[IMDB link] [Netflix link] Remake of Let The Right One In, which I previously reviewed in 2009.
PLOT SUMMARY: Let The Right One In, but in English :)
PEOPLE: I totally did not recognize Hit Girl from Kick-Ass as being vampire Abby in this! D’oh. (She was also in The Amityville Horror 2005.)
QUIRKS: Remake of the only Swedish vampire film anybody really knows about.
VISUALS: Now with less snow. Thank god.
SOUNDTRACK: Better than the original, that’s for sure. Songs I actually know, vs. what one internet commentator called “Spanish Porno”. (Though, I hear the original score won awards for some reason.)
GOOD STUFF: Almost exactly like the original, but with less snow, and more relatability. And some would add: better acting, better cinematography, better script, better soundtrack. But nobody will agree on this. And almost exactly 0% of people will actually watch both films back to back to make a true comparison. (I sure didn’t — years passed between the two.)
BAD STUFF: They completely tossed out the gender issue with Abby (in the book, Eli — same character, different name — is actually a castrated male who looks like a female; a transsexual vampire if you will). At least in Let The Right One In, they showed her pull down her pants — having no genitals at all. Of course, this was never really adequately explained; you’d have to kind of fill in those details with your imagination. I didn’t know about the vampire clan castration ritual until I read the IMDB trivia for the original movie. So in a sense, both movies kind of dropped that plot, but the remake was less of a tease about it. So maybe this is actually a good thing?
CONCLUSION: As both Netflix & I successfully predicted, we both liked the American remake of this film better than the Swedish original. With the exception of removing the “crotch scene”, it was more or less the exact same film, but a more enjoyable product. Our IMDB ratings for this are 1/10 higher than for the original.
RATINGS:
Clint: Netflix: 3.4/5 stars (vs 3/5 for the original). IMDB: 7.4/10 (vs 6/10 for the original)..
Carolyn: Netflix: 3/5 stars (same as original). IMDB: 7/10 (vs 6/10 for the original).
The native public rating for this movie, compared to the original, is:
IMDB: 7.3/10 vs 8.1/10 for the original.
Netflix: 3.6/5 stars vs 3.8/5 stars for the original.
(Netflix‘s predicted rating for us was 3.8/5 stars, vs 3.6/5 stars for the original).
So it seems that despite the fact that people preferred the original — Netflix knew that we would like the remake more. :)
RECOMMENDATION: Some people are passing this up because it’s a remake. I’d say the only reason to pass it up is because it’s a bit redundant (same story, same characters, same plot), NOT simply because it is a remake. However, Carolyn & I both found this to be a better execution of the same story.
Pro-remake thread posted for people who liked the remake better. But HERE is the most damning post I could find slamming the original. Funny stuff.
SIMILAR MOVIES: The original ;)
MOVIE QUOTE:
Owen: How old are you?
Abby: Twelve… more or less.Mood: eh
Music: Circle Jerks – Grey Life
Claire's blog 
October 29, 2014 at 7:00 AM
Panik EVlynn Bedlam: “I prefer the original on the grounds of tone, which was slower, awkward and creepier. the american one, which I didn’t dislike as much as I was lead to believed I would from the trailer, was slicker and more streamlined with the scare scenes relying more on shock and violence than building tension. However I do agree that the similarities greatly overwhelm the differences and watching one is about like watching the other. Both are subtle… but the original is slightly more subtle. I do agree that the american one’s score and soundtrack better, which I feel was actually more effective overall.”