Sometimes I despair of my work habits. I woke up yesterday with no teaching responsibilities, planning to write a chunk of a conference paper that is due soon. I got to my office at 7.30am and promptly re-watched Let the Right One In, streamed instantly on Netflix, and then went out to the movieplex to watch the remake, Let Me In. Watching the Swedish original and the American remake back-to-back was a mistake. Firstly because the original is just a much better film. And secondly because the remake is so faithful to the original — the same scenes, the same images (the same playground equipment, the same dripping pipe), the same shot composition, the same dialogue — that it is all but impossible to evaluate it on its own terms. That is a pity because Let Me In more clearly situates itself within the horror genre and so it necessarily jars when compared to the ethereal beauty and simple tenderness of the original. Continue reading Let Me In