Let the Right One In vs Let Me In – Original vs Remake

Vampires have done pretty big business in recent times with awesome ones seen in True Blood who like to screw, fight and drink blood to the not-so-awesome ones who sparkle in the sun like diamonds… ugh. One thing is certain though whether you’re a fangbanger or not — vamps aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. What We Do in the Shadows continues to be a hysterical TV adaptation of the equally hilarious movie, niche arthouse films such as A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night bring a fresh, exciting take on vampire lore, and even Spider-Man’s best friend Ned is now Reginald the Vampire. And don’t get us started on Morbius.

In 2008, however, Swedish film director Tomas Alfredson thrust himself on the vampire scene with his widely praised film adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 vampire novel Let The Right One In. Alfredson’s wonderfully atmospheric film of the same name managed to keep the traditional vampire lore so well-known across popular culture while providing a novel spin on some of its codes and conventions as well as taking a beautiful look at pre-teen relationships and emotions.

Two years later, Cloverfield director and future The Batman helmer Matt Reeves remade the film, keeping the tone of the movie very similar to both the original film and the source material, and retaining the same story beats as the Swedish original. Reeves would claim that his film was more of an adaptation of the novel rather than a remake of the movie, yet it’s a very faithful adaptation of both and proves that sometimes American remakes of much-loved foreign horror movies actually do work. We’re looking at you The Wicker Man! So let’s sink our teeth into this eerie edition of… FACE OFF!

This episode of Face-Off is written by Adam Walton, narrated by Shawn Knippelberg, and edited by Adam Walton. But don’t let us have the final word — tell us in the comments which arthouse vampire flick is your pick. Let the Right One In or Let Me In?