Let Me In

Rated R · 1 hr 55 min · 2010

Horror

This vampire film, a remake of the Swedish cult favorite Let the Right One In, is not, like so many updates, out for a quick buck on opening weekend. Nothing overt in the story has changed from one movie to the next, and many scenes, almost by default, look cribbed from the first film, but Cloverfield director Matt Reeves has crafted something that is unique in spite of all that. He elicits terrific performances from his young leads, Chloë Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee; he effortlessly shifts the setting from Sweden to New Mexico; and he finds ways to reposition a highly stylized European film into something recognizably American. Fans of the original may not object too much, and newcomers will find a film that explores a familiar topic—friendship and love—in a highly unusual way.

By Colin Boyd