The bullies:
In Let me in the bullies are aggressive and brutal especially Kenny, but nothing more and without passion. In Let the right one in I got the feeling that Conny and Martin were enjoying, what they did in a sadistic way. It pleasures them to humiliate Oscar, that is something I can understand in contrast to Kenny's blunt violence.
Owen/Oscar
When you look at Owens face it is so full of fear. He is a bundle of anxiety. He is screaming and weeping in front of the bullies, which is something Oscar never did. Oscar tries not to lose his dignity in contrast to Owen. When you look at Oscars face after Andreas hit him it is not fear. It is something like: “You shouldn't have done this. I will make you pay for this someday later” and Andreas knows that he has gone to far. Later on the ice immediately after Oscar got his revenge you can see in his face satisfaction and the teacher who looks at him is repelled by this. In the same scene Owen, again, is full of fear, maybe afraid of himself and about what he has done. Oscar has a dark side which is lurking under the surface. Owen seems only very timid and alienated like a single Astronaut who was left behind on the Moon. It is difficult to connect to Owen. Oscar seems to be more "normal" for me.
Abby/Eli
Unlike Abby, Eli seems to have a thousand different faces. It is so fascinating to look at her, in every scene she looks different. But it is also confusing and you feel that something is wrong with her. Abby is more limited. In the basement or at the candy store she looks pretty dressed and like a normal girl of her age. When she is in blood fancy she has her pimply Marilyn Manson look-alike face, but it also impersonalized her killings. In the first encounters she is like a lithic gargoyle,who mostly does not look directly at Owen, when they are talking to each other. She hides in her hoodie and is looking controlled, shy, maybe a little disgusted by herself and slightly unconfident. Like Kirsten Steward, by the way. Typical for some girls in their puberty. Eli is still a prepubertal child, more vulnerable, with shabby clothing, which lets her look very strange and untamed in roughly every scene and underlines her otherness. She is like a neglected street kid, who had to take care of herself very early. At the beginning where Oscar stabs the tree: Eli jumps down from the jungle gym (from a high Book Oscar wouldn't dare) and says they can´t be friends. In this scene she is ruling, dominant and snappish. In contrast, Abby only does a girlish little hop. It is not a big deal, Owen is easy to intimidate (so I am not). You don't hear one little impish sentence by her, which applies to the whole movie as well. In the next gathering we get the first close shot of Eli and she appears like a crow, who is observing her next victim. But the situation changes as Oscar gives her the rubrics cube directly in her hand. Woha, Oscar, well done. That is how you cheat death. She is confused and it breaks the ice a little. Lina's mimic art is better, you know what she thinks and feels whereas Moretz is sometimes too emotionless and stiff. You can see how Eli is thawing emotionally and finally she lets Oscar in. In contrast, Abby is still inhibited and controlled at the end. Eli has something that is subliminal threatening and vulnerable at once. Like a panther, who is in an attempt to attack. When Eli says to hit back hard, it has impact. These are not only words. There was no one who took care of her and she had to deal with Pedophiles and criminals on her own. Eli is able to prevail through these obstacles. You can see it in her appearance and her confidence. More or less comparable with Oscars bullying problem. Even if she weren't a vampire, it would have impact what she says. Abby did not experienced this. The long time relationship with Thomas, a submissive guy, protected her. A housewife. She does not know, what she is talking about when she advises Owen to hit back hard. Eli moves gracefully and athletically, which underlines her catlike predaceousness. You can see that Lina started at a very young age with sports and dancing. Me too, so I have an eye for this. Be aware that Hakan links Eli with Tintomara and quite likely that is why they had chosen Lina for Eli's role. In contrast, Moretz moves a little bit clumsy like a pawn or construction worker. But maybe this is intended by Reeves and she simply had to act this way to emphasize her gargoyleness. Abby and Eli are completely different characters. Eli is the incarnation of Oscars anger and violence, she represents the beauty/erotic of violence but fruitless violence e.g genderless, sexless, something disturbing, attractive and dangerous within. And Abby? She appears not threatening enough. She is pretty and shy. She does not impress me.
Romance/Love/Friendship
In some scenes Owen shows curiosity about sexuality, especially when he looks at the woman at his neighborhood. Owen reads Romeo and Juliet without understanding it and Abby has an interest in this book, quoting one of the lines in a massage she left. It seems that he also reads porn magazines. But it doesn't effect the relationship with Abby. Owen seems to be more immature and childlike than Abby or even Oscar. To be honest: If you had a relationship that lasted over 30 years, you have to be more mature than a normal 12 years old girl. It is challenging even for adults. Mature in a different way, of course. Thus Abby and Owen are not at the same level of development unlike Elli and Oscar. It is untypical that a mature girl seeks a partnership with a less mature and younger boy. Maybe for use and abuse. She treats Thomas so badly at the end. “Eat some now, save some for later” seems to be a running gag in this movie. Abby takes care of herself for the future but not of Owen. His neighbors are for now, he himself is for “later”. All scenes from “Let the right one in” which could be interpreted in a innocently romantic/intimate way are toned down. In the bed scene Owen is dressed, you don't see them in the same camera angle, somehow they still seem to be separated and he only touches her cheek (like she did with Thomas and therefor absolutely nothing special). It could be just as well his mother or his sister. You only see Abby's face. You do not even see parts of her upper body like in LTROI. You don't catch a glimpse whether she might be really stark-naked or not, Owen only says that she is. The bloody good bye kiss: In the entire moment Eli holds eye contact to Oscar. Oh boy, she looks so self confident and demanding (for acceptance). How should Oscar resist her? Abby doesn't do this, her kiss is just a shy teenager kiss. Nothing special. Too short and without passion. Does Ownen fully accept what Abby is, or does he only tolerate her and her kiss? Oscar touches the wall of his room so softly when he is trying to listen carefully what is going on in Eli's Apartment. He is truly longing after her. It is completely missing in Let me in. Owen doesn't need to sacrifice a good relationship to his mother or to his father. After the basement scene Oscar does hitch hike back to Eli on his own through the night. I doubt Owen would dare to do this. He goes only from his apartment to Abby's after his silly “Is there Evil”-phone call with his father. This is a lesser effort and it shows that he is not as mature as Oscar. To peep at womens breasts or Porno Magazines, does not make Owen grown up. Besides singing the Now and Later jingle to himself, which is another childish trait of Owen. The extra long shoot of Eli's eyes at the End, which personalizes Oscars rescue by Eli so much: Missing. The whole “Tale told by Hands”-Aspect is missing and there is nothing that could replace it. It is so demanding to believe, that this is a romantic relationship, because it isn't portrayed very well through the scenes and the acting. There seems to be no chemistry between the main characters. No Magic. No duo infernale. There is so much what separates them and they have so little in common. Maybe it is friendship, but it is a friendship between a boy who actually seems afraid of his companion and a girl, who is just used to have someone around her. They are together because otherwise they would be alone. The Title of the movie is changed from Let the right one in to Let me in. So it doesn't matter to let the right one in. Owen is only available for disposal. It could be anybody else. Oscar is special for Eli, whereas Own is just an other “Now and Later”. I think this is intended by Reeves, because actually this is not a love story.
Let me in appears as a trivial shoot by shoot remake. But the characters of Abby and Thomas are completely different to LTROI and thus the massage of the movie. Let me in is a typical Horror movie with characters which just seem to be rather stereotypical caricatures. It stands on its own feet, although roughly all scenes are the same as they were in LTROI. But it is also sad that the Police- and Action-Scenes are so much better than the scenes with Abby and Owen, although they are not the essence of the story.
But nevertheless there is one scene which was very good. It is the candy house scene. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me is playing and Owen tells Abby that Mrs. Pacman can eat the monsters now. Well done and they have Boy George as a shop men.
