As you may remember from last week, this Friday marked the beginning of my second phase of research in the Let The Right One In/Let Me In investigation. As usual, my super-sleuth instincts have won the day and I believe I now know which of the two films is better. I will share my findings forthwith.

First of all I should admit that I did underestimate the American remake of the film – a bit. A large part of what made me love the original was the bleak tone, which has been recreated with startling accuracy in the remake. 

I say that almost like it’s praise, but the fact remains (and it is a fact) that this was achieved in large part by copying the original. If I were to trace the Mona Lisa people might pat my head and feed me treats for being such a good tracer, but I doubt that they’d applaud my depth or originality. So while I do appreciate the fact that the tone is intact, I’m not naïve enough to give the re-makers credit for it. I will however give them a pat on the head and a treat, ‘cause they did a fine job of tracing.

I think this brings up a good point about remakes in general, if you’ll allow me to digress for just a moment…

There’s no sense in remaking a movie. None. Not a bit. If you’re that damn good at making movies and you just know you could do better, make something original. The changes made in Let Me In don’t just fall short of justifying the remake; they make a strong argument against it. This has been the case, time and time again with the remakes I’ve seen.

Remakes are one of two things: a cowardly safe-bet to capitalize on the success of someone more original than yourself, or an arrogant assertion that you can do better – also known as hubris. Any movie – ANY MOVIE – worth remaking, should never, ever be remade.

Okay, I feel better now. Moving along.

As expected, the remake removes a significant amount of complexity from the storyline and the story is made no better for it. The cuts are surprisingly hard to see, but they’re in there; keep an eye out, you’ll see them. The relationships in the film suffer the most, having been blunted to near harmlessness in some cases.

The absence of one particular shot in the remake removes a vast measure of the complexity in Owen and Abby’s (formerly Oskar and Eli’s) relationship. It was a shot of one second, perhaps two, but it drastically changes the way you perceive the story. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, so you’ll just have to take my word. After you’ve watched the original – and you’ll have to watch very closely to get the full impact – you can drop me a line if you haven’t noticed it. Suffice it to say, the additional two seconds in the original will cause you to rethink the entire dynamic of the two main characters.  

The relationship between Abby and her “father” is also somewhat changed in the remake. The original made it clear that the man wasn’t her father at all, but merely a helper of sorts. In the novel upon which both films are based his role is even more sinister, given his, shall we say, checkered past. The remake leaves this in more ambiguous territory, never truly spelling out what the two (Abby and The Father, as he’s named in the credits) mean to one another.

Normally I’m all for a little ambiguity, but I think it’s misplaced here. In the original, Hakan (AKA the Father) is an aging servant to Eli. His presence is a constant reminder of her need for a thrall; the question then becomes whether Eli truly has feelings for Oskar, or if he’s simply a likely replacement for the aging Hakan. These subtle complexities are what made the original film so interesting; their simplification causes the remake to be far less crunchy than its predecessor. 

I think it bears mentioning that the director of Let Me In, Matt Reeves, was a fan of the original. I don’t believe that he set out to outdo the original – in fact, I think he holds the original in high regard and probably imagines his remake to be a sort of love letter to it. Because of his attention to detail, Let Me In isn’t a failure as a movie; it’s just rendered unnecessary by its far-superior source material.  It is a victim of its own game, so to speak.

With that, I will once again urge you to go watch the original. Watch it first, please – it’s the right thing to do. That’s the last time I’ll ask, I promise.