Let The Right One In/Let Me In
2008/2010
Financial determinants
Let The Right One was funded by the Swedish production company EFTI, in addition to this the film received supported funding from the Swedish Film Institute and Nordisk Film- & TV Fond and WAG. Which meant in total the budget was around 29 million SEK ($4,000,000 - estimated). Another Swedish horror film which was released in 2006 had a budget of 21 million SEK similar to Let The Right One In.
Whereas Let Me In had a budget of $20,000,000 (estimated). Another horror film released in 2010 was Insidious which had a budget of $1,500,000 (estimated) as well as this was The Crazies which had a budget of $20,000,000 (estimated) the same as Let Me In.
Whereas Let Me In had a budget of $20,000,000 (estimated). Another horror film released in 2010 was Insidious which had a budget of $1,500,000 (estimated) as well as this was The Crazies which had a budget of $20,000,000 (estimated) the same as Let Me In.
Technologies of Production
In Let The Right One there was an absence of overhead ceilings which made overhead lighting techniques near impossible. The crew also paid special attention to how the film was light, both the director and cinematographer invented a technique called 'Spray light' which the cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema described as "If you could capture dull electrical light in a can and spray it like hairspray across Eli’s apartment, it would have the same result as what we created".
The film also contains approximately 50 shots which contain CGI. The sequence in the film where the character Virginia is attacked by multiple cats contained real, stuffed and computer generated cats. The sequence required several weeks or drifting and planning before it was shot. Alongside this the film is known for using analogue sound-effects exclusively throughout. They recorded the actors heartbeats, breathing and swallowing in order to make it sound as realistic as possible. For the sound effect used when Eli bites her victims contained sound effects mixed of someone eating a sausage/melon combined with various animal noises. In Let Me In contained some scenes which used special effects or visual effects. The director, Matt Reeves said he wanted the car crash sequence to look as if it was filmed uncut in person. The use of visual effects was used to create the appropriate amount of blood flow down actress Chloë Grace Mortez face. Mortez had prosthetic fake blood applied during film, then in post production the fake blood provided guidance as to where the special effect blood would be placed. The make-up team couldn't make the fake blood run down Mortez face slow enough during her dialogue, therefore they decided that they would have to add visual effects. |
Distribution and Exhibition
Let The Right One in was distributed in Sweden, Norway and as a limited release in the USA on 24th October 2008. It was then distributed in Australia on 19th March 2009 and then it was released in the UK on 10th April 2009. Let The Right One In was first shown at Gothenburg Film Festival in Sweden on 26 January 2008 as well as being shown at multiple other film festivals. The Swedish premiere was originally planned for 18 April 2008, but following the positive response from the festival screenings, the producers decided to postpone the release until autumn, to allow for a longer theatrical run.
Let Me In was distributed across the USA on 1st February 2011, it was distributed to Sweden and other european countries on 14th March 2011. It was released across cinemas in the USA on October 1st 2010 and across Europe on October 6th 2010. It had a 10 week theatrical run and grossed $24 billion worldwide, the film was numbered 5 among the top 10 lowest-grossing films of 2010.
Let Me In was distributed across the USA on 1st February 2011, it was distributed to Sweden and other european countries on 14th March 2011. It was released across cinemas in the USA on October 1st 2010 and across Europe on October 6th 2010. It had a 10 week theatrical run and grossed $24 billion worldwide, the film was numbered 5 among the top 10 lowest-grossing films of 2010.
Trends - Genres, Stars, Social and Political
Genres:
Let The Right One In is a Drama, Horror and Romance. Let Me In is a Drama, Horror and Mystery. The main theme of Horror and Drama runs within both films, the aspect of drama is portrayed through the friendship and bond between Eli and Oskar or Owen and Abby. As well as this the aspect of drama can be portrayed through Oskar/Owen being bullied and how he deals with the bullies. Then the main aspect which is horror is portrayed through Eli/Abby and her violent killings and her vampire tendencies. Stars: Let The Right One In has actors which both made their acting careers through this film. The film features actors who are not known by many outside of Sweden and even within Swedish Cinema aren't big stars. Let Me In features Chloë Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-Mcphee both actors who had already stared in feature films, Mcphee starred in The Road alongside Viggo Mortensen. Moretz starred in Kick-Ass alongside many famous actors such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Evan Peters. |
Social:
In both films bullying is a key theme which runs throughout. Oskar/Owen is bullied at various times in the film, he is bullied by a small group of boys during the film. Once he meets Eli/Abby he gets the confidence to defend himself which results in him injuring one of the boys, these boys then trap Oskar/Owen in a swimming pool and attempt to drown him. This can has negative influences on younger audiences as they may feel its the way they should act around bullies or anyone who they feel lesser than.
Gender is also discussed frequently among critics and viewers. In Let The Right One In, Eli's gender is written as ambiguous. There are two scenes which can portray this, one scene is where she changes into a dress a suggested scar can be seen though there is no explanation, however in the book Eli is written to have an androgynous body and had been castrated. Another scene is when Oskar asks Eli to be his girlfriend to which she replies "I'm not a girl".
In both films bullying is a key theme which runs throughout. Oskar/Owen is bullied at various times in the film, he is bullied by a small group of boys during the film. Once he meets Eli/Abby he gets the confidence to defend himself which results in him injuring one of the boys, these boys then trap Oskar/Owen in a swimming pool and attempt to drown him. This can has negative influences on younger audiences as they may feel its the way they should act around bullies or anyone who they feel lesser than.
Gender is also discussed frequently among critics and viewers. In Let The Right One In, Eli's gender is written as ambiguous. There are two scenes which can portray this, one scene is where she changes into a dress a suggested scar can be seen though there is no explanation, however in the book Eli is written to have an androgynous body and had been castrated. Another scene is when Oskar asks Eli to be his girlfriend to which she replies "I'm not a girl".
Regulatory Issues
Both films are rated R in America due to their contents of strong bloody horror violence, language and a brief sexual situation.
In Sweden and the UK both films are rated 15.
In Sweden and the UK both films are rated 15.
Synergy
Let The Right One In was originally a Swedish novel which was written in 2004. The book focuses on dark topics such as existential anxiety, social isolation, fatherlessness, divorce, alcoholism, school bullying, pedophilia, genital mutilation, self-mutilation and murder. The novel was a huge success in Sweden which got it noticed by Tomas Alfredson who was inspired by the novel and turned it into a movie. Alfredson spoke about portraying the subject of pedophilia in the film, however he felt he could not deal with such a serious theme and had it toned down and just hinted at. Alfredson said that he wanted the film to primarily focus on the friendship and love between Oskar and Eli.
In 2017 Let The Right One In is being adapted into an American TV show, on Imdb the plot has been written as 'A bullied young boy befriends with a peculiar young girl who just moved in to his small hometown with her mysterious caretaker. Meanwhile, a series of strange murders occur which draws the attention of law enforcement.' The TV Show will follow the basics of the original story, however the age of Oskar/Owen will be changed so that he is 16. I believe this has been done so the show can appeal to a teenage audience, through changing his age so that he is of legal consent in America. The tv show can portray the romance between Owen and Abby as more than love between children, but as young adults and therefore making it more sexual. The writer and director of the TV adaptation scripted and directed Teen Wolf a show that was massively popular among teenage audiences as it contained romance and horror two genres which are most popular among teenage audiences.
Let The Right One In made $11.2 million (estimated) at the box office, almost triple of its original budget. It was a massive success as a Swedish film and is known globally. Whereas the remake Let Me In made $24.1 million (estimated) at the box office, which was only $4.1 million more than it's budget.
Let The Right One In was reviewed positively by most Swedish critics. Svenska Dagbladet gave the film a rating of 5 out of 6 and hailed Alfredson for his ability to "tell [stories] through pictures instead of words about a society where hearts are turned to icicles and everyone is left on their own, but also about love warm and red like blood on white melting snow". The film got more and more recognition, it was recognised by many American critics and the American public, as of 2014 the film had a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with over 175 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10.
However Let Me In did not get the praise which the original achieved. On Rotten Tomatoes it was given a score of 88% based on 220 critic reviews, with an average score of 7.6 out of 10. One review from Rotten Tomatoes says "Let Me In is the rare Hollywood remake that doesn't add insult to inspiration."
In 2017 Let The Right One In is being adapted into an American TV show, on Imdb the plot has been written as 'A bullied young boy befriends with a peculiar young girl who just moved in to his small hometown with her mysterious caretaker. Meanwhile, a series of strange murders occur which draws the attention of law enforcement.' The TV Show will follow the basics of the original story, however the age of Oskar/Owen will be changed so that he is 16. I believe this has been done so the show can appeal to a teenage audience, through changing his age so that he is of legal consent in America. The tv show can portray the romance between Owen and Abby as more than love between children, but as young adults and therefore making it more sexual. The writer and director of the TV adaptation scripted and directed Teen Wolf a show that was massively popular among teenage audiences as it contained romance and horror two genres which are most popular among teenage audiences.
Let The Right One In made $11.2 million (estimated) at the box office, almost triple of its original budget. It was a massive success as a Swedish film and is known globally. Whereas the remake Let Me In made $24.1 million (estimated) at the box office, which was only $4.1 million more than it's budget.
Let The Right One In was reviewed positively by most Swedish critics. Svenska Dagbladet gave the film a rating of 5 out of 6 and hailed Alfredson for his ability to "tell [stories] through pictures instead of words about a society where hearts are turned to icicles and everyone is left on their own, but also about love warm and red like blood on white melting snow". The film got more and more recognition, it was recognised by many American critics and the American public, as of 2014 the film had a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with over 175 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10.
However Let Me In did not get the praise which the original achieved. On Rotten Tomatoes it was given a score of 88% based on 220 critic reviews, with an average score of 7.6 out of 10. One review from Rotten Tomatoes says "Let Me In is the rare Hollywood remake that doesn't add insult to inspiration."
Conclusion
In conclusion, Let The Right One in was an incredibly successful film. Though it is a Swedish film it was still able to make a huge impact on audiences globally, something that not many foreign films are able to achieve. Let The Right One In continues to be a highly recognised film, it was ranked #15 in Empire's Magazine 2010 'top 100 films of world cinema' as well as this, it was rated 28 out of 100 in the Time Out poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics that all worked within the horror genre. Although Let Me In sticks very closely to the original plot there are a view subtle changes in the remake, such as name changes to the protagonists and the main location of the film. The remake was not as successful as the original, though it was able to reach a wider audience which provided further success for Let The Right One In.
References:
.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4532208/?ref_=nv_sr_4
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_the_Right_One_In_(film)
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Me_In_(film)
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_the_Right_One_In_(film)
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Me_In_(film)