From:
darkangel5@DONTEMAILMEbtinternet.com
Finally got around to watching the US remake of the 2008 Swedish Vampire
film, "Let The Right One In".
Didn't think much to the original, which was way too slow in my view,
which is why I hadn't bothered with the remake up till now. But as the
Horror Channel were showing this the other week, thought I'd give it a go.
My review does contain a few minor spoilers, although if you've seen the original (which I know most of you have) doesn't really tell you
anything you haven't already seen.
This version kicks off the action a bit earlier, as it starts with an ambulance, under a police escort, rushing a murder suspect to hospital.
Who has doused himself in acid, in a botched suicide attempt to prevent capture.
Flashing back to a few weeks previous, the film then sticks relatively
closely to the original version, as we see an isolated school boy, who
is badly bullied at school, befriending a mysterious young girl that
lives in his apartment block.
But of course, it isn't long before we realise this girl isn't who she
appears and neither is her "father" as we see the events that lead up to
his capture and botched suicide and the events that follow after.
Personally, I thought this was an improvement over the 2008 Swedish
original. The pacing seems slightly faster and (if I'm remembering the
original correctly) they introduce a few new scenes, involving a police detective and a very interesting scene showing what happens to one of
the girls victims, after they take her to the hospital.
Again, I wasn't a fan of the original, which seemed to emphasise the relationship beween the two youngsters, and was basically a drama about
a bullied schoolkid, with the vampire bits appearing "tacked on".
This version however, I actually quite enjoyed. Which I felt benefitted
from it's tighter pacing and the fact they put more emphasis on the
vampire aspect of the film.
I did read somewhere, that the orginal film was based on a book, and the original director had deliberately toned down the vampire aspect,
whereas this version, which could be argued is just another adaptation
of the book, rather than a remake of the earlier film, follows the book
a little more closely.
Anyway, worth a watch. Better than the original in my view.
--
Best Wishes
Simon (Dark Angel)
http://www.realmofhorror.co.uk
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