I saw the Swedish version, Let the Right One In, years ago and loved it. I finally gave the American version, Let Me In, a chance and I can see why you'd like this movie if you haven't seen the original, but sadly I just found it to be inferior to the Swedish version every step of the way.
First of all, so much of the subtlety of Let the Right One In was lost in Let Me In. Let the Right One In allowed us as viewers to figure out certain mysteries on our own, for instance, the disturbing aspect of the true nature of the relationship between the girl and her "father," whereas Let Me In is more content with all but spelling out for us what's going on. I definitely prefer subtlety, since that's so much harder to pull off, so it's impressive when a movie like Let the Right One In manages it.
And I don't get the choice of starting off the movie by spoiling something that happens midway through. Doesn't that just ruin the tension of the early part of the movie, by simply letting viewers know where events are headed?
It's not just subtlety in storytelling that I admire about the Swedish version, but also in how it was shot. The Swedish version, for instance, used quite a lot of long takes with a stationary camera, especially during the vampire attack action sequences, whereas the same events in the American version tended to be shot with a ton of cuts and shifting camera angles. I get that they were probably going for a more chaotic look, but I found the wide-angle long takes to be more effective, by allowing the horrific events onscreen to sink in, rather than shifting the camera all over the place.
Plus the American version makes some questionable use of CGI effects and I'm not even the type of viewer who usually complains about CGI. There was a scene with a fire that somehow looked a whole lot more real in the Swedish movie than in the American movie. And then there's the rubbery-bodied vampire attack scenes. I see what they were going for, making the vampire's movements seem inhuman, but it ends up looking cartoony and silly compared to the Swedish version, which I'm sure opted for real stunt performers instead.
And finally, the musical score in movies is very important to me and I'd say the music of Let the Right One In was easily superior to Let Me In. Johan Söderqvist's score was absolutely beautiful, some of my favorite music of any movie, in fact. Listen to the track titled Eli's Theme, if you want to hear an amazing piece of music. Let Me In's score, in contrast, just seemed to be there to set the mood, but doesn't stand out as beautiful music in the same way.
Overall, I don't think Let Me In is bad, but I just thought Let the Right One In was so much better.
First of all, so much of the subtlety of Let the Right One In was lost in Let Me In. Let the Right One In allowed us as viewers to figure out certain mysteries on our own, for instance, the disturbing aspect of the true nature of the relationship between the girl and her "father," whereas Let Me In is more content with all but spelling out for us what's going on. I definitely prefer subtlety, since that's so much harder to pull off, so it's impressive when a movie like Let the Right One In manages it.
And I don't get the choice of starting off the movie by spoiling something that happens midway through. Doesn't that just ruin the tension of the early part of the movie, by simply letting viewers know where events are headed?
It's not just subtlety in storytelling that I admire about the Swedish version, but also in how it was shot. The Swedish version, for instance, used quite a lot of long takes with a stationary camera, especially during the vampire attack action sequences, whereas the same events in the American version tended to be shot with a ton of cuts and shifting camera angles. I get that they were probably going for a more chaotic look, but I found the wide-angle long takes to be more effective, by allowing the horrific events onscreen to sink in, rather than shifting the camera all over the place.
Plus the American version makes some questionable use of CGI effects and I'm not even the type of viewer who usually complains about CGI. There was a scene with a fire that somehow looked a whole lot more real in the Swedish movie than in the American movie. And then there's the rubbery-bodied vampire attack scenes. I see what they were going for, making the vampire's movements seem inhuman, but it ends up looking cartoony and silly compared to the Swedish version, which I'm sure opted for real stunt performers instead.
And finally, the musical score in movies is very important to me and I'd say the music of Let the Right One In was easily superior to Let Me In. Johan Söderqvist's score was absolutely beautiful, some of my favorite music of any movie, in fact. Listen to the track titled Eli's Theme, if you want to hear an amazing piece of music. Let Me In's score, in contrast, just seemed to be there to set the mood, but doesn't stand out as beautiful music in the same way.
Overall, I don't think Let Me In is bad, but I just thought Let the Right One In was so much better.