First a little background.
'Let Me In' is a re-make of 'Let the Right One In' from 2008. It was good and campy, but mostly violent and sexually driven (See 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' for reference on northern European film maker's preference towards the latter two. My last post has my theories as to why they have the preference.).
Before you look up the trailer, I say DON'T! unless you have seen the movie. The trailer practically spells out the twist which is the best part of the movie. Again, DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER BEFORE SEEING THE FILM!!! I don't think enough people are going to see it but by the Anon Internet Rules I must abide:
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
The plot is that 'Owen', a young outcast amongst his peers, meets a strange quiet girl named 'Abby' whom has just moved in next door. They form a relationship over the course of a couple of weeks as a string of murders hit the small town in which they live.
This (spoiler free) premise leads to the most awesome -American- movie trailer ever. Observe.
It's like they're having a whisper battle.
Yeah. You wanna watch it right now though don't you? Well go do it. And yeah, it does have Casey Jones from the original TMNT movie. So you know it's gonna rock. Well, he was also in 2002's 'Simone' and that was horrible, just horrible. However, it didn't have an awesome trailer either.
Review:
As Owen and Abby interact more and more not only do you get tired of Kodi Smit-McPhee's constant not-quite-a-whisper-but-not-louder-than-an-inside-voice delivery of Owen's lines, you get tired of Chloe Moretz's she-must-have-aspergers performance of the character Abby. Only half-way through the movie do you begin to understand Abby as a character and why she acts that way. Far too late in the movie. In the original you find out very early that Abby is connected with the supernatural and begin to doubt her relationship with her 'guardian' played very well by Richard Jenkins.
Also, you'll notice that Owen's mother's face is never shown. This creates a feeling that Owen is truly alone in his world. This explains his whispering as a result of him not talking much and his natural passiveness. But, you don't catch on to this subtle use of camera angles until later in the movie.
Then something amazing happens (For those who haven't seen the original or the trailer). All these elements come together and the former annoyances make sense. Also, your mind is blown.
You find out that Abby is training Owen to be her next guardian because she is an immortal vampire! I know right? How rad is that?
So most of you probably figured it out earlier than I did because I was way to drawn into how the film lo- OH MY GOD RICHARD JENKINS IS A PEDOPHILE!11!!!!
Ok, Richard Jenkins isn't but the character is a pedophile. It's almost app- OH MY GOD! THIS IS LOLITA WITH A VAMPIRE!!!!11!!
Yes, it is that awesome.
'Let Me In' is best movie adaptation of 'Lolita' ever. The film shows so much restraint with the original work (Lolita) and by not throwing it in your face, the point comes across gracefully.
That point being; Love is a sickness. An obsession. By making Abby a vampire, the film expands on this to point of saying love is supernatural. The movie, like the book, also plays on the idea of who is acctually in control of the relationship between Abby (Lolita) and The Father (Humbert Humbert).
Advertising for this movie was minimal. I barely remember seeing the trailer back in October. I was even more surprised when I saw it in the video store. The lack of advertising has its pros and cons. Pro: If you just out of nowhere saw this movie without prior knowledge -and have read 'Lolita'- then you should love this movie. Con: Nobody saw it.
Pro: The trailer and movie poster are awesome:
How rad is that?Con: The trailer gives away too much story.
Ultimately, I was not impressed as I was watching it or even right after watching. It wasn't until thinking about it all day that I can't wait to watch it again. I love this film. You may not love it but it is worth a rent.
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