Who's seen "Let the right one in"? Remake?

[Dee]

verdant garden -

Well, looks like I'll have to leave my attempt at problem solving re this movie until tomorrow. As for your last reply:

Sure, I get that love and sex are two different things. Ultimately, what I was trying to get at was that IF someone thought that the ending was optmistic, then SOME kind of notion akin to love (or maybe sexual desire) would have to be invoked. Much of the power of this movie comes down to - for me - the coming-of-age genre spliced with the horror genre. It's the 'sweet' coming-of-age part which makes me get why some people would see the ending as a positive one.

You've missed my last post, which goes into a lot of detail about stuff that you mention. In particular, it's my contention that the HUMANS NEED a SEXUAL outlet for their feelings for Abby. Really, I can't imagine this drive being repressed by Abby or diverted by her. For me, it seems a deal breaker...it would make NO sense to me if Hakan/Hank did not indulge in it with the vampire. Same goes for Oskar/Owen...can't imagine them sticking around with her for any length of time if it was all looking and no touching.

You do allude to a backstory to Hakan/Hank/Eli/Abby...from the book, presumably. In my immediate last post I take the position that the ORIGINAL movie MIGHT have CHANGED the MEANING of the father character figure in the movies. So, in any case, I don't think importing data from the book to explain the movies is legitimate in this case. It seems to me that the original movie may have done something unique with the story in this way. Accidentally or on purpose.

re vampires having no need for a sex drive...I understand your point but respectively disagree with you! They REQUIRE it! In other words, their power is over HUMANS who HAVE it. They are SEDUCERS of humans. So, whilst I agree with your view on the likely outcome of Owen's relationship with Abby, to me it only makes sense if they are intimate with one another...as she was with Hank. Take the sexual aspect of it out, and I really can't see any motivation for them staying with her for so long (or potentially so long). That is unless someone like Hank can be posited as being her real father, or an uncle or a cousin...something like that. But since Owen is not related to her, I can't see him having the same sort of misguided loyalty to her. In a previous reply of mine (maybe the one before my last one), I did ponder if the US version was more subtle in suggesting that the vampire was originally male. If so, then another social 'glue' to bind the vampire and the boy might be that they were both gay...which would explain the vampire's especial interest in Oskar/Owen. Just a thought.

P.S. what's all that "Faboost" malarkey? You use it in your signature...Chloe sponsored by them in her Twitter account or something?

[Dee]

(Warning...this entire thread is a spoiler on the movie.) Okay...this is just my take on the movies as I find the story very interesting and am trying to solve their puzzle. There are probably some learned articles on the films but I haven't looked at them...this will just me my take on them and I'll refer to other ideas on the films in this thead where appropriate.

I'll mention any assumptions that I make in the process.

Assumption 1:

The original movie Let the right one in, changed the nature of the father figure in the story. Let me in follows the original in that sense. In the original the father figure is called "Håkan". He's not named in the remake, but I'll call him "Hank" for brevity. IMDB lists his character as "The father" in the cast list. I should point out that I have NOT read the novel the movies were based on, though the author did work closely with at least the maker of the remake.

What's particularly effective about this movie is that it does not tell you what to think...you are open to interpret the meaning of what you see. Also terrific about the movie is how it combines two genres...coming of age and vampire horror movie. It's this combination, I think, which makes two views on the story come about:

i) It's a sort of sweet romance between two young people and the ending carries hope for them both.

ii) It's the story of the corruption and subversion of a boy by a vampire with sinister intent all the way through.

Of course, the horror aspects can't but affect i), but the romance aspect is dominant for the viewer, who finds that "Love will conquer all" in the story.

The characters:

Eli/Abby

The vampire trapped in the body of a 12 year old girl [1]. At least decades old (assuming she was human in that photo which features in the remake) if not one or two centuries old.

[1] I'm led to believe that in the book Eli was once a boy who was a victim of violence, where they were desexed, so to speak. In Let the right one in, there is a hint that Eli may not be female (though I would not say that this is a categorical fact about them, like it may be in the novel. In Let me in, maybe there was some American prudishness about the hint in the original movie...there is even less reason to think that this may be so in the remake than in the original.

Motivation:

My view

She requires a 'cover' to distract attention from her...a father figure type who people can assume is her father. Also, she requires someone who can save her should people discover her true nature...i.e. someone who can walk in sunlight and spirit her away if she is in danger from humans.

Board view

She is lonely...she seeks the companionship of people like Håkan and, later, Oskar/Owen.

Håkan/"Hank"

My view

I think it is likely that he was a similar age to Oskar when Eli met him. Whatever else the book says, I think that in the movies he is a different kind of character...as opposed to being more rounded in the book, in the films he serves to foreshadow what Oskar/Owen can expect from his life. So, Håkan is unrelated to Eli and was her lover.

Alternative board view

A one time replier mentioned Abby kicking "Hank" out her bed or something. Can't remember if it is their inference or mine that this implies that she was sexual with him. Which would go to his motivation with her.

Alternative view 1:

He is Eli's father.

Alternative view 2:

He could be related to Eli...an uncle or cousin.

Motivation:

For my preferred view, I'd say that he is motivated by his love of Eli. In reality, you sometimes hear of couples who work together to kill people...my guess is that often one of the partners is a bad influence on the other...presumably in the movie's case too...with Eli being the bad influence.

Alternative view 1:

Misguided loyalty. The father still sees humanity in their child and even kills for them...they don't want their daughter to be a murderer. Problem: Eli/Abby snaps at them in one point of the movie...perhaps suggesting that they're not close in that way...assumption being that a daughter would snap at a father in that way.

Alternative view 2:

Misguided loyalty, again. It's my view that there is less of a problem for Eli/Abby snapping at them in that way if they are 'merely' an uncle or a cousin.

Oskar/Owen

The 12 year boy who, I would argue, is seduced by Eli/Abby.

Motivation:

My view

A 12 year boy and a 12 year old girl...pretty obvious isn't it? He's maturing and taking an interest in a girl. He's also bullied, which means later, when he finds out she is a vampire, offers him a form of escape from his bullied life.

Board view

The boy and the 'girl' are both lonely and looking for companionship.

What's the deal with the girl and the old guy?

My view

Eli has been in at least one relationship with a male before...Håkan. I'm assuming that they have been together for decades. We see them at the final stages of their time together in the film. To me, this is kind of sweet...Eli looks good in this light...even though Håkan has aged terribly since they were together, she is still loyal to him. The relationship looks decidedly more creepy if they have not been together for a long time.

Another thought...if Håkan was Eli's first lover or companion, then perhaps she lacks insight into her own actions...i.e. I take her relationships with males to be part of a cycle...so I see a similar fate to Håkan befalling Oskar. That's even if Håkan was her first. So, that's to suggest that maybe the vampire does't recognise this cycle/potential cycle. However, if Håkan was just the latest in a longer line of male 'companions' for Eli, then this makes her look even more cold/calculating than under the other assumption. Sinister even?

Evidence:

For my view that they have been together for decades, there is the sepia coloured photo of - presumably - Abby and (presumably) "Hank" in Let me in. This merely establishes (or suggests) that they have been together for decades, not whether he is her lover or father etc. If the man in the photo is NOT Hank, then that suggests that Hank is one in a longer line of male lovers (or companions, if you don't buy the line about them being lovers).

Board view

They are companions, to ease their loneliness, or isolation.

Problems with that view:

i) I don't think that friendship is a strong a motivator for the male to be an accomplice to murder as the sexual relationship scenario. Their sexual relationship/love for each other explains why he does what he does for her.

ii) If Eli/Abby is merely "lonely", and not a sexual being at all, I don't see why she would choose this moment in time to pursue Oskar/Owen.

Motivation

My view

Eli/Abby is pursuing Oskar/Owen because she merely needs a replacement for the ageing and more and more unsuccessful 'provider' (of blood) Håkan. I.e. it's not loneliness that's driving her, but rather self-interest [2].

Board view

Both the girl and the boy are lonely and looking for companionship.

Problems with that view:

Oskar/Owen is sexually maturing. Does it seem plausible that he would repress his sexuality for mere 'friendship'/'companionship' with Eli/Abby? Not to me it does't.

What's the deal with girl and the boy? (Why does she pursue him?)

My view

The vampire wants someone to take over Håkan's role of covering for her and protecting her. It's my belief that sex is the 'honey' that she will use to lure him.

Problem with my view:

Oskar/Owen is too young to provide a plausible cover story for the vampire and may not be adequate to spiriting her away should her life be threatened. The endings of the movie does account for that last part (where he does spirit her away), but my assumption is that the vampire sees the boy as a long term investment/prospect for that role.

Board view

The companionship line of argument.

Problem with that view:

If the vampire is asexual, she doesn't really offer much to a young boy's growing interests. Also, the same as with my theory...she needs a replacement for Håkan (are we agreed on that?)...he doesn't fit the bill on that count...plus, if she only wanted companionship and had that with Håkan, wouldn't a 12 year old boy be less intellectually stimulating than an adult?

My alternative hypothesis:

Assumption -

Maybe we can assume that Oskar/Owen are gay. That might explain why they are bullied at school. In Let the right one in, there is more of a hint that the vampire was once a boy (the shower scene, mainly). In Let me in, there is a scene early on in the movie where Abby looks remarkably boyish (the 'reveal' in the original movie's shower scene is not repeated in the remake). So, to me, that would sort of explain:

Motivation:

The vampire at some point suffered violence of a sexual nature, which changed them from being a boy to...? Perhaps they identify with bullied boy here? That's why they pursue him...if the boy consciously (or unconsciously) is gay, they can find Eli/Abby a suitable partner...if they repress their homosexuality, then they can tell themselves that Eli/Abby is really a girl. And in many movies, homosexuals are often represented as being dangerous...e.g. Hitchcock's "Rope" amongst others. In other words, the film displays the prejudice that the vampire can turn the gay boy into a serial killing accomplice.

'Interesting'

I'd be interested in a Freudian reading of the movie, given the discussion immediately above. Not versed in Freud myself, but I know that he does have the notion of an "Oedipal complex" which itself has "castration" fear, I believe, on the part of boys. So, for an off the cuff attempt at Freudian theory, we have a boy (Eli/Abby) who WAS castrated (by her father?) and later kills him (her father...taken to be Håkan). This is all literally true, presumably. Not sure how the book fits in with this attempt at a Freudian reading by me.

Key scenes:

Eli/Abby places her hand on Håkan's/Hank's face.

Context? If this scene comes right after Håkan asks her not to see the boy, I think it implies that the vampire pities Håkan and also that they are not prepared to acquiesce to their request. Her expression is perhaps analagous to the though "Sorry, but I can't do that for you" and their positions apply an inverse power relationship...the young child here has all the power and the mature adult is the one who was must beg.

Meaning?

In other words, why does Håkan request that of the vampire? My take is that Håkan can see the same life ahead for Oskar that he had. From that, we can see that Håkan does not regard his life as one that was well lived (even if you do assume a loving sexual relationship with the vampire). With this interpretation, the movie is in fact a tragedy, despite the 'feel good' element of the coming-of-age side to it. Håkan thus demonstrates a sort of abstract concern for Oskar's welfare...well, concrete here, but it would apply to anyone the vampire was pursuing in this manner.

Alternatively...

Håkan is jealous of Oskar and does not want to lose his place to him in Eli's affections. My original take strikes me as being more believable though. Why?

Meaning?

Odd thing to do, right? Maybe he was trying to kill himself? That's plausible, perhaps. Thinking about this, it occurred to me that he was disfiguring himself so that he could no longer function as Eli's cover...the father who secretly murders people for her vampire appetite [2].

My view

Håkan does this in case Eli rescues him.

Board view

Well, Iano's at least...I think that they agree with me re the "insurance" aspect to this act, but they add their own twist...Håkan does this in case Eli cannot rescue him.

Problem with that view:

It does not imply that Håkan is trying to exit the relationship. With my view, it is explicit in saying that even if he was let off by the police or Eli could rescue him, he wants to make sure that he is useless to her as an accessory to her blood-lust.

Key scene #2

Håkan pours acid over his face.

Plot holes

I - Why does Håkan murder for Eli?

For me, this could be adequately addressed if he was supposed to be her father or uncle or cousin. It makes less sense if he is her lover. I mean, Eli/Abby is more than capable of murdering humans on her own! Since I believe that Håkan is her lover, this is pretty much a plot-hole in my view.

II - Isn't Oskar/Owen too young to function as an alibi/rescuer for Eli/Abby?

Yes. But, like I say, he seems more of a 'long term project' for her. However, this point could be used to undermine the notion that the vampire has sinister/self-interested intent for him. That still doesn't strike me as plausible though.

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In my discussions with Iano, I suppose some recurring themes/interpretations on each other's theories that came up were:

i) Shame as a key concept for them re the vampire's character. I've addressed this in my earlier post...I don't see this as having any force for the vampire...my counter-examples to the vampire supposedly having this mind-set are the scenes where she enters his bedroom with blood caked on her mouth and the scene where she kisses the boy with fresh, warm blood on her mouth. For me, this re-inforces my interpretation of Eli/Abby as being a sinister force in the narrative...she subverts the boy's sexual's desire into one channeled into her murderous schemes.

ii) Sex between the vampire and the father figure as being implausible

For me, this goes to motivation for the males in the vampire's life. I just don't see how they would do the vampire's bidding without this incentive/motivation. But, the main thrust of my theory is the notion that all of the vampire's actions/words can be interpreted as having sinister intent. In which case there could still be no sex between the vampire and any of the males...maybe just the promise of it in order for them to do her bidding?

Another problem for the view of no sex with the vampire (presumably because they assume that vampires are asexual...evidence for this?) is that what explains the budding relationship between the vampire and the boy? Why didn't the vampire have that kind of relationship with Håkan? And if there was no sex, what would keep the boy with the vampire?

iii) Happy endings/interpretations

It seems that Iano is not on the side of the movie being optimistic...but that was my initial take on their position. Another person on this thread did see the story as being one of optimism.

Problem with that view:

How do you imagine the relationship between the vampire and the boy to play out in that case? Different to that between the vampire and the father figure?

iv) The human side to the vampire

This board interpretation seems to posit that the vampire has a good side and is not sinister at all (at least not in a way which troubles the poster).

Problem with that view:

Is it just a co-incidence then that the vampire is trawling for a new partner when their old and failing partner in crime is trying to get out of the relationship? I don't think so. This goes to my interpretation of the vampire as being sinister in intent with the boy...he's a means to an end.

P.S. from memory, Iano did mention Abby having a manipulative side to her...

Problem with that view:

That has the effect of lessening her humanity...an interpretation more in keeping with my take on the vampire...it's sinister and self-interested from start to finish. But..., like I say, the movie does not say this about them...one is left to imply it. That's the beauty of this movie.

[2] See "Plot holes".

[sweetgirl]

i got see it now . cant though . go grandma

[steveloveschloe]

Thought y'all might like to read someone else's take on the whole "Does Abby really love Owen?" issue:

http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2010/10/l ... eview.html

Interesting insight there near the end. More food for thought, I guess. Personally, I tend to agree with him. That Abby does love or care for Owen, as much as she's able to. But that's just me. :p

[JoshU]

Going to keep it short, but I have to say I prefer Let Me In.
I saw Let The Right One In first and loved the quiet, eerie atmosphere of it so was really looking forward to the remake, specially with Chloe being involved.
Trying to ignore the fact that I saw Let Me In in the cinema whereas Let The Right One In was DVD, I just preferred the performances of the 2 main characters, Abby and Owen. That along with Reeves way of making the scenes more emotional won it for me.

I also like the way certain scenes were made more shocking, such as the car scene. The camera angle was fantastic. Or where Owen hit the bully (forget his name) with the pole you could really feel the strength in it compared to the original.

Overall I really think Reeves did a brilliant job of keeping to the films original and niche roots, while giving his own take on it to a point. It's a real shame it hasn't been recognised as much as I feel it should have.

[Justas]

As far as preferences, I have to admit I prefer LTROI. I just liked it better for a lot of reasons. It goes without saying, nevertheless, that both Chloe's and Kodi's performances were great.
I have a doubt in the scene where Abby drinks Owen's blood off the floor. She warns him to go away, but at first she utters a non-English word that sounds very similar to the Sweden word Eli says in the correspondant scene in LTROI. Do you think is a nod to the original? Am I just misinterpreting the whole thing? I'm a spanish native speaker so maybe I just didn't get the word right.

Best to all.

[doubleR]

LMI has a better explanation for the audience in some ways, not too gore, and less nudity content. suit to common viewer. the movies are pumped up bcause of the great actors
but LTROI is still the masterpiece
i think we better wait for her next "gore" movie, gore movies producers are havin their eyes on Chloe now.

[Nirvana2K7]

Personally, I like "Let Me In" better, but I am obviously biased slightly toward it due to Chloë's involvement. Saying that, "Let the Right One In" is a beautiful film too and those that have seen LMI, but not that, should definitely take the time to watch it.

I'm not really a fan of LMI being called a remake though, because it's just Matt Reeves take on the book, as opposed to a straight copy of LTROI.