"You won't find a much bigger fan of the original than yours truly and still I was very impressed." Scott Weinberg FEARNET "Movies this bloody are rarely this heady. It's one trend we wouldn't mind seeing catch on." David Medsker BULLZ-EYE "If you haven't seen the original, that just means you have two treats in store." Rob Gonsalves EFILMCRITIC "The rare remake that maintains the strengths of the original while staking out new ground." Peter Paras E! ONLINE "Harrowing and heartfelt, this is one of the best films I've seen this year." Kevin Williamson JAM! MOVIES "A very accomplished thriller, perfectly brooding and moody without ever going over the top." Sam Bathe FAN THE FIRE "Definitely a must-see for anyone who loves vampires but hates what Twilight has done to them." MaryAnn Johanson FLICK FILOSOPHER "Every bit as moody, as melancholy and as meaningful as its Swedish inspiration, as it explores heartbreaking themes of alienation and the universal need for human contact." Mike Scott TIMES-PICAYUNE

"A beautifully understated story of young lovers played out with the dark side of vampire mythology as a backdrop that occasionally and shockingly intrudes." Simon Weaving SCREENWIZE "Smartly written and directed, heartbreakingly acted, and artistically photographed." Betty Jo Tucker REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS "Horror film, serial killer drama, revenge fantasy, or coming of age romance, Let Me In succeeds whichever way you want to look at it." Simon Reynolds DIGITAL SPY "Despite being about vampires, Let Me In can feel chillingly real. Maybe that's because stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee are terrific actors whose young eyes look as if they've seen more than they should. Maybe director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) simply has a knack for monsters." Scott Bowles USA TODAY "Both suitably reverential to the excellent Swedish original and entirely successful as a work of authentic American horror. Smart, scary, and heartbreaking." Brian Juergens CAMPBLOOD "The scariest, creepiest and most elegantly filmed horror movie I've seen in years: it positively drives a stake through the competition." Lou Lumenick NEW YORK POST

The Inside Story Even in a pop-culture landscape littered with the bloodthirsty undead, "Let Me In" stands out as a very different kind of vampire movie. A poignant coming of age story as well as a bone-chilling horror film, it is also a haunting meditation on the difficult and often painful transition into adolescence. "Each of the stories that are so popular now uses the vampire legend in a different way," observes writer and director, Matt Reeves. "Most often they use it to explore people’s sexual nature. But this story takes the same archetype and uses it to explore something entirely different." "Let Me In" is based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s bestselling Swedish novel "Låt den Rätte Komma In" (Let the Right One In) and the highly acclaimed Swedish film of the same name. "Låt den Rätte Komma In" took home the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and in 2009 the British Independent Film Award for best Foreign Film. Its overwhelming popular success attracted the attention of both Hammer Films and Overture Films. Simon Oakes, vice chairman of Exclusive Media Group, and president and CEO of Hammer Films, says the company was immediately attracted to the original story with a unique take on the vampire genre. Lindqvist’s novel first came to the attention of Hammer in 2007, followed by the Swedish film based on it. "We tracked it very early on," says Oakes ("The Way Back"). "It is a story that should be available to a wider audience. Even though competition for the material was stiff, we developed a relationship with the producers, and, as a result, we were able to secure the rights. Soon after the successful release of his 2008 thriller, "Cloverfield", Overture ("Sunshine Cleaning" & "The Men Who Stare At Goats") approached Reeves (TV'S "Felicity") to adapt the book into a screenplay for an English language film set in the U.S. He says he was immediately hooked by a tale that reminded him of his own childhood. "It really touched me. Lindqvist and Tomas Alfredson, who directed the Swedish film, created a powerful metaphor for the turmoil of adolescence." When Hammer ("The Mummy", "Dracula" & "The Curse of Frankenstein") acquired the rights to the film, Reeves was even more determined to participate in the project. "I thought it would be extremely exciting to have the film made by Hammer given their historic contributions to the genre," he said. "I knew I had to find a way to connect to this movie. The people at Overture also loved this project so much that they also wanted to be a part of it and actually ended up partnering with Hammer." Reeves enthusiasm made him the top candidate for the job, according to Oakes. "Matt had read the novel and seen the original film, and was very positive about finding a way to make it his own. He had such a passionate connection to the story, and that was worth everything. He was determined to remain faithful to the spirit of Lindqvist’s story, while expanding it in ways to include his own vision." After reading the novel, Reeves wrote to author Lindqvist. "I told him I was drawn to the story, but not because it’s a great genre story: which it is. The novel wouldn’t let me go because it reminded me so much of my childhood." Reeves was surprised to learn that Lindqvist was also familiar with his work. "He had seen Cloverfield. He said it struck him as a new twist on a very old tale, and that’s what he was trying to do with Let The Right One In; so when he heard about my interest in doing an American version, he was actually excited. But upon hearing about my strong personal reaction to the story, he said he became even more excited, because this, it turns out, was the story of his childhood." Reeves says he "completely connected to that. I knew there had to be a way that I could take the essence of his story, and translate it to the American landscape I knew from my youth." "Let the Right One In" already had a passionate international fan base, and Reeves shared their reverence for the source material. "Let Me In" transports the action to a small town in the mountains of New Mexico, but is faithful to much of the action of the novel and the first film. "I was very concerned with finding ways to translate this story from 1980s Sweden to 1980s America; which was Reagan America. The Cold War was still at its height when Ronald Reagan gave his ‘Evil Empire’ speech, and the president was telling the country that evil was something that existed outside of us: the Soviets were evil, but as Americans, we were fundamentally 'good'. And I thought to myself, what would it be like for a twelve year old like Owen, who was harboring all these very dark feelings deep inside, to grow up in that context? It would be terribly confusing." Although the filmmakers embraced the supernatural elements of the story, they insisted on making the emotion as realistic as possible. Co-producer Vicki Dee Rock ("Charlotte's Web") credits Let Me In’s emotional resonance to Reeves’ extraordinary connection with the material and the characters. "It’s a comment on humanity. You could make the mistake of thinking it’s just about vampires, but it is really about how alienated we can feel and the price we’d be willing to pay to be loved." For Oakes ("Beyond the Rave" & the 1986 tele-movie "Adventures of William Tell"), the production of this film has taken Hammer Films full circle, once again pioneering a new approach to a popular genre. "In a sense, we set the bar for vampire films. In the Dracula movies of the late 1950s, Hammer transformed the vampire, played by Christopher Lee, into quite a sensual figure. I think that we set the tone for that approach to the vampire lore and it has lasted for decades." With the emotional resonance of the film resting on the narrow shoulders of its preteen protagonists, the filmmakers knew the chemistry between Abby and Owen was crucial. They also knew that finding actors of the appropriate age to play such nuanced characters would be extremely challenging. "In the original Swedish film, the two kids are so wonderful and their relationship is so powerful," says Reeves. "I knew that if we couldn’t find kids who were capable of that, we shouldn’t make the movie. This is an adult story in many ways. The emotional complexities of the relationship are very mature." Four time Artios Award winning casting director Avy Kaufman, has discovered a number of extraordinary child actors for the films she has worked on, including: Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense", Max Pomeranc in "Searching for Bobby Fischer" and "Adam Hahn-Bird" in Little Man Tate. "Casting children rather than adults both is and isn’t different. We’re always looking for something specific, but there are lots of different ways to go with that. In this case, Matt made it easier because he knew exactly what he was looking for." A major talent search was mounted on three continents as the filmmakers met with young actors in New York, Los Angeles, London, Australia and New Zealand over an eight month period. Reeves knew it wouldn’t be easy to find a kid who could handle the emotional demands of playing Owen. "When he finally discovers who Abby is, it is absolutely horrifying for him. It sends him reeling and he has nowhere to turn. What twelve year old could play that?" But when thirteen year old Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee came in to audition, the director knew he had found the right actor. "Kodi came in and read that scene. He played it totally real and very subtly. By the time he finished reading, I was convinced that he was the one. I was also convinced for the first time that we should and could make the movie: he was just that amazing." "Matt and I both felt like Kodi was the one as soon as we met him," says EMMY Award winner Kaufman whose film credits include "Zathura: A Space Adventure", "Brokeback Mountain" & "The Bourne Ultimatum"). "You can believe he’s a kid who would be picked on, but he’s so clearly loving and caring and thoughtful." Smit-McPhee ("Romulus, My Father" & "Matching Jack") has been working in film and television for five years, both his native Australia as well as the United States. From an acting family, he is already adept at appraising his co-workers. "Matt is a really cool director. He likes to experiment with stuff. And he wants the actors to explore." The young actor was able to draw on his recent role in the post-apocalyptic drama "The Road", for his character. "Owen has been forced to be a loner, a lot like the character I played in The Road. He is the son of a single mother. He’s had a very hard life. He gets bullied at school, and his mum cares, but she drinks a lot." Smit-McPhee got some sage professional advice at home from his father Andy McPhee ("Wolf Creek" & "Animal Kingdom"). "I worked on most of the character stuff with my dads. He has been an actor for twenty years. My dad taught me that for simple scenes, I can just turn it on and off, but when I’m doing the really intense scenes, I have to stay in that character all day. I can’t muck around. It’s a really emotional movie, especially for Owen. There were some days that were really fun, and other days that were a lot harder." Owen proved to be a rich subject for exploration, says Smit-McPhee. Among the character’s quirks is a fascination with serial killers. "It is a bit creepy, so he kind of keeps it to himself." Until he meets Abby. Once Smit-McPhee was cast, it was matter of pairing him with an actress who would create the right kind of chemistry. "They had to be able to work off each other," says Kaufman. "The dynamic was very important. We had several candidates for the part, but Chloë was exactly what we were looking for. She has an old spirit. She’s wise and confident." Although twelve year old Chloë Grace Moretz had already appeared in several high-profile films (including the remake of "The Amityville Horror" in which she was cast as Chelsea "Missy" Lutz), Reeves had not seen Moretz’s other work before casting her. "All I knew was she had an incredibly interesting quality. Chloë can be tough, as anyone who has seen "Kick-Ass" knows. She also has a tremendous vulnerability. That mix of being very human, but also having an unconquerable desire to survive really comes through. In the film Abby is twelve years old, but she’s been twelve for two hundred and fifty years. "She is not a two hundred and fifty year old woman who looks like she’s twelve. Abby is eternally twelve. She has all the innocence of a girl. She also has a primal side, which cannot be stopped. It’s a very difficult situation to be in." The role required Moretz ("500, Days Of Summer") to dig deeper than she ever had before. "I came up with the idea that she was very close to her mother, but over all the years she’s kind of forgotten her and she wishes she hadn’t," says Moretz, who made her feature film debut in "Heart of the Beholder". A fan of Reeves's thriller "Cloverfield", Moretz was excited to work with a director whose work she admires. "That is such a cool movies. Then when I met him, he was like the cutest little teddy bear. I love him. He’s become like a second dad." What It's All About

Set in a bleak, snow covered town New Mexico in the winter of 1983, this is the story of Abby, a mysterious twelve year old girl who moves in next door to Owen, a social outcast who is traumatized by both his parent's impending divorce and the vicious bulling he is undergoing at school. The lonely Owen tries to form a friendship with his new neighbor, but she makes it from the start that they can never be friends. Owen can not help noticing that Abby is like no-one he has ever met before. He never sees her during the day as she and her guardian keep to themselves. At night she will suddenly appear out of no-where. In the dark, while he's in his bedroom, Owen is kept awake by loud thumping noises and raised voices. When a string of grisly murders grips the town, he has to confront the reality that this seemingly innocent girl, who lives in secrecy next door, is hiding a terrible secret.

The Verdict "It's useless making any comparison between this classy, involving, exceptional production and the listless "Twilight" franchise, as some will inevitably choose to do. "Let Me In" and "Twilight" saga are light years apart in the Vampire genre and in the art of storytelling. And here's another point to make: don't shy away from "Let Me In" because it's helmed by the director of the 2008 film, "Cloverfield", which took a mere US$170,764,026 worldwide at the boxoffice. Remember 2009's "Watchmen"? It was helmed by Zack Snyder and took a mere US$185,258,983 worldwide in boxoffice receipts. While both films had their fare share of fans, they were to say the least, disappointing performers. Zack Snyder found the perfect vehicle to bounce back with when he helmed "300". It took a solid US$456,068,181 worldwide. It would be nice to think that "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves, who has put his heart and soul into the production of "Let Me In", can also bounce back. The opening scene, sets the mood for what is to come. A distinct air of urgency and foreboding will come over those watching what unfolds. Those cinemagoers who love a good chiller, thriller will instantly perceive they are about to witness an extraordinary piece of storytelling. Those who unwisely chose not to see "Kick-Ass" will want to purchase or hire the DVD/BLURAY after witnessing the remarkable performance of child actress Chloe Moretz as the vampire Abby. She's joined in the films lead, by rising star (and homegrown actor) Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays the troubled twelve year old Owen. His naivity is revealed when he discovers the truth about his next door neighbour. The vampire moments are heart-stopping and fierce. Yet despite their brutality, they never dilute, the unfolding story of two lost children, who somehow form an unbreakable bond. My only hope is that Reeves, Moretz and Smit-McPhee will, in say a decade, return to reveal what has evolved in the lives of these incredibly intense characters. I betcha I'm not the only one, who, after seeing "Let Me In" is left with that thought. Massively good! 4 1/2 STARS." Who's Who?

Kodi Smit-McPhee Chloe Moretz Richard Jenkins Cara Buono Elias Koteas Sasha Barrese Dylan Kenin Chris Browning Ritchie Coster Dylan Minnette Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak Nicolai Dorian Rebekah Wiggins Seth Adkins Ashton Moio Brett DelBuono

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Owen Abby Renfro - The Guardian Owen's Mother The Policeman Virginia Larry Jack Mr Zoric Kenny Mark Donald Nurse Seth Lanky Kid Kenny's Brother

The Crew Directed by Matt Reeves Screenplay by Matt Reeves John Ajvide Lindqvist (screenplay "Låt den rätte komma in") John Ajvide Lindqvist (novel "Låt den rätte komma in") Produced by Alexander Yves Brunner/Guy East/Donna Gigliotti/Carl Molinder Produced by John Nordling/Simon Oakes/Nigel Sinclair Original Music by Michael Giacchino Cinematography by Greig Fraser Film Editing by Stan Salfas Casting by Jo Edna Boldin & Avy Kaufman Production Design by Ford Wheeler Art Direction by Guy Barnes Set Decoration by Wendy Ozols-Barnes Costume Design by Melissa Bruning Run Time 115 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Icon Film Distribution - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.