Some quick thoughts on "Let Me In".

[randwill]

Just got back from a screening of "Let Me In". Beware SPOILERS below.

Some of the negatives;

The Abby CGI is just as bad as the cat CGI in the original. I was very surprised that the figure's movements looked so poor and were very obviously CGI.

Owen does peek at Abby as she changes, but we are not shown what he sees and he has no real reaction.

Owen sees a strip of photo booth pictures of Abby and a young man wearing glasses which implies that The Father (that's how Richard Jenkins' character is listed in the credits) has been with Abby since he was Owen's age.

The crucial conversation in which Eli pleads her case, "I do it because I have to", is missing.

The bully getting wacked in the ear lacks the power of the original.

Worst of all is how the all-important bed scene is shot. Reeves shoots each kid in close-up when they speak. I don't think there is a single shot of both of them in the bed together. I felt this really robbed the scene of the togetherness we want to feel at this point in the film.

On the positive side;

The kids are both fine. They're not Lina and Kare who ARE Eli and Oskar to me, but they are good Abby and Owen.

The car crash is a real "how the heck did they do that?" moment.

I liked Virginia feeding on herself in the hospital.

I liked Owen asking Abby to invite him into her apartment.

I liked that Abby explains to Owen that she must be invited in because it's, "your home." This takes away the question of how she enters non-homes uninvited.

The underwater climax is a respectable run at a classic piece of movie making with the sound effects and gore effects ratcheted up to please American teenagers. We are cheated out of seeing Abby's face (or eyes) at the end.

I liked seeing graffiti in the basement scene on a post that said "TAK". I expect this was supposed to be Tommy's initials (Owen mentions Tommy) but I can see that it might also serve as a Swedish "thank you" to the original film makers.

It is impossible for me to judge this film divorced from my many viewings of the original. But I want to see it again, so I guess that says something. I can't help but wonder if someone like me seeing this without having seen the original would fall under the same kind of spell "Let the Right One In" put on me.

[TΛPETRVE]

I liked seeing graffiti in the basement scene on a post that said "TAK". I expect this was supposed to be Tommy's initials (Owen mentions Tommy) but I can see that it might also serve as a Swedish "thank you" to the original film makers.

The latter would be "Tack". "Tak" could also be a reference to Stephen King - however, that wouldn't make much sense, since Regulator and Desperation were written in the late 90s.

[gary13136]

I saw the movie today, and I do have mixed feelings about it. It think the first comments in this thread pretty well sum it up. I can agree with all the comments. I attended the 2PM viewing, so there were only about a dozen present. The odd thing (and somewhat humourous) was that one of the moviegoers was barefoot. I like to think that this is homage to Eli in the original, but I could be wrong. I think Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee did a good job, but I really wasn't impressed with the adults at all. The adults gave me the impression that they would prefer to be somewhere else. The movie was much as I expected; especially the extra blood and gore. I think that in all the similar scenes in both movies, the original scenes were better. Especially the bed scene and the pool scene.

Overall, I would say it was fair. I just can't rate it up there with the original, though. The original is, for me, the standard. I would like to think that this might inspire those who haven't seen the original to see it. And if this should happen, I would be very interested in their comparisons.

[SergioB97]

I'd forgotten about the "I do it because I have to" glimpse from the TV spots. I was also disappointed not to see the sequence where the peeking sunlight awakens the sleeping Abby. I, for one, am hoping for a three-hour extended director's cut.

[Drad]

YES! I have to agree with you completely on Conny getting whacked scene.

I thought I was alone when I felt this was the second most important scene in the film. It is so powerful in the original.

[foxfire]

Owen sees a strip of photo booth pictures of Abby and a young man wearing glasses which implies that The Father (that's how Richard Jenkins' character is listed in the credits) has been with Abby since he was Owen's age.

It was more than just glasses; the boy in the photo had the same birthmark under his right eye that "The Helper" had.