seem like vampires really could live among us.

CAROLINE: Maybe in your fantasy world, honey. I’m over it. I didn’t need to see another movie about vampires, even if it’s pretty well made. It’s by the same director as Cloverfield, incidentally.

RYAN: Well, I’m a fan of this genre, and I really liked this movie. There are a couple of moments that stood out to me as so visually frightening that I had trouble sleeping that night.

CAROLINE: It’s absolutely gruesome. I actually had to look away a couple times. In that sense, this is basically a horror movie. It’s bloody, gory, disturbing and hard to watch at times.

RYAN: Yes, it is, but it’s not like a slasher film. The gore, albeit grisly, is appropriate for the movie. Little Chloe Moretz’s face when she becomes a vampire is so scary.

CAROLINE: They did a good makeup job on her for those scenes, but the CGI of her attacking people or climbing trees is pretty awful. Worse than Twilight even, which was laughable.

RYAN: I can’t disagree with you there. I think the Quidditch CGI in the first Harry Potter movie nine years ago was better. But I loved Chloe Moretz. It’s tough to do a role like this at her age, like Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire. But I think Chloe’s even better.

CAROLINE: I like her too, and I can’t wait to see what happens with her career, but aside from looking sullen, disturbed and bloodthirsty, what else did she have to do in this movie?

RYAN: Act. And I thought her performance was great.

CAROLINE: Fair enough. How did this movie compare to the original for you?

RYAN: Honestly, I didn’t remember a lot of this first movie, so this one seemed fresh to me. But it’s pretty identical to the original, which is good for fans of the first ones. They didn’t take too many liberties.

CAROLINE: My problem with the movie, other than the whole vampire thing being played out, is that it felt too long. It’s almost two hours, and I kept thinking it was ending and then there would be more. One part felt like a definitive ending, but then there were 10 more minutes, and I really just wanted to go home. Having said that, the final scene on the train is pretty cool.

— BOTTOM LINE —

RYAN: I’m glad they remade this movie for American audiences because I think it’s a good story; but it is a little bit slow. It’s a step above other vampire movies in terms of quality and originality and the way the story unfolds. I’d recommend seeing it on the big screen for horror fans.

CAROLINE: To me, this is movie only for true vampire fans. It’s pretty well done and I liked the actors – other than the main kid whose haircut drove me crazy. It’s dark and moody but not a must see unless you love the genre.

— RATING —