Matt Reeves recently created a lot of ripples in the superhero world with his moody and gloomy version of The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. While Reeves is best known for his work on J.J. Abram’s monster film Cloverfield, the American filmmaker once created a horror remake of an international feature that The Batman fans must watch to appreciate the director’s intense and dark creative vision.
While remakes of international features are usually dull and Hollywood does a great job of messing up English remakes, Reeves was successful in creating a haunting 2010 remake of a Swedish classic titled Let Me In that cements his talent.
Adapted from Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In, Hollywood had been skirting around the adaptation of the project even before it aired for the audience. After Hammer Films hastily acquitted the film, they roped in Reeves to recreate Alfredson’s surreal masterpiece that is drenched in unsettling despair and dread.
Reeves proved his phenomenal vision by incorporating elements of love, horror, attachment and loneliness in this grim fairytale where a 12-year-old boy, who is constantly bullied and alienated, finds himself befriending a young vampire in 1980s Mexico, before falling in love with her.
Unlike other English language remakes, Let Me In is as good as its foreign predecessor and basks in Reeves’ dark and desolate vision that is enhanced by the gloomy filmmaking and sombre ambience. Reeves stays faithful to the original source while adding elements of his own vision against the forlorn and cold, historic backdrop.
Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz in lead roles, the film also explores questions of family, addiction, satanic cults, bullying, violence and alienation. Reeves’ deft examination of the characters’ inner torment and trauma is a standout feature in the film.
Watch Let Me In on Netflix now.
