Swedish author John Aljvide Lindqvist's debut novel, Lat den ratte komma in, or Let the Right One In, is the basis for Matt Reeves' 2010 film Let Me In, starring Chloe Grace Moritz, Kodi Smit-McPhee and HBO's Six Feet Under Richard Jenkins. You may know Reeves from past projects like the 2008 film Cloverfield and TV's Felicity. Reeves wrote the screenplay for Let Me In, an adaptation of not just the original novel, but a 2008 Swedish film, also based on the novel by Lindqvist.
There was a lot to like with this latest spin on the traditional vampire, including Chloe Grace Moritz. Moritz plays Abby, a 12-year old girl who has been 12 for "a very long time." Moritz first blew this reviewer away in Kick-Ass, and her ability to perform tough, complex characters with underlying vulnerability is equally impressive in Let Me In.
Kodi Smit-McPhee, a rising Australian star, plays the role of Owen with equal talent to Moritz's Abby. Owen is also 12 and must deal with the "real life" issues of a typical 12-year old boy like bullying in school and neglectful, divorcing parents.
The story is set in 1983, a time when 12-year olds were still 12, the dawning of a new post-70's era when women wore little rabbit-fur jackets over tight-fitting jeans and walked small dogs--predecessors of 21st century styles now used by celebutants like Paris Hilton, etc. The cinematography and music adds to the early 80's sensibilities, well-done by Greig Fraser and Michael Giacchino, respectively.
What is unsettlingly remarkable about the film won't settle on the audience until the very end; amidst the budding friendship and romance of two 12-year olds lies a sinister snake-like undertone that softly hisses of the sadness and desperation of both life and perpetual death.
On the Housel-scale, Let Me In is a 9/10--very well done visual adaptation with the kind of fresh wonderment brought to screens since 1993 by Reeves, who, one easily imagines, was himself a boy like Owen.
There was a lot to like with this latest spin on the traditional vampire, including Chloe Grace Moritz. Moritz plays Abby, a 12-year old girl who has been 12 for "a very long time." Moritz first blew this reviewer away in Kick-Ass, and her ability to perform tough, complex characters with underlying vulnerability is equally impressive in Let Me In.
Kodi Smit-McPhee, a rising Australian star, plays the role of Owen with equal talent to Moritz's Abby. Owen is also 12 and must deal with the "real life" issues of a typical 12-year old boy like bullying in school and neglectful, divorcing parents.
The story is set in 1983, a time when 12-year olds were still 12, the dawning of a new post-70's era when women wore little rabbit-fur jackets over tight-fitting jeans and walked small dogs--predecessors of 21st century styles now used by celebutants like Paris Hilton, etc. The cinematography and music adds to the early 80's sensibilities, well-done by Greig Fraser and Michael Giacchino, respectively.
What is unsettlingly remarkable about the film won't settle on the audience until the very end; amidst the budding friendship and romance of two 12-year olds lies a sinister snake-like undertone that softly hisses of the sadness and desperation of both life and perpetual death.
On the Housel-scale, Let Me In is a 9/10--very well done visual adaptation with the kind of fresh wonderment brought to screens since 1993 by Reeves, who, one easily imagines, was himself a boy like Owen.
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