Invitation Solicited

Matt Reeves took a moody, brooding Swedish film and added some of that old Hollywood razzle dazzle with 2010's Let Me In. A remake of 2008's Let the Right One In, it's entirely needless, except for people whose refusal to watch subtitled films could be called fanatical. But it's competently made.

As I watched, I kept thinking, "He's straightening out the Slinky." Let the Right One In is all about mood, about living in this cold space, about the subtle, mysterious, and deadly shifts in reality that make up a lifetime. Let Me In is more of a standard vampire movie about a boy who encounters the supernatural. So Reeves gives us more exposition, more scenes concretely setting up motivation, and a lot more special effects.

This little vampire kid has a cgi counterpart who takes over to clamber over victims at the speed of a piranha. They're pretty good scenes of violent horror. Less is left to the imagination so it feels like a smaller world. This difference is even reflected in the title. Let the Right One In comes from a Morrissey song and it implies a choice, that there is a wrong one, and there's some difficulty in choosing which is which. Let Me In is plain and flat.

The relationship between the leads is effective. Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee have good chemistry. Smit-McPhee plays Owen, this movie's version of Oskar. There's an early scene where Owen wears a mask and wields a knife when he's alone, probably intended to give him the same slightly creepy quality as Oskar. But Reeves rationalises it, drawing a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the bullies and Owen. It makes sense and it's a decent enough plot but the original feels like a deeper portrait for not being quite so logical or moral.

X Sonnet #1858

As needless sleep, a wallet walked to pants.
A masquerade was copied straight with air.
Addendum gold embellished Laura's dance.
A dainty foot destroyed the rotten stair.
The sound of rock announced another flick.
A tempting Fed dispersed the coded dogs.
The pumpkin flame engulfed the brittle wick.
The marshy barrel ran with rampant frogs.
A larger ship diverts Titanic's time.
Recursive coffee stirs itself at sea.
The spoiled ginger can't replace the lime.
The nervous blonde would fain retreat for tea.
The slowly walking brain abandons head.
Another time awaits the living dead.