| Author | Message | ||
     Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081111/REVIEWS/81112 9995 Looking good. | ||
| Lincoln Brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 60.228.114.151 |
Watched this tonight - brilliant. Highly recommended. Some truly unforgettable scenes. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.8.240 |
I agree, a few truly unforgettable scenes: wonderful, almost totally understated use of CGI (if I'm not even sure if CGI is being used, then it's a good use of CGI), and great old-fashioned clever camera tricks, for sfx. Alas, too slow, with a ponderous "film school" pace, characterization and soundtrack. It really did feel like a 2-hour student film, sadly... but enough magic moments to make it worth one's while catching. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
Oh, I'm an old fashioned so and so. I've the book out on loan from the library. I really must get on with reading it though . . . | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.238.210 |
Mark, I've heard the book explains some things in the movie which are left so ambiguous, as to be mystifying. I could reveal one, which cleared up something for me, but it's too big a spoiler, I'm assuming, for book (and film). Do give us a review when you're done.... I reiterate: despite its shortcomings, I think it definitely worth watching, even making an effort to do so. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
I'd rather watch a two-hour student film than a derivative Hollywood blockbuster, Craig. From the clips I've seen, this looks very well made indeed. | ||
| Lincoln Brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 60.228.114.151 |
Zed, I think you'll love it! It demands a re-watch, but I'm going to wait for it to be released on BluRay in the UK (same region locking as Aus) and buy it. I watched it via a download, which was ok quality - but, it deserves better! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.76.24 |
I understand and empathize/agree with the point you're making, Zed. But the reality?... No, no, no, I'd always go with the derivative Hollywood blockbuster. I'd go out on a limb to say you would too.  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
Then you'd be wrong. Watching a Hollywood blockbuster is, to me, like sex with a whore: you enjoy it in a dirty way but then feel a niggling sense of shame and regret afterwards. | ||
| Richard_gavin (Richard_gavin) Username: Richard_gavin Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 65.110.174.71 |
This movie is very well done. (I think it's one you'll especially like, Zed.) I didn't find it much like a student film, but then I'm not really an expert on cinema. Its slower pace was effective because the director was trying to create a darkly (and I do mean darkly) poignant film rather than a horrifying one. The actors who played Oskar and Eli both give excellent performances. It's always refreshing to see people trying to deal with dark themes in an artistic way, instead of simply shoehorning their ideas into old, overused templates. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I'm not really an expert on cinema Neither is Craig. Clearly.  | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Took the words right out of my mouth Mr Zed | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I wish I hadn't typed that. I've now got the old Meatloaf tune on an unending loop. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.211 |
The old joke: X = the unknown, "spurt" = a drip under pressure, hence "expert" = an unknown drip under pressure. That's me. If watching the Hollywood film in your analogy, Zed, is like sex with a whore, then watching the student film is like a sexless sitting-around with the same whore, watching her do her nails and bitch about her boyfriends, AND you're paying for it! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Craig, I do wish you'd stop failing the Turing test | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.2.57 |
?... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
There you go again... Does not compute, does not compute | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.181.3 |
I was given the DVD of Let the Right One In today for my birthday (also got the new Stephen King collection and a Winsor McKay book, among other good things), and can't wait to sit down and watch it with all the lights out. I haven't seen a single bad review or comment regarding this film. The new English edition of Hanns Heinz Ewers's collection Nachtmar is a real thing of beauty, by the way, in case anyone is considering buying a copy (I just received mine today - good timing!). It has obviously been made with a lot of love and care (would that more books were). | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Happy Birthday Huw! | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.179.54 |
Thanks, Mick! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
many happy ones, Huw. Hope you're feeling as well as you can be. I'm reading LET THE RIGHT ONE IN now. About 60 pages in. Feels like early Mark Morris, actually, a bit TOADY/STITCHish. I think its acclaim is more than partly due to its Swedish setting. But I'll carry on. The prose is a touch muscular in places, but I'm enjoying enough to carry on. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.179.54 |
Cheers, Mark! I actually had a pretty good day today. It didn't start off well (I've had to increase my medication recently, as my condition has worsened somewhat), but I was able to go out in the end (though I'll probably pay for it tomorrow!). I wonder if this going to get the US remake treatment. They often hold off on releasing the original on DVD if there's a remake in the works. Speaking of which, anyone seen Quarantine, the American remake of Rec? I've heard it's virtually a shot for shot remake, and that there's no mention of the original film whatsoever on the DVD... | ||
| Lincoln Brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 60.228.114.151 |
"I wonder if this going to get the US remake treatment"... yes, it is Huw.  Happy birthday, mate! Hope you had a good day/night. Let us know what you thought of LTROI. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.125 |
Watching a Hollywood blockbuster is, to me, like sex with a whore: you enjoy it in a dirty way but then feel a niggling sense of shame and regret afterwards. Zed that's marvellous! I'd go so far as to say it's like sex with an expensive prostitute - you try your best to like it because it should have all the necessary expertise and tricks to entertain you but somehow you just can't relax and enjoy the ride because there's something false about the whole thing. Whereas a good low budget movie is the real deal -a bit the girl you arrange to meet because you think the two of you might get on but little do you realise that you're going to connect in more ways than you could hope, fall into bed together to find that everything is surprisingly wonderful, and want to do it again and again, with the experience getting even better as time goes on. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
Well, I'll bow to you guys on the knowledge about this you clearly have! I've never had to pay for it. But I doubt Orange's buy one get one free Wednesday applies, does it? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
I've never had to pay for it either... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
(Ask GCW to exlain that one to you, mate.)  | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.125 |
Well I was speaking strictly allegorically. Except for the latter example | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.251.0 |
A good XXX porno is like having raunchy sex with a dirty whore... oh wait. That's it. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.160 |
That's a good analogy, Lord P. Lincoln, thanks! I'm going to have myself a bit of a horror film fest this weekend, I think. I've got Let the Right One In, The Coffin (a Thai horror film that's been getting decent reviews), Tokyo Gore Police and Noroi: the Curse lined up. I also have the TV series Tales From the Darkside, which I've never seen, and which includes stories written by King, Ellison, Matheson, Romero and Brennan. Anyone seen this? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.251.0 |
Don't you wish Fulci had directed Mama Mia?... Damn tangents - I can't stop them tonight! | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
Ooohh, I used to watch Tales from the Darkside as a kid! Some good episodes and some really lame ones, but I have fond memories of the show overall. And the intro was really cool too. "Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be... reality. BUT... there is, unseen by most, an underworld. A place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit." I remember one episode where a group of people were on a train and as it headed towards a tunnel they all started chanting, "Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel" in a low churchy chorus. I remember nothing about the story, but that chant creeped me out and to this day every time I go through a tunnel I hear that in my head. | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
But back on topic: I HAVE to see this film! It sounds beautiful and powerful. I'm definitely letting the right one in. The more blood, the better. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.5.78 |
Niki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnE3-0X-174 "Maaaan" [very very brief pause} "eLiiiiives"... etc. Love it, one of my favorite TV show intros ever. And seared in my memory forever. That and... gosh, maybe it's too nerdy for you Niki... but does this ring any bells for you?... A relic from the 80's that has also been seared in my memory forever (and since I'm on tangents tonight): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-XEINagmaU&feature=related | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
OMG, Sinistar!!! Definitely nerdy, Craig, but it rings bells. Reminds me of "The Bishop of Battle" from Nightmares, with Emilio Estevez getting trapped in a cheesy video game. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.234.12 |
"The Bishop of Battle," definitely a memorable 80's film video game... which were all sinister (TRON, WARGAMES).... Hey, why don't Hollywood remake an anthology movie? Either take one, and redo all the stories; or take the best stories from a series of anthology movies, and make a grand anthology horror movie. It's time! Well, the supposedly-excellent TRICK 'R TREAT is still unavailable for release, maybe they're too leery about these kinds of things.... ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862856/ ) | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
I admit I've skimmed this thread so could someone please confirm that Zed has not seen this film? I'm stunned, as it's right up his alley. The AV Club did a "book vs film" article on it this week and it was the main reason I rented the thing tonight. Beautiful. By way of amusing comparison, I had to watch "Twilight" last night. I don't think I need tell you which vampire film I prefer. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
I’ve finished reading LET THE RIGHT ONE IN now. It’s worth a look at. The favourable comparisons to Stephen King are understandable, if misplaced, though. It’s an interesting book, a vampire novel, but also unapologetically a Horror Novel as well, not a “supernatural romance”. Quite a rarity these days: and for it to be published in an edition squarely aimed at a mainstream mass audience. (At least in this country, the UK.) Perhaps because it was set in 1981 (for no discernable reason I can work out, admittedly), it seemed infused with the same excitement horror novels of those days seemed to have (at least for me). There are nods to the popularity of James Herbert and Stephen King. But I think it’s most comparable with the early books of Mark Morris, TOADY and STITCH. The translation judders a bit here and there, and as ever with foreign books, you can’t help wondering if it’s the original author or the translator who’s dropping in the odd cliché and stock phrase. But there’s some genuine mainstream horror in the book. Some eerie scenes and tension, just the correct side of going over the top in places. I wasn’t keen on the hoary old genital mutilation scenario (I think Nicholas Royle referred to it as Horror’s traditional knob gag when reviewing James Herbert’s SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL), but it’s a memorable book for plenty of other reasons, mostly to the good. Took me back to when horror was regularly on the bestseller list. Neat. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Should be 'getting hold of a copy' of this film in a couple of days - really looking forward to seeing it after the positive stuff on here. Feels like the vampire film has been done to death, and I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of such things, but anything that gives the idea a bit of a workover is worth looking at, hopefully. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
I'm tempted to order the US disc, but the "dumbing down" of the subtitles is a real issue for me. | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 94.194.134.45 |
<The translation judders a bit here and there... I felt the same way about Lindqvist's latest, Handling the Undead, but it's forgivable because I found the story itself utterly absorbing. It would be a mistake to call it just a zombie novel, in the same way it wold be a mistake to call Let the Right One In just another novel about vampires. Well worth a punt, IMO. Speaking of Let the Right One In, does anybody know when the UK/Region 2 DVD will be released? Like Zed I've been tempted by the Region 1 disk, but I'll give it a miss if there are issues with the subtitles. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
...the "dumbing down" of the subtitles... What's the story behind that? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.197.136 |
Hey, I'm used to dumb subtitles. Half the ones I see in Chinese and Korean films are pretty awful. It doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the films to the extent that I'd stop buying DVDs because of it. Speaking of new DVD releases, one of my favourites - John Huston's adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood - has just come out on region 2 (it's due in May from Criterion on region 1). I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it or who enjoyed the book. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.197.136 |
Having said what I did above about not necessarily being put off buying DVDs with dodgy subtitles, I'd certainly wait for another edition with superior subtitles if I knew one was going to be released. Often with Asian films, there literally isn't a choice, and you're lucky to get subs at all! I've lost count of the number of times I've gnashed my teeth at Chinese subtitles that go with English-language films. Speaking of dodgy translations, I was reading the Chinese language edition of King's On Writing a while ago, and one part had me in stitches: where King wrote 'present company included,' the translator had rendered it as 'including gift companies'... Has anyone seen Wise Blood? I'm sure some of you must have...  | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Huw - I bloody love WISE BLOOD! Very much looking forward to the Criterion release, and have been for ages. Never read the book, despite loving the film, but perhaps this'll be the year I'll change that. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.197.136 |
Mick, I had a feeling you might have seen it! Steve Duffy told me (over on the All Hallows board) that the UK edition is a good transfer and has an hour-plus of interviews with Brad Dourif, so that might be worth looking at too. I want to go back and re-read the book, too - it's been at least twenty years since I read it, along with her short stories (some of which are very dark). | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>I felt the same way about Lindqvist's latest, Handling the Undead, but it's forgivable because I found the story itself utterly absorbing. I'm finding Swedish translations have a lot of clunky stuff in. Someone told me part of the problem is that Swedish has so many fewer words than English. But I'll look into reading his non-zombie zombie book! | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
The subtitle story... http://iconsoffright.com/news/2009/03/let_the_wrong_subtitles_in_to.html That said, I've seen the version with the "dumbed down" subtitles and it really isn't that much of an issue. The visuals are still great, and the story is all there ... it's just missing a little bit of extra nuance. Considering the amount of time it will probably take for the "theatrical" version to make it into the channel (they aren't pulling the old stock, so it'll be some time) I don't think it's a big enough deal to warrant skipping the film. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Cheers for that link, Simon - certainly seems as if they've tried to dumb things down a bit... | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.96.131 |
And talking of dumbing things down I've really got to see the film Idiocracy if only for the anti-corporate message that it apparently sends out. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.13.129 |
IDIOCRACY is a must-see movie, Ally: not only is it just plain hilarious, but I have a feeling it will prove to be highly prophetic. I can't tell you how many times I flash to that movie, when I hear things on the news or read things about what stupid f*cking thing is going on now somewhere.... Oddly, the film was the follow-up to Mike Judge's Office Space, which by that time had become a huge cult fave; but it was delayed, and then released without fanfare to a handful of theatres over the (U.S.) Labor Day holiday, then quietly diverted to dvd. Why it was so ill-treated, is a mystery to me... one almost would suspect a conspiracy: the "powers that be" don't want people... aware.... | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.63.24 |
Thanks Craig! I'll get on to it ASAP. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Is Wise blood the John Huston film with Brad Dourif as an anti-preacher and a guy in a gorilla suit? Brilliant film if it is. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
That is a good film. Haven't seen it in years. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.20.31.211 |
Nor have I. 37 years. OK, OK, I haven't seen it at all. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.217 |
Is Wise blood the John Huston film with Brad Dourif as an anti-preacher and a guy in a gorilla suit? Brilliant film if it is. Yep, that's the one, Weber. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN gets its premiere in Bristol tonight (Monday) with 'lots of free goodies'. I may have to drag myself along simply to see exactly what 'goodies' could be on offer for a film like this. | ||
| Stephenw (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 145.229.156.40 |
It opens here in Belfast on Friday and been a few years since I've looked forward to a new horror movie as much. Apart from 'Haxan', 'The Phantom Carriage', 'Hour Of The Wolf' and possibly 'The Virgin Spring' I can't think of any other Swedish horror films. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
I very much admired it - must discuss it on my blog. Someone tell me sternly to revive that. Wise Blood is imminent from Criterion, is it not? | ||
| Stephenw (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 145.229.156.40 |
Revive your blog!! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.170.11 |
Wise Blood is imminent from Criterion, is it not? It is indeed - very much looking forward to the release, too. | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
Just so you all know - that searing blast of light (if your eyes have recovered enough to read, that is) was my radiant smile as I got the email confirming that I'm seeing this film on Friday, in the cinema, and (best of all) NOT BY MYSELF! If I sound overexcited it's simply because I can't remember the last time I got to see a proper horror film in the cinema - with a date! My best guess is mid-90s. So I'm WAY overdue. Oh and: CAMPBELL! Blog! Now! Schnell-schnell-schnell! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.68 |
... with a date! My best guess is mid-90s.... Go easy on him, Niki - I'm sure his heart isn't in the same shape it used to be.... | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
No, the film has a date: 2009. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.8.175.44 |
I writed a joke in my panto of Ali Baba where one of the characters (Karim) couldn't get a date with the woman of his dreams and in walked the Sultan and his wife. Karim then turned to the audience and delivered the immortal line "Typical, I can't get a date, and in walks a sultana" | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
And the audience laughed for no raisin. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.8.175.44 |
 | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.192 |
What's a sultana? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
A Sultana is a sultan's wife. A sultana is a small dried fruit similar to a raisin. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.246.79 |
Oh - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!... nah, not really.  | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I'm reading the book of this now. I have to say that so far it's an excellent read. There's an odd clunky phrase here and there but you expect that in translated novels. If the film is a fraction as good it'll be grand. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Got the book in a 3 for 2 at waterstones with Thieving fear and Charlie Huston's latest Joe Pitt novel. Things are looking up in fiction when Ramsey's books are getting the kind of push that a 3 for 2 indicates. | ||
| Michael_kelly (Michael_kelly) Username: Michael_kelly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 70.31.37.84 |
Weber, I jut started this book, as well, and I'm loving it. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.58.147 |
Someone is sending me a copy of the book and I'm looking forward to it. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
"(Ask GCW to exlain that one to you, mate.)"  I saw 'Let The Right One In' today, a very good little film, a love story, a horror story and occasionally a gruesomely funny film. I loved it. Not the greatest film ever, but very good. gcw | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
"I must be gone and live or stay and die." I confess I left the cinema in floods of tears. I can't remember the last time I was so moved by a film. And this one was powerful. Achingly beautiful. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Read the book over the past weekend and loved it. Beautiful, dark and disturbing. Really looking forward to seeing this film. Niki- there there. >>>offers cyber-hug<<< | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.211.103.83 |
I heard there's a US remake in the pipeline. God help us all... | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Puts gun to temple and fires. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
The remake director's temple, that is. If the remake is directed by Michael fucking Bay, the gun may have to be replaced with an anti-tank weapon or middle-range field artillery. Suggestions on a post card. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Nuke him from Space... it's the only way to be sure | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Nuke him from orbit even. I wish there was an edit button | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
Well here's what I thought: In a month where I have seen both Lesbian Vampire Killers and Let the Right One In it seems the term ‘vampire movie’ has never been less descriptive. Whilst the former was a bit of knockabout fun for those in the mood for such, ‘Let the Right One In’ is a different creature altogether. Evoking so many emotions any review I write could easily degenerate into a list, what I will say is that it evoked fond memories of catching late night art movies on Channel Four when I was a boy and realising that there was a whole other world of cinema out there, a world that sometimes felt so painfully close to what I considered to be the ‘real world’ that it was more disturbing and more exhilarating than anything produced by the Hollywood mainstream. Let the Right One In is just like that, and is quite possibly the closest thing I have ever seen to what I would call a Real Vampire Film. Slow and deliberate, filmed in a bleak world of washed out colour and yet more atmospheric than any number of affected gothics, this is horror cinema for people who like their blood used to embellish emotion rather than to provide a cheap shock. Let the Right One In is not cool, it is not trendy, and it probably won’t make very much money. It is however one of the best horror films in years and is the sort of things that makes you proud to be a fan of this genre of ours. I would echo the comments referred to on Roger Ebert’s site claiming this to be a date movie, because it is. In fact it’s a horror film for anyone who has ever been lonely, who has ever loved, and who has ever been loved. And if you’re lucky you’ll get to see it with someone you love and who loves you just as much. And in the end there is nothing more ‘right’ than that. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.246.152 |
I wish I shared the passion of the others here, for the film.... I still think it's ponderously slow and tedious, and a shade too much "film-school-esque." But still a must-see? Especially for fans of horror, of vampires, etc.? Oh yes. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
But we all know that you know shit-all about films, you Michael bay shagging bitch | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.236.210 |
Trust me - if I were shagging Michael Bay, I'd be a LOT farther ahead by now.... Er - in Hollywood. I mean. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.231.91 |
Wish I could go and see this. It's not in the cinemas over here. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
I enjoyed it, and ditto Lord P's comments. I did not see it as primarliy either a vampire fim or even particularly a horror film. A coming of age love story (and a very touching one at that). Some great black humour here & there too. I was amazed to find it on at the local Odeon too. gcw | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Watched this over the weekend and enjoyed it very much. Nicely performed, and with a nice thread of ambiguity running through it. Having gone through a period of throwing anything with the word 'vampire' on it at the nearest wall, it was nice to see that there's still someone capable of dealing with the myth without resorting to gothic stereotypes or aping Buffy the fucking Vampire Slayer. The US remake will likely go one of two ways - either it'll pull in a lot of the backstory from the novel and turn into a gore-fest, or it'll turn into a teenybopper Twilight (which is teenybopper enough already). | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
I'm curious about this film, mostly because the moody pacing of the trailer, but I'm an avowed vampire-hater. In my view, the subject has been done to death, in fact died decades ago, and yet the films and books keep on rolling. I can't imagine there's any longer anything to say on the subject. However, I love being wrong. Should I bother with a rental? | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Chris, I generally hate vampire films too (with a few exceptions), but this is a good one. I wouldn't say it has anything new to say, but it does what it does very well. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.194.44 |
Saw it tonight. Lovely film. Quiet and low-key and rich in subtext (puberty, alienation, the shift from childhood to a fairly bleak adult world of divorce and alcoholic losers). The girl is breathtakingly good as a kind of alter ego to the boy, so much less Nordic and so much less afraid. The film is let down only by those touches of generic gore that seem dropped in to give the viewers their horror movie template-fix. It should have been more cerebral, more subtle – though CERTAIN PEOPLE would then probably have liked it even less. It's 90% a great film, and way ahead of the pack. Great to see a supernatural horror film that actually feels like a FILM, rather than a generic product in which the moments of originality are floating like driftwood in a sea of the predictable. | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
My favourite moment was perhaps the most absurd moment. I think we all know which moment I mean. The sheer lunacy of that scene was breathtaking, and though it worked for me I suspect there are those for whom it didn't, wouldn't, couldn't. | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
Both of Ginia's "big scenes" would have been routine in any formulaic Vampire Movie, but here they were a nice surprise. I certainly never saw the cat scene coming. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Should I finish the book before I see the film or see the film while I'm still half way through? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.188.23 |
The subtitles really aren't a big deal, if anyone is still holding back on buying the DVD for that reason. I was just looking at the link Simon provided (in his post some way up in this thread), and the guy making the comparisons on that website has - intentionally or otherwise, I don't know - omitted parts of the subtitles that were on the DVD, making them seem simpler (or 'dumber', if you prefer) than they actually are. Maybe he was in too much of a rush to make his point, but the first example he gives, for a start, is way off. I do think the alternative ones are better, though, and I hope they will be available in future. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.20.22 |
Finally got to see 'Let The Right One In' tonight and was impressed up to a point by the allegorical subtexts (the vampire as other both in terms of sex and nationality), the sly wit and restrained pacing but also, I have to admit, a bit disappointed by the moments of in-your-face horror that would have served the story much better if only hinted at leaving room for ambiguity in the mind of the viewer. It's a great horror movie and the best I've seen in a few years (after a tremendous start to this decade) but isn't quite the "masterpiece" I had hoped for. Maybe the whole vampire theme has become so tired and familiar that there is literally nothing more can be done to reinvigorate it? Just a thought I'm throwing out there... | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.254.138 |
With you all the way, Stephen, but the snow and the drunken adults pushed me that little way further towards the verdict. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
This will really have to go some to beat MARTIN (the best vampire film ever made; a modern urban masterepiec) and CRONOS (the second best vampire film ever made; a film filled with genuine heart and pathos). I can't wait to see it, though. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.115.127 |
Even though it's much more traditional than either of those, I still really like Kathryn Bigelow's NEAR DARK, which was eclipsed by the far inferior LOST BOYS at the time of its release. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.195.64 |
Oh yes. That bit of dialogue about the American Civil War is wonderful. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
'How old are you, Jesse?' 'Well, let me put it this way... I fought for the South.' 'The South?' 'Uh-huh... We lost.' | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 145.229.156.40 |
This will really have to go some to beat MARTIN (the best vampire film ever made; a modern urban masterepiec) and CRONOS (the second best vampire film ever made; a film filled with genuine heart and pathos). You've hit the nail on the head there! 'Let The Right One In' is very, very good but nowhere near the originality of either of those films which really did redefine the vampire theme. You've got me thinking of other GREAT vampire movies now that avoided the standard cliches... 'Incense For The Damned' (1970) springs to mind but it's hardly a great movie despite the incredible cast. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
"Near Dark" is great. Love it. The best traditional vampire film IMHO is Dreyer's "Vampyr". | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.33.203 |
Don't forget Nosferatu! (Both versions are excellent.) | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.24 |
Incense for the Damned is on my list of films that would I would remake in my other life as a film director | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I'm going to see LTROI tonight. Hope it's as good as you peeps say. finished the book yesterday and started on New York trilogy. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.115.127 |
...and started on New York trilogy That's a great book, Weber | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 145.229.156.40 |
What about 'The Blood Beast Terror' in which the beautiful female vampire turns into a giant blood-sucking moth instead of a bat! Not what I'd call traditional. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.143 |
What about 'The Blood Beast Terror' in which the beautiful female vampire turns into a giant blood-sucking moth instead of a bat! Not what I'd call traditional. No, but it IS awful. Even Peter Cushing as Inspector Quennell, Robert Flemyng as the villain and a Paul Ferris score can't compete with Roy Hudd, that bloke off Hi-De-Hi and one of the worst monsters of 1960s British Horror Cinema. Oh God WHY do I now want to watch this again???? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.177.50 |
Haha! The Blood Beast Terror is one of the films that stands out most in my memories of surreptitious childhood horror film viewing. I watched it again a couple of years ago after all those years and, sadly, it didn't quite stand up... | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.143 |
Huw I think it quite spectacularly falls over! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.20.22 |
I have a theory that if they edited out the few fleeting scenes when the bug-eyed monster is shown in all its "glory" this would actually be quite an atmospheric little horror movie. Another unorthodox vampire movie: 'The Addiction' (1995) by Abel Ferrara - not entirely successful but certainly worthwhile. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.230 |
I've got the Del Toro boxset, but I've yet to watch Cronos. I shall dig it out very soon. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I saw the film last night and while it's certainly a good film, it's not the film that's going to breathe new life into the genre. The book is certainly better - there are whole characters missing and subplots in the film. The most disturbing scene and line in the book is gone "After a while he began to enjoy it". I recognise that this is because of the different languages of storytelling between film and book and time constraints and it always happens in the transfer but I did hope that that scene would make it The book is excellent but I don't think it does anything new with the vampire story. The most original vampire novels I know are TM Wright's Last Vampire and SP Somtow's Vampire Junction. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.245.180 |
My God, are we in agreement AGAIN Weber?!?! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
You're just saying that to try to annoy me... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
And no we're not in agreement. I just read your comments above. I didn't find the pacing of the film to be a problem at all. i just wish they'd kept the undead Hakan bits. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.245.180 |
We do agree - I saw the film last night and while it's certainly a good film, it's not the film that's going to breathe new life into the genre - I agree with you - so we agree - right? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
On that one point, possibly. But that's you agreeing with me, not me agreeing with you. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.245.180 |
Doh! | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
I don't see why any work of art needs to "breathe new life" into its genre. The life should be in the work itself, and it certainly is in this film. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.71.196.36 |
Have you read the LET THE RIGHT ONE IN novel, Ramsey? Any thoughts on it if so? | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
I haven't, Mark. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.20.22 |
Did I imagine this or was the novel supposed to be based on an old Scandinavian folk tale? I thought the film was brilliantly done but could have been even better, and creepier, if even more restraint had been shown in a few of the big horror scenes. The moments of CGI (2 scenes in particular) stuck out like a sore thumb for me because the rest of the film was so naturalistic. Maybe I'm just being picky but CGI effects are a BIG pet peeve of mine. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.115.127 |
Ah yes, those cats... | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.104.255 |
I LOVED the cat scene. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.130.210 |
Did it resonate with your own felines? | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.20.22 |
Yep the cat scene, which started well but then went into overkill, and the bursting into flames scene. Both belonged in a different film for me. Having said that they were minor flaws in what is otherwise a great little horror movie. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.243.22.157 |
I thought that the underwater scene was pretty impressive, and highly original. That's my fave scene. I also liked how the girl when really hungry was briefly replaced by a full grown woman. In general I thought it was rather good, atmospheric and interesting, with the boy clearly on the path towards becoming a Columbine-like creep even without the presence of the girl. But I also thought that the first half hour had trouble finding its rhythm. In general while I liked it, I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped after reading several comments, such as the review by the dependable Ebert. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.198.176 |
I agree the film was marred a little by certain scenes - I thought they lingered too long on the acid-scarred (hell, ruined) face of the unfortunate father/protector. All in all, though, it's one of the better horror films I've seen in the past few years, and at least it is different from the usual bland, unimaginative fare that's churned out of Hollywood. As Joel pointed out, it felt like a real film, and not just a typical exercise in mediocrity with the odd half-decent scene thrown in here and there. The director says (on the DVD, and I hope I'm remembering correctly) that he thinks the reason his little film gained so much attention worldwide is that it was made with integrity, despite budgetary constraints, and I certainly think there's something in that statement. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
The face was not as completely destroyed as it is in the book, and the flames and cat scenes are lifted directly from the book as well. He could have gone a lot further without changing the spirit of the book. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.170.1.181 |
We saw this the other night. Orange Wednesday, innit? Theatre was near deserted. Eight of us in all. And a warning, sort of, from the girl behind the ticket desk, pointing out it was Swedish with . . . subtitles! The last horror film I saw at the cinema was probably THE DARK HALF, so you'll appreciate I'm not a big fright film viewer. I've also read the book too, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, so was almost certainly never going to have an outstanding time watching this. What I saw were fragments from the book, joined together like a cracked mirror. I appreciated that the more subtle pieces were taken from it, which I approved of; but to me this only reinforced the rather stock-in-trade nature of the horror elements. The fire, the cat attack, and the facial disfigurement. Strange ingredients in a movie that had the sensibilities to have throat cutting off screen in the opening scenes and eschewed vampiric teeth sinking into necks. The relationship at the heart of the movie worked rather well, though, and didn't stray from the book's narrative. So a considered adaptation for the most part. Didn't linger with me, but a nice change from the screaming theatrics that horror movies are latterly associated with. They showed the new Sam Raimi movie trailer, by the way, and that was much more stock-in-trade stuff from the clips shown . . . | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.106 |
Indeed Mark, & I'd agree with what you've said there. But I must say I can't wait to see Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, which I hope will prove to be trashy fun. | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.163.235 |
We saw this . . . in a dubbed version, which I found distracting in its way (I always start lip-reading.) Anyway, good movie, intelligent, eerie some great moments . . . didn't knock me out though (just saw "The Innocents" the night before, BTW). Look like they left room for a sequel! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.23.139 |
Only watched it last night, John and totally fell in love with it. Eloquent as ever. 'Slow and deliberate, filmed in a bleak world of washed out colour and yet more atmospheric than any number of affected gothics, this is horror cinema for people who like their blood used to embellish emotion rather than to provide a cheap shock. Let the Right One In is not cool, it is not trendy, and it probably won’t make very much money. It is however one of the best horror films in years and is the sort of things that makes you proud to be a fan of this genre of ours.' | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Just in case anyone other than me needs to have this explained to them, the British DVD http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/9272634/Let-The-Right-One-In/Product.html only brings up the English subtitles if you turn subtitles off. Turning them on brings you English subtitles for the deaf. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I went to see 'Let Me In' last night and what a bewildering experience it was. An extremely well made, brilliantly acted and highly effective horror film. One could feel the rapt attention of the audience in a way that can only be good for horror, and the overheard comments coming out afterward were overwhelmingly impressed. BUT... all that effort amounts to nothing more than a polished advert for a more cerebral style of horror than most modern audiences are used to. The film is literally a shot-for-shot remake of the vastly superior original - transposed to America with English dialogue. Everything else is exactly the same, right down to the snowy backdrop, the layout of the sets and even the costumes the characters are wearing!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Even Michael Haneke's US remake of 'Funny Games' wasn't as slavishly identical to its original. Okay, I exaggerate a tad, there were one or two differences - the cats scene was omitted (+), but so is the original's most disturbing image (-). But every other moment in this film is a carbon copy of the same scene in 'Let The Right One In'. Why in God's name didn't Matt Reeves have the bravery to at least set it in the summertime or the desert or leafy suburbia to give his film a different look. Like the excellent US remakes of 'Funny Games' or 'The Grudge' the final result is damned to be nothing more than a redundant footnote in the history of horror cinema. Technically this is flawless filmmaking and that very fact is what makes 'Let Me In' so bloody frustrating! Also, why they bothered putting the Hammer logo on this is beyond me. It's got about as much in common with a Hammer horror movie as I have with a kangaroo!!  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I told you so, Skippy. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.121.214.10 |
Well you do bounce so wonderfully... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
If they do this kind of exact American remake with THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, now, we are going to end up with one legendarily execrable steaming pile of garbage. (Yes, the movie was that bad - no, actually, it was worse than that.) | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
I didn't think THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE was that bad, Craig, although it definitely suffered from having a very weak central mystery and the inexplicable decision to add a cut-price Bond villain to the proceedings. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
It was really wretched, sorry John. Two things off the bat that made it suck (mild SPOILERS): 1) The only thing that really made the first one work - the relationship between the two leads, the girl and the journalist - wasn't in here at all! They don't meet for the entire movie!!! 2) Wtf was that extended action sequence between MINOR CHARACTERS?!? Jesus, that's just fucking stoopid. Gawd. And by the end of the film, this Noomi Repace smoking cigarettes and looking all intense became self-parody. She was annoying and passive and the whole film stank like crap and was BORING, the worst sin of them all. I am so appalled by the film, I can't even write well about it (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Thanks, Craig. You make me glad I wasn't taken in by the hype surrounding this series. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.121.214.10 |
The first book is pretty good, I've not read the second one yet. Sounds like I need to avoid the films though... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
The first film was great, I thought - a good old-fashioned mystery lived up with some contemporary brutal violence. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
The first one was actually pretty good, as Zed says - I enjoyed it, and it did have a satisfying mystery to ground it. I defy anyone to see this second one and tell me it's good, though... and from what I've read, the third film is not as good (to critics reviewing it) as the second (!).... LET THE RIGHT ONE IN has grown in stature in my memory. I do want to see it again, and the remake, even if it is shot-for-shot. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'd recommend 'Let Me In' to anyone, especially non-horror fans, as it may inspire them to investigate the subtleties of the genre a bit further. It is exceptionally well made and completely unnecessary for anyone who loved 'Let The Right One In'... a film that has continued to grow in stature in my memory too, Craig. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Yes, I enjoyed the first GIRL WHO... film a great deal. Don't get me wrong, though, Craig. I'm certainly not suggesting that the sequel is a good film. Just not entirely incompetent. That said, I can't muster up much enthusiasm to defend it. Meanwhile, back on topic, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN remains one of my favourite films of probably the last decade. The only word I can think of to describe the remake is 'pointless', so I expect I'll give it a miss. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.8.23.127 |
"I went to see 'Let Me In' last night and what a bewildering experience it was. An extremely well made, brilliantly acted and highly effective horror film. One could feel the rapt attention of the audience in a way that can only be good for horror, and the overheard comments coming out afterward were overwhelmingly impressed. BUT... all that effort amounts to nothing more than a polished advert for a more cerebral style of horror than most modern audiences are used to. The film is literally a shot-for-shot remake of the vastly superior original - transposed to America with English dialogue. Everything else is exactly the same, right down to the snowy backdrop, the layout of the sets and even the costumes the characters are wearing!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Even Michael Haneke's US remake of 'Funny Games' wasn't as slavishly identical to its original. Okay, I exaggerate a tad, there were one or two differences - the cats scene was omitted (+), but so is the original's most disturbing image (-). But every other moment in this film is a carbon copy of the same scene in 'Let The Right One In'. Why in God's name didn't Matt Reeves have the bravery to at least set it in the summertime or the desert or leafy suburbia to give his film a different look. Like the excellent US remakes of 'Funny Games' or 'The Grudge' the final result is damned to be nothing more than a redundant footnote in the history of horror cinema. Technically this is flawless filmmaking and that very fact is what makes 'Let Me In' so bloody frustrating!" I admit this put us off the remake so much that we didn't bother until now, when a copy turned up in our local used DVD shop. Both of us liked it quite a lot and thought it was nothing like a shot for shot remake - surely it emphasises different elements from the novel. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Sorry if I put you off the movie, Ramsey, but that's exactly how it struck me. An extremely well down English language remake that really added nothing new to the superior original, aside from what struck me as a few minor tweaks here and there. I've just got so fed up with the whole remake ethos that even a well done example, like this one, ultimately frustrates more than it impresses. I can't help wondering will I think the same if I ever get to see the Uruguayan original of 'Silent House' - excellent as the US remake was. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Haven't read the book, Ramsey. I'd be interested to hear your take on both films. Any word on what Tomas Alfredson plans to do next? The man's last two films have me somewhat eager to know. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
Both film versions miss out the most disturbing segment from the book - the eventual fate of Hakan. I really enjoyed both versions. No one criticises Kaufman's Body Snatchers for being a remake of Siegel's. It's just another film version of the book. Look at Let Me In in the same way and there really is no issue with it. (The car crash from inside the car was one of the most spectacular things I saw in the cinema 2 years ago BTW - and that scene was new to Let Me In as LTROI was completely faithful to the book on the arrest of Hakan) | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.156.210.82 |
I watched Let me In a few weeks ago. It's certainly not a shot-by-shot remake, but it is a pointless one. Very well made, superbly acted by a great cast, and with not much wrong with it...but coming so soon afer the original, it offers nothing new. I'd have prefered to see the money and talent involved used on something original. The Body Snatchers remakes had decades between them, and each one (apart from the crap 4th version) were products of their times, addressing socio-political themes of their times. There's no comparison, really. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That was my gripe with the remake as well. Too soon and too slavishly similar in look and tone to the superior original with too many scenes, and even costumes, as close to identical as makes no difference. Yes, there were some differences but they were no more than minor tweaks, imo, some a slight improvement and some not. It was a lazy and unimaginative waste of undoubted talent which has to be a crying shame in anyone's book. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I've always thought more of Kaufman's 'Body Snatchers' remake as a kind of sequel and loved how Kevin McCarthy's cameo played into this. As stated elsewhere, the novel and first two adaptations are each perfect representations (in their own increasingly pessimistic ways) of the most original and frightening new horror scenario that came out of the 20th Century. I'm currently finding John Christopher's nightmarishly claustrophobic narrowing in of the same theme to be right up there with them and wonder why no one has had the sense to film it! | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
I would argue that Let Me In does offer the story in English without having to worry if someone has been dumbing down the subtitles. It's a very good film, well made, directed, acted. Certainly not a waste of anyone's talent. Like it or not, the original being in foreign with subtitles is enough to put many people off. This way the story is made available to these people who wouldn't otherwise have seen it and - as has been commented by everyone who's seen both - with the same tone and quality as the first film. This is a rare example of an English language remake that matches the original version in quality. I think it should be celebrated as a sign that Hollywood can do it, rather than being castigated as in some way pointless. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.18.174.156 |
I take your point, Weber, and you're right about the remake making the story available to a larger section of the general public who sadly lack the attention span to be able to deal with subtitles. In the old days they dubbed the original into English and I for one would prefer they still did - allowing English language writers and directors to develop their own original projects, as was once the norm with genre cinema. Cash-in remakes are now the norm in the Hollywood system and that can only be a bad thing. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
I watched Let Me In last night on the projector and after a few minutes thought 'this is one of the best horror films I've ever seen!' but then...it sort of got stuck in a groove. The original film did, too. It feels if it were a car going somewhere it had got lost on a few roundabouts, or was pausing too long to admire - and discuss - the scenery. I wanted it to move faster than my mind was. In retrospect this was also true of the original. There are beautiful touches and a lovely look to it but there's not a lot of ...drama. The 'arc' was - a depressed kid ends up pursuing a depressing life. It was a straight line from a to b. I found it a beautiful but ultimately unenlightening journey. *Too* restrained - that going for both films. Being Human managed to lodge in the mind much, much more and it had jokes. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
Sad to see so many names gone from the board that were once buzzing in this thread, and not so long ago. As an aside, we watched Troll Hunter before it - ASTONISHING images (giants - wow! Somebody please make another giant movie, fast!), but a bit thumb-twiddly, and ultimately a little too daft to accept. And the stuck-on bleak ending did it no favours. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.8.21.34 |
I was just recently questioning why "slowness" (in any case a subjective quality) in films or books should be seen as a failing. If we accept that some music needs to be slow to achieve what it does, then surely this should be extended to other arts. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
I think in music it can underline things, heighten them, but in some films it can be felt to distract, draw away from significance. It was not so much about pace I was taking issue with as a sense - to me - of losing purpose. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
Also, with music I feel more prepared to patient for a quarter of an hour or so, but an hour and forty minutes and the mind naturally seeks for refreshment. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
There's a similar issue with fiction – being 'slow' can be the kiss of death commercially, but there's no other way to tell certain kinds of story with the right cumulative power and build-up of atmosphere. As a reader and as a writer I'm torn between the slow cumulative approach of classic supernatural fiction and the terse, hard-hitting approach of classic noir fiction. But I loved the film Let the Right One In (haven't seen the remake) and felt it was full of meaningful detail and character insight, both supernatural and mundane. I'm not keen on plot – theme and emotion are the great issues for me, and whether they are best developed by gradual suggestion or terse statement depends very much on the writer or film-maker. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.8.21.34 |
I really feel that any piece of fiction or music should take as long as it needs to take, at whatever pace it needs. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.61.103 |
I think a novel should contain both 'fast' and 'slow' bits. The Name of the Rose is exemplary in this respect. There are lengthy reflections on heresy and at least one protracted meditation on a dream one character has had, as well as not a few rude awakenings when yet another monk is found dead, or when this or that Papal delegation arrives at the abbey. The concept of introducing inherently 'boring' philospohical disquisitions on medieval history by means of a clever detective story is a stroke of genius. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Moby Dick's another great example of the "fast" and "slow"; which I guess served Melville to replicate a tediously long voyage at sea. It's only when you're a writer and someone asks you, "So what did you do all day?" and you answer, "Plotting," that it's not quite so unsettling.... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.125.226 |
It's surely a question of richness or intensity, isn't it? Something only feels slow if we're not being nourished by it. So editors find that adding character scenes to a film often makes us perceive it as moving quicker and the film as being shorter. (The G on my keyboard is stickin and sometimes doesn't register. See previous sentence for example.) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
Yes - I've mentioned this before, too. That slowness isn't the issue but what happens *within* that slowness. Walking or looking sad against nice settings is not meaningful or interesting, or of any use. I noticed repetition in Let Me/The Right One In and felt it could have been reshaped or edited. Nothing major. The film we discussed before was Valhalla Rising, in which I felt nothing happened. People seemed to commend the slowness as a virtue, and seemed to think I wasn't appreciating it. Mallick can do slow, a film like Stalker can be slow - but within it things are going on and it doesn't *feel* slow at all. Slowness for me comes from lack of purpose or intent. God I'm being preachy today... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
Proto - I've also lost the number five on my phone, and the letters JKL. You really can get away without any of them if you use the capital I as an l. Sort of. And I never realised how unnecessary the letter K was - unless discussing some very good authors, all of whom seem to have the letter in their names. |