Chloe's been doing fine work since she was a wee lass, particularly in the horror genre, starting with the remake of The Amityville Horror and continuing on through the likes of Wicked Little Things, The Eye and the remake of Stephen King's Carrie.
However, she's arguably best-known for the Kick-Ass movies, both of which I reviewed in the past. (Look for them at a later date.) For her birthday, though, I opted to go with one of her lesser-known roles, as a vampire child in the remake of Let the Right One In (the girl loves her remakes!), for some reason re-titled Let Me In.
I did the rare double review for this one, coupling it with the forgettable horror/suspense flick Case 39, which sat on the shelf for years for good reason. This review was originally published in UAB's Kaleidoscope on October 2nd, 2010. Happy birthday, Chloë! 😻
Ah, the kiddies. Those little bundles of joy, spreading happiness and cheer wherever they go…except for the occasional evil ones that spoil the fun for everyone and have a predication for a Halloween-time release date. We’re talking The Bad Seed, The Omen, Orphan, the Children of the Corn, and oh, so many more where that came from. (Shameless self-promotion time.)
Add to that list the recently released Let Me In and Case 39. The former is yet another remake, the latter a long-shelved flick with a big-time Hollywood cast. Interestingly, some of the kids considered for the latter ended up in the former (Chloë Grace Moretz) and the aforementioned Orphan. It’s hard out there for an evil kid to get work, I guess, what with all the competition.
Case 39 was filmed way back in 2006, and features big-name stars like Renee Zellweger (Jerry Maguire) and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover), yet time and again, its release was delayed. Typically, this means a movie stinks on ice, and, sadly, this is no exception. This is strictly standard issue devil-child stuff. You’ve got your seemingly evil parent(s) trying to kill their own child, a la The Omen. Your concerned adult(s) who meddles in things they shouldn’t, a la Orphan.
And, of course, the evil tyke- in this case, horror regular Jodelle Ferland (Silent Hill, Eclipse), who beat out Moretz and Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) for the coveted role. Alas, the admittedly talented Ms. Ferland best stick to the Twilight saga, as no amount of big-name talent is saving this one. It’s predictable from start to finish, with nary a shock or unexpected twist to be found.
Sure, it’s competently made and acted, but that alone does not a good movie make. This is a late-night time waster or a rental at best, if that. Sometimes, there’s a good reason a movie stays on the shelf too long, and this case was best left cold, I’m afraid. I wouldn’t hold my breath for a “Case 40,” in other words.
Faring infinitely better is Let Me In, a remake of the already-excellent Swedish film, Let the Right One In, which some lucky Birmingham viewers got to see on the big screen at the Sidewalk Film Festival a few years back. Just fine the way it is, the original film featured austere locales, some truly disturbing scenarios, and the immaculate cinematography and filmmaking we’ve all come to expect from the notoriously fastidious Swedes. My biggest fear was that the remake would do what most remakes do: suck the originality out of the film it was based on, and leave nothing to the imagination.
Fortunately, the love and care taken by filmmaker Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) to honor the original is readily apparent. The film contains almost everything that was memorable about the original, from the dialogue to the strikingly abrupt and flinch-worthy violence. True, as seems to be the rule in Hollywood, everything is a bit heightened, with more graphic violence and more obvious “jump”-style scares, but all said, this is one faithful adaptation, and definitely in a good way.
(Animal lovers who saw the original will be happy to learn that the somewhat notorious ferocious felines scene didn’t make the cut in this version- but that should just give those taken with this film a good reason to seek out the original, even though the scene does admittedly verge on camp, which is probably why it was excised from the remake in the first place.)
The film revolves around a sad, lonely child, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, of The Road), who is bullied at school and longs to fit in and connect with someone. He gets his wish in the form of Abby (Moretz, of Kick-Ass), a stand-offish, quirky, but not unfriendly little girl that moves in next door in his apartment building, along with a man who may or may not be her father, played by the always excellent Richard Jenkins (Burn After Reading). When kids of a certain age begin turning up dead, it doesn’t take long for Owen to suspect the father of wrongdoing. But is he truly a madman, or is he simply doing what he was told to do?
The original was certainly more ambiguous than this version, which makes it clear in the ads that we are dealing with a young vampire, and basically spells out everything that was allowed to be more subtle in the original. Still, foreign films are an admittedly acquired taste, and at least we Americans don’t have to deal with those pesky subtitles or badly dubbed copies of the original anymore when one can simply watch this version, which was clearly tailor-made for American audiences, for better or for worse (he said, snarkily).
Frankly, though I still prefer the original’s tasteful-yet-shocking and much more reserved approach, this version does offer up some great scenes. The car crash is shot in an interesting way- not an easy thing to do anymore- the film itself retains its queasy, unsettling power, and I really liked the two lead performances. Both Moretz and McPhee excel in their roles, making this a horror movie with heart that works.
Oh, rest assured, it doesn’t shirk away from the violence, including some shocking scenes involving kids, but let’s just say this vampire doesn’t glitter, though she may be equally angst-ridden as the rest. In other words, Twi-hards need not apply, but for those of us who prefer our vampires scary, Let Me In gets the job done, and without sacrificing emotion in the process. Not a bad trick when one can pull it off…
No comments:
Post a Comment