Can a Hollywood remake ever truly escape the shadow of its original inspiration?
In short: Matt Reeves' 2010 film Let Me In is a rare American adaptation that earned critical acclaim for staying true to its source material. Yet, the project sparked intense debate over whether it was a necessary reimagining or a redundant copy of the 2008 Swedish masterpiece, Let the Right One In.
When Hammer Films acquired the rights to adapt John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel, they sought to make the story accessible to a wider audience. Director Matt Reeves shifted the setting from a Stockholm suburb to Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the early 1980s. Despite criticism from the original film's director, Tomas Alfredson, who felt his work did not need remaking, Reeves maintained that his version was a personal exploration of childhood and the era's 'evil empire' rhetoric. He insisted on keeping the protagonists' ages at 12 to preserve the story's essential innocence.
The production process was meticulous, with Reeves employing techniques to ensure a naturalistic feel. He hired cinematographer Greig Fraser for his work with natural light and sought advice from Steven Spielberg on directing child actors, which included having the leads keep character diaries. Visual effects were handled by Method Studios, which used Houdini software to track actress Chloë Grace Moretz’s movements for complex sequences, such as the scene where her character bleeds upon entering a room uninvited. The film’s car-crash sequence was similarly engineered, combining multiple plates and mechanical rigs to create the illusion of a single, uncut shot.
Upon its release, the film was a critical success, appearing on several top-ten lists for 2010 and earning praise from figures like Stephen King. However, it struggled at the box office, grossing $27 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. While some critics lauded its chilling, stylish atmosphere, others argued it lacked the complexity of the Swedish original. Interestingly, the author of the source novel, John Ajvide Lindqvist, publicly supported the American version, calling it a 'great American movie' that stands on its own legs, even as he simultaneously criticized the production of a related comic book series for which he felt he had been misled into selling the rights.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Let Me In (film)
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