Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Dreading the U.S. remake of Swedish vampire thriller ‘Let the Right One In’

Production has begun on the U.S. remake of Sweden’s “Let the Right One In” and odds are it won’t be as good as the original.
“Let the Right One In,” which mixed childhood angst and vampires in a winter setting, was one of my favorite films from last year. Trying to remake it for American sensibilities would be a mistake.
EW.com shares my concerns about the U.S. remake now titled “Let Me In.”
Most U.S. remakes of foreign-language movies suck.
Consider the 1988 Dutch psychological drama “The Vanishing.” The original was deeply disturbing and had a bleak ending. The 1993 U.S. remake had a Hollywood happy ending.
Hollywood also trashed the French thriller “La Femme Nikita” (1990) with a dopey remake called “Point of No Return” (1993). The casting of petite Bridget Fonda to play the feral delinquent turned government assassin (played in the original by Anne Parillaud) was its biggest mistake.
Or how about the trippy Spanish puzzle “Open Your Eyes” (1997)? It was remade to disastrous effect as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise. The U.S. remake, “Vanilla Sky” (2001), was directed by Cameron Crowe.
Occasionally Hollywood makes a remake that’s as good or better than the original.
Such was the case with Martin Scorsese’s Oscar winner “The Departed” (2006), which was a remake of the Hong Kong crime thriller “Infernal Affairs” (2002).
Director Christopher Nolan did a masterful job with “Insomnia” (2002), a remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name.
On that note, my fingers are crossed for the U.S. movie “Let Me In.”

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