saw this at last.

[TigerEyes]

Do you think you would have liked "Let Me In" (or liked it more) if you'd never seen the Swedish film?

That's a good question, but i would never know. I suppose i probably wouldn't like it either way.

[jetboy]

Do you think you would have liked "Let Me In" (or liked it more) if you'd never seen the Swedish film?

That's a good question, but i would never know. I suppose i probably wouldn't like it either way.

I mightve liked it better but then again a person shouldnt have to try and forget LTROI to appreciate LMI when it had the benefit of the original for its making. If I sound mildly bitter it is because when I watched LMI I had the distinct feeling that it was trying to get away with fooling people into thinking that this was the original and not a remake.

[ColBlair]

I thought it was great, actually. It was a subdued horror film for me, in that it was more about the horror of what Abby does for a living (parasitic in the truest sense), whereas Oskar and Eli was more the horror of being alone, and what being a vampire would do to one if one were a child.

For me these two films were apples and oranges, and bore only superficial similarities. Mostly the differences came from the fundamental difference of the horror, and the fact that there was more ambivalence about whether Abby really was in love with Owen, while in LTROI it seems much less so, and that the real horror is the life Eli is forced to live. That is why the end of LMI was so foreboding for me, because I couldn't help but see Owen ending up like Caretaker/Thomas 30/40 years down the road.

If you're looking for love (like LTROI), LMI ain't your cup 'o tea, methinks.

Two totally different films, but both were wonderful in my opinion.

PS: I absolutely loved the fact that instead of Lacke the cop got killed. I think, narrative wise, that LMI did a few things better, actually.

I agree with you there Celedril. I liked the whole scene where the cop kicks down the door, looks for Abby, gets distracted by Owen, and then BOOM cop is dead by Abby. I mean, when that cop kicked down the door, I was like, "NO!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!" In the LTROI movie Lacke just enters and we don't know how. In the book, the door was either opened or already unlocked, I can't remember. Personally, I liked the outcomes in the book and LMI better than the original film. Personally, I started to see the end of LMI and the LTROI book as something bad could happen, whether it be the police or themselves. Heck, let's go further, other vampires. For me, Let the Old Dreams Die pretty much erased the whole caretaker idea for Owen and Oskar regardless.

[ofelia]

The music was wrong, the lighting was wrong, the kids' VOICES were wrong. Everything was wrong.

I just saw this and I will probably say something that goes against what a lot of people think: I never liked Elif's voice replacing Lina's. It was strange to me because when I read the book I had a very different, specific Eli who spoke with a child's voice, and I can't get used to it. I thought that in LMI the two children had really similar voices to each other and that while their speaking the lines could come across as bland, I thought it was kind of touching. It draws a parallel between them, how neither of them has any friends and doesn't know how they're supposed to act. So the way they spoke actually worked for me. They didn't have the same chemistry as Kare and Lina, but when is that likely ever to happen again?

I liked a lot of things that weren't in the first film: the bullies felt like more of a threat in this movie, and the involvement of the policeman character felt closer to the book, which read almost like a crime thriller at times. The other changes didn't bother me because I didn't watch it expecting it to live up to anything, just as its own film.

If you're able to see this as a new interpretation of the novel instead of just a remake, then it's not bad. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected and I enjoyed it. I think you have to see it as something that was inspired by the main plot of what JAL wrote, but other than that you can't expect to compare them.

[sauvin]

If you're able to see this as a new interpretation of the novel instead of just a remake, then it's not bad ... I think you have to see it as something that was inspired by the main plot of what JAL wrote, but other than that you can't expect to compare them.

Yes.

When LMI's screen time was imminent, I'd asked board members to try to view it with an open mind and a pre-emptive tolerance for difference simply because it was unimaginable to me that it'd have any of the magic or charm of the original. Frankly, I'd had serious doubts that a background with movies like Cloverfield could equip the director to even know how to set about this kind of undertaking.

I'd asked the board to try to view LMI as a different interpretation for differential purposes - that is, to try to see what's plausibly similar, and what's plausibly different, but in asking that, the view I'd had was towards looking for more clues into Eli's reality. LMI was just going to be a kind of tool to be used for analysis.

I may have been wrong in doing so. Reeves threw a monkey wrench into the works by making Abby's "Hakan" a genuine friend, and possibly lover. It changes her reality in fundamental ways, and lessens the common ground between the two little vampire girls. The lonelinesses they suffer are distinct, and part of what's occupying my so-called mind these days is the question of whose loneliness is less bearable - and why.

LMI can indeed stand up on its own.

[ColBlair]

The music was wrong, the lighting was wrong, the kids' VOICES were wrong. Everything was wrong.

I just saw this and I will probably say something that goes against what a lot of people think: I never liked Elif's voice replacing Lina's. It was strange to me because when I read the book I had a very different, specific Eli who spoke with a child's voice, and I can't get used to it. I thought that in LMI the two children had really similar voices to each other and that while their speaking the lines could come across as bland, I thought it was kind of touching. It draws a parallel between them, how neither of them has any friends and doesn't know how they're supposed to act. So the way they spoke actually worked for me. They didn't have the same chemistry as Kare and Lina, but when is that likely ever to happen again?

I liked a lot of things that weren't in the first film: the bullies felt like more of a threat in this movie, and the involvement of the policeman character felt closer to the book, which read almost like a crime thriller at times. The other changes didn't bother me because I didn't watch it expecting it to live up to anything, just as its own film.

If you're able to see this as a new interpretation of the novel instead of just a remake, then it's not bad. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected and I enjoyed it. I think you have to see it as something that was inspired by the main plot of what JAL wrote, but other than that you can't expect to compare them.

I didn't think the children in LMI had similar voices at all. I loved the chemistry that Kodi and Chloe had and I thought it was better than Kare and Lina in my opinion. As a matter of fact, Kodi's and Chloe's performances were great that I wished that there was more minutes to the movie. The LTROI movie, when I seen it on DVD and seen the deleted scenes, I wished they had added the Bulleri Bulleri Bock moment that they had at the jungle gym.

I looked at the LTROI book as a crime thriller too and that's what I liked about LMI a lot. I looked at LMI as if it was inspired by the book. Heck, reading the book gave me a much better understanding of LMI. I also looked at Thomas as if he was book Oskar at times.

[ofelia]

I didn't think the children in LMI had similar voices at all. I loved the chemistry that Kodi and Chloe had and I thought it was better than Kare and Lina in my opinion. As a matter of fact, Kodi's and Chloe's performances were great that I wished that there was more minutes to the movie.

I meant that to me they had a similar shy, quiet way of speaking. I do think they are good actors and deserve more credit than they usually get by reviewers. I think the scene with 'Be me a little' that was cut was more touching than the one with Lina.

I looked at the LTROI book as a crime thriller too and that's what I liked about LMI a lot. I looked at LMI as if it was inspired by the book. Heck, reading the book gave me a much better understanding of LMI. I also looked at Thomas as if he was book Oskar at times.

Yes, to me the book feels surprisingly realistic, despite the vampire element it could be seen as a murder mystery with a twist. That's only one way of looking at it but I wish they had used more of that angle in the Swedish film. I think for the most part LMI is inspired by the book with one or two scenes obviously taken from the other movie ( Thomas/Hakan falling out the window, the part where Abby/Eli puts on a dress and flies back to her apartment).

[ColBlair]

I didn't think the children in LMI had similar voices at all. I loved the chemistry that Kodi and Chloe had and I thought it was better than Kare and Lina in my opinion. As a matter of fact, Kodi's and Chloe's performances were great that I wished that there was more minutes to the movie.

I meant that to me they had a similar shy, quiet way of speaking. I do think they are good actors and deserve more credit than they usually get by reviewers. I think the scene with 'Be me a little' that was cut was more touching than the one with Lina.

I looked at the LTROI book as a crime thriller too and that's what I liked about LMI a lot. I looked at LMI as if it was inspired by the book. Heck, reading the book gave me a much better understanding of LMI. I also looked at Thomas as if he was book Oskar at times.

Yes, to me the book feels surprisingly realistic, despite the vampire element it could be seen as a murder mystery with a twist. That's only one way of looking at it but I wish they had used more of that angle in the Swedish film. I think for the most part LMI is inspired by the book with one or two scenes obviously taken from the other movie ( Thomas/Hakan falling out the window, the part where Abby/Eli puts on a dress and flies back to her apartment).

I understand what you mean about the characters now. I misread what you had meant. I do agree, they do have a similar shy, quiet way of speaking. My favorite parts of the book was the crime thriller part, especially the scene where the police are investigating the old woman who was on fire. I do agree that the most part of LMI was inspired when Abby put on that dress. I also agree that the "Be Me A Little" scene in LMI that was cut was more touching. The other thing that I agree with is that I wished that the crime thriller part in the book was used in the LTROI movie. One user at the imdb wondered why there was no police around when the vampire murders were happening.

[DarkGuyver]

Do you think you would have liked "Let Me In" (or liked it more) if you'd never seen the Swedish film?

Well, speaking as a guy who watched "Let Me In" before watching the original Swedish version and reading the novel. I have to say that I would have enjoyed the movie. Even if I hadn't decided to watch the original Swedish version or read the novel. I would imagine that my views and opinons of "Let Me In" would probably have stayed the same.

However by deciding to watch the original Swedish version and reading the novel, it made me appreciate "Let Me In" even more as I got to understand the characters and the message "Let Me In" was trying to get across.

I also agree that the "Be Me A Little" scene in LMI that was cut was more touching.

Yeah, I wished that Reeves had decided to keep the "Be Me A Little" scene in the movie too, it would have added more depth to Abby's character.

One user at the imdb wondered why there was no police around when the vampire murders were happening.

Maybe it was due to the fact that the police couldn't tie the crimes to each other, I mean Thomas was pretty carefully when he was disposing the bodies in the comic (Let Me In: Crossroads). It wasn't till when he and Abby moved to Los Alamos that he started to get sloppy....

[ColBlair]

I don't know if I would add in the "Be Me A Little" scene or not in LMI. One reason is that when I first seen it, I figured that she needed blood to live and that she was once human. I seen it in her eyes. When I seen the photograph, I figured she was once human cause at first, I thought the kid was her brother and not her friend. Though, I will say that if the "Be A Little" scene was in, it would make an enhancement to Owen and Abby's relationship cause Abby too herself was targeted by bad people just like Owen. Also, if you noticed, before she was turned, she wore white clothing, and then when she walked out of his mother's room at the apartment, she wears white clothing.

I do agree, Thomas wasn't sloppy in the comic. As for no police in LTROI, you do have a point.