My thoughts on LMI vs LTROI

[crazychristina]

After Kick Ass I eagerly awaited Chloe Moretz' next movie, Let Me In. Did some research, discovered LTROI, bought the book and ordered the DVD. So, I read the book first (dark and brilliant), saw LMI at the cinema last October (thought it was great), and then arrived the DVD of LTROI. I've watched it dozens of times and it is the most engaging film I've ever seen (as the view count indicates).

So, my blu-ray of LMI finally arrived and I watched it last night. I was surprised at how different from LTROI it is. I didn't recall that it is so different. Perhaps being so familiar with LTROI I'm able to really appreciate the differences. I can hardly imagine two movies made so close together with the same plot being so different. TA made a romantic drama, MR made an action/horror movie. Right from the opening scene with the police cars and ambulance, and patient struggling against restraints while paramedics deal with medical emergency the action of front and center. The adrenaline is racing. Typical example - Owen is dragged kicking and screaming to the pool at the end, and thrown in - struggle, excitement. Oskar is already there, passively waiting.

Another significant difference is the way the vampire is portrayed. I think we have so much sympathy for Eli because we don't really see her kill anyone. We know she kills Jocke, but visually she's just hanging around his neck, and then the post-kill remorse. After she attacks Virginia we see her dazed and confused. The closest we get to seeing her as a killer is when she kills Lacke, the wide-eyed aggression. Reeves took a bigger risk though. Abby is transformed into a vicious demon right before our eyes. No wonder it's so much harder to feel sympathy for her. Not much romance there. Reeves has brilliantly adapted the story to contemporary American culture and cinematic style. And with a great story and great acting that makes a very impressive piece of cinema.

LMI is a great film of its type. Which is a different type of film from LTROI. Which do I prefer? Depends on what mood I'm in. I imagine I'll be watching LMI pretty often when I'm in the mood for some action based on an interesting plot. And when I want to explore my relationship issues yet again I'll be watching LTROI.

[DMt.]

The kindest comparison I've yet seen. I wish I could whole-heartedly share it, but I'm completely imprinted on LTROI. I didn't hate it, though, which I fully expected to do. Just wasn't nearly as, er, moved.

[DavidZahir]

In a lot of ways your reaction mirrors my own. My praise of LTROI after seeing it was pretty extreme. Given my interest in vampire films, folks perked up when I of all people called it "the best vampire movie in decades, maybe ever."

Watching LMI the first time felt a tad startling, which proved good because from the start it "felt" different from the previous film. Thus it proved easier to experience this version on its own. Fortunately the cast helped, making their characters vivid enough they stood upon their own. Jenkins, for example, never gave off that pedophile air Hakken did.

Honestly, that he turned out to be more like Owen really disturbed me, adding to the pathos of the whole story. The bullies, as everyone knows by new, were even more vicious--a fact that left my jaw dropping on the floor. And almost immediately I felt a sense of coquettishness from Abby that I never felt from Eli (especially that little twirl in Owen's mom's dress). Plus the way she watched Owen play Pac-man, and how she clearly thought/hoped he took her down to the basement to maybe get another kiss...

Both films are beautiful to behold, albeit in utterly varied styles. One is all simple and stark, the elegance of white and straight lines. The other is uses shadows and colors and lots of closeups for excellent effect. LMI feels a tad more effecting, but I really believe that is because it is so American--it presses certain buttons in my head that I'm pretty sure LTROI presses for someone Swedish. Yet I love them both.

My only real complaint about LMI--the pool scene from Owen's POV. Totally understand why it was done that way, and it does work. But it suffers in comparison to the LTROI version. My own choice (in hindsight of course) would be to have done that bit from Abby's POV. But like I said--hindsight.

[JakobM]

Both films are beautiful to behold, albeit in utterly varied styles. One is all simple and stark, the elegance of white and straight lines. The other is uses shadows and colors and lots of closeups for excellent effect. LMI feels a tad more effecting, but I really believe that is because it is so American--it presses certain buttons in my head that I'm pretty sure LTROI presses for someone Swedish.

That's probably it. Most of the movies I see are American so LMI feels very familiar - it's a great film in the American tradition. It's just that I grew up in pretty much the same kind of environment as Oskar (JAL) and LTROI just hits me in a way LMI never could.

Like TA says, it's a very Swedish film and I'm frankly amazed that it's resonated so profoundly with people from all over the world.

/J

[bore]

[Like TA says, it's a very Swedish film and I'm frankly amazed that it's resonated so profoundly with people from all over the world.

Yes, because we all know that other countries does not have suburbs, bullying, divorced parents and castrated vampires.

[JakobM]

[Like TA says, it's a very Swedish film and I'm frankly amazed that it's resonated so profoundly with people from all over the world.

Yes, because we all know that other countries does not have suburbs, bullying, divorced parents and castrated vampires.

I'm not talking about the subject matter but the way the story is told and the imagery being used.

/J

[intrige]

I have to admit, at some points I really like LMI: I like how Abby looks at Owen, and I like to see Verginia getting all bruned up. Because that looked really cool. I like the soundtrack when Abby bleeds, and I like the basement scene until Abby gets all wolfpire. I also like to see the story in a diffeent setting.

But there are just more things I dislike, and I really don't like a remake idea that early eather.

LTROI is in my heart, LMI is not. I don't know if the buttons of (culture?) is the right thing to say, at least for me. Because scandinavians see a lot of American movies. We are very used to it. But Americans on the other hand, are not used to Swedish, or scandinavian movies. But still, I have never seen any movie being like LTROI.

[danielma]

I have to admit, at some points I really like LMI: I like how Abby looks at Owen, and I like to see Verginia getting all bruned up. Because that looked really cool. I like the soundtrack when Abby bleeds, and I like the basement scene until Abby gets all wolfpire. I also like to see the story in a diffeent setting.

But there are just more things I dislike, and I really don't like a remake idea that early eather.

LTROI is in my heart, LMI is not. I don't know if the buttons of (culture?) is the right thing to say, at least for me. Because scandinavians see a lot of American movies. We are very used to it. But Americans on the other hand, are not used to Swedish, or scandinavian movies. But still, I have never seen any movie being like LTROI.

I think the only thing I liked about that scene was Virginia biting her own arm. But other than that, I really found that scene to be laughable in execution. The nurse going up in flames, the spontaneous moment of it. I don't know I just find that scene to be laughable. Which was never a good sign to me. The fact that I was laughing and had no care what so ever for that moment always struck me as being "wow they didn't make me give a shit here"

There are a few scenes where I felt that way, Abby's attacks are another example. I found a lot of things in this movie to be just down right distracting at times and part of the contributing factors as to what takes me out of the mood and makes me realize that yes this is a standard run of the mill horror film...which is not exactly the feeling I get from LTROI (well maybe with exception of the Cat Scene)

[DavidZahir]

Different strokes...I know people who watched The Professional and immediately called Natalie Portman's character a prostitute (that wasn't the word they used). Another watched LOTR and insisted Frodo is an obvious coward. I dare say we all know folks who find both LTROI as well as LMI as boring flicks where "nothing happens" while a dear friend of mine actually thinks Sweeney Todd isn't nearly violent or gory enough.

[a_contemplative_life]

A question crossed my mind today when thinking about the debate between people who like LTROI over LMI, or vice-versa. This could be entirely subjective, but it seems to me that an awful lot of what motivates people to their various positions is which film they saw first. People who saw LTROI first tend not to think of LMI as highly (or tend to like LTROI more), and vice-versa. I wonder how much of this may be due to the psychological effect of primacy. It is well-known among trial lawyers that jurors tend to favor the story they here first because of this human tendency. Hmm . . .