Let Me In is a 2010 romantic horror film written and directed by Matt Reeves. It is a remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In, which was based on the 2004 novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moretz, Elias Koteas, and Richard Jenkins. The plot follows a bullied 12-year-old boy who befriends and develops a romantic relationship with a child vampire girl in Los Alamos, New Mexico, during the early 1980s.
Interest in producing an English-language version of Let the Right One In began in 2007, shortly before the Swedish film was released. In 2008, Hammer Films acquired the rights for the English adaptation and initially offered Tomas Alfredson, the director of the original film, the opportunity to direct, which he declined. Reeves was then signed to direct and write the screenplay. Reeves made several changes for the English version, such as altering the setting from Stockholm to Los Alamos and renaming the lead characters. The film's producers stated that their intent was to keep the plot similar to the original, yet make it more accessible to a wider audience. Principal photography began in early November 2009 and concluded in January 2010.
Let Me In premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2010, and was released in the United States on October 1, by Overture Films, and in the United Kingdom on November 5, by Icon Film Distribution. The film received positive reviews from critics, being placed on several top ten lists of best films of the year. Many critics noted it as a rare English-language remake which stayed true to the original, while others criticized it for being too derivative of the Swedish film. It earned $27million worldwide against a production budget of $20million.
Plot In March 1983, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a disfigured man is taken to the hospital. An unnamed police detective tries to question him about a recent murder. While the detective answers a call outside the room, the disfigured man jumps out of the window, leaving behind a note that reads: "I'M SORY ABBY".
Two weeks earlier, Owen, a lonely and unhappy 12-year-old boy who is neglected by his divorcing parents, sees a barefoot little girl named Abby and an older man moving in next door. At school, a teenage bully named Kenny and two of his friends constantly terrorize Owen, who lies to his mother about it but tells Abby the truth. Abby encourages him to retaliate, and pledges to protect him. Owen and Abby become close friends and start communicating by Morse code through the walls of their apartments.
Abby's companion Thomas abducts a local teenager and drains the boy's blood into a jug, only to accidentally spill all of its contents. Starving, Abby attacks a neighbor and drinks his blood, killing him and forcing Thomas to dispose of the body.
On a later night, Thomas hides in the back of another car, but is discovered. In the ensuing struggle, the car falls into a ditch and flips over. Trapped, Thomas pours concentrated sulfuric acid on his face, leading to his hospitalization.
Abby learns what happened and visits Thomas in the hospital, who lets her drink his blood before falling to his death. That night, Owen is awakened by Abby, who insists he verbally invite her in. After removing her clothes, she spends the night in his bed and agrees to be his girlfriend.
The next day, Owen's class goes ice skating on a frozen river. Cornered by the bullies, Owen smashes the side of Kenny’s head with a metal pole, splitting his left ear. At the same time, the students find the neighbor's body encased in the ice.
Later, Owen tries to make a blood pact with Abby. Seeing blood, Abby reveals her vampire form and flees, feeding on another neighbor, but fails to kill her before she has to escape. The next night, when Owen comes to see her, she admits that she is a vampire and Thomas was not her father. Owen discovers an aged photo of her with Thomas as a young boy. Scared, Owen wants to leave but is stopped by Abby, who will not answer when he asks what she will do to him; she finally lets him leave.
The neighbor Abby left alive is turned into a vampire and burns to death in the hospital when a nurse opens the curtain to reveal sunlight. That night, Abby visits Owen's apartment and asks if she can come in; when he asks what will happen without his permission, she steps inside and starts bleeding all over. Horrified, he invites her in and hugs her, then helps her to wash off the blood and don one of his mother's old dresses. When his mother nearly catches them, Abby flees out the window; Owen later sneaks out to spend the night at her apartment.
In the morning, the detective forces his way into Abby's apartment and finds her asleep, only to be distracted by Owen. Abby wakes and attacks the detective, killing him. Horrified at her actions, Abby decides to leave town and kisses a heartbroken Owen goodbye.
During swim class, Kenny, his older brother Jimmy, and their friends set a dumpster on fire to distract the teacher, then ambush Owen and begin to drown him; Abby returns to rescue Owen and dismember his tormentors. An unspecified time later, Owen leaves town on a train, concealing Abby in a large trunk.
Cast
Production
Development According to Hammer Films executive producer Nigel Sinclair, interest in the project initially began in the middle of 2007, before the original Let the Right One In had screened for audiences.
The rights for the English-language film were later acquired by Hammer Films at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, where Let the Right One In won the "Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature," and Matt Reeves was quickly introduced as the director. John Nordling and Carl Molinder, the Swedish producers of the original film, were both involved as producers for the adaptation. Tomas Alfredson, the director of the Swedish film, was initially asked to direct the remake, but he turned it down stating that "I am too old to make the same film twice and I have other stories that I want to tell." Hammer Films producer Simon Oakes initially referred to the film with "If you call it a faithful remake, I think that's true to say that's what it is. It's not a reimagining; the same beats [are there], maybe the scares are a little bit more scary." He later said, "I call it his [Reeves'] version. I don't call it his remake or his re-imagining of it." The decision to make a new film adaptation has been criticized by Tomas Alfredson. He has stated on numerous occasions that he is not in favor of remaking his film. "If one should remake a film, it's because the original is bad. And I don't think mine is," he said. Producer Donna Gigliotti said, "We're incredibly admiring of the original, but to be honest with you, that picture grossed $2million. It's not like we're remaking Lawrence of Arabia." Producer Simon Oakes made it clear that the plot of Let Me In would closely resemble that of the original film, except that it will be made "very accessible to a wider audience."
Writer John Ajvide Lindqvist, on the other hand, says that Reeves told him that he "will make a new film based on the book, and not remake the Swedish film" and so "it'll be something completely different, but it's going to be really interesting to see." Reeves expressed his intent to retain the book's early 1980s setting and his admiration for the book and Alfredson's adaptation. "It's a terrific movie and a fantastic book. I think it could be a really touching, haunting and terrifying film. I'm really excited about what it could be", he said. In response to the criticism he said, "I can understand because of people's love of the [original] film that there's this cynicism that I'll come in and trash it, when in fact I have nothing but respect for the film. I'm so drawn to it for personal and not mercenary reasons ... I hope people give us a chance." When Reeves was initially approached, he at first was against the idea but after reading the novel gained a better appreciation for the story, stating,
Adapting and writing In adapting the film, a few adjustments were made, such as changing the names of the protagonists to Owen and Abby, and moving the setting from the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg to "a small New Mexico town." Reeves was also asked to change the ages of the main characters, but he refused, saying that "would ruin the essence of the story and change everything completely ... we need that childlike innocence." He also told his actors to not watch the original film beforehand so "we could make our own version but stay very true to the essence of the story." The filmmakers have noted that "they intend to forge a unique identity for Let Me In, placing it firmly in an American context", while at the same time paying respect to the original. In comparing his adaptation to the Swedish one, Reeves admitted to not adding many different details from the book that weren't in the original film, stating that "the story was so big that you couldn't really add a lot of stuff in without taking away the focus of the coming of age story so I tried to have allusions and references to stuff in the book." Reeves also admitted to borrowing elements from the Swedish film, stating "There are things that [Lindqvist] adapted brilliantly in the movie and I borrowed from that because I thought he did a great adaptation. But there are some things that hopefully don't detract and fit into the context of the story. It's a mixture of details from the book, the original film and things that grew out of adapting it." In adapting the story for American audiences, Reeves stated that keeping the 1980s time period within the film was critical in exploring the theme of good and evil. He used Ronald Reagan's "evil empire speech" as an example of American thought during that period. Reeves stated, "The idea of Reagan's 'evil empire' speech and that whole sort of school of thought was that evil was something that was outside of us. Evil was 'Other,' it was over there, it was the Soviets". Reeves felt that this idea was central to the main character Owen, as he "would be grappling with these very, very dark feelings but being in a kind of American town where there was that sort of [Reagan era] mindset and religiousness. How would you fit in? How would you feel about yourself being confused and being 12 or 13 years old and not knowing what it means that you wish you could kill those kids who were terrorizing you every day? The humanity of that."
Casting
In July 2009, audition tapes were leaked to the Internet, showing Chloë Grace Moretz, Mary Mouser, and Ariel Winter auditioning for the role of the vampire, Abby. Smit-McPhee, in an interview with The Herald Sun, hinted that he may have landed the role as Owen. The casting of Moretz and Smit-McPhee in the leading roles was confirmed on October 1, 2009, along with the addition of Richard Jenkins as Abby's adult companion.
In a press release, director Matt Reeves described Smit-McPhee, Moretz and Jenkins as his "absolute dream cast", and added that he "couldn't be more excited to be working with them." Both Smit-McPhee and Moretz were cast before the release of The Road or Kick-Ass, and the films' directors John Hillcoat and Matthew Vaughn, respectively, each praised the young actors and recommended them to Reeves.
Chloe's older brother, Colin Moretz was also cast in a minor role as the cashier at the convenience store.
Filming Principal photography began in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 2, 2009. Filming took place in several different New Mexico locations, before concluding in Albuquerque in January 2010. A large section of the film was filmed at Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Los Alamos County granted a special request from the film's director and producer to name the town in the movie "Los Alamos, New Mexico." Over 100 local teenagers were cast as extras.