Let Me In, the 2010 American remake of Sweden's Let the Right One In (2008), stayed relatively true to its source material, however, one of the most shocking moments from the Swedish film wasn't included in its American counterpart.
Though it might seem strange to see an American remake of a foreign film, this isn't wholly uncommon. Seen with films like Martyrs (original, 2008; remake, 2015) and Inside (original 2007, remake 2016), the horror genre is rife with popular foreign films being rebooted, reimagined, and released to American audiences.
However, as many can attest for remakes in general, the second version isn't always better. Most of the time, it falls drastically short of reaching the heights of its predecessor, and Let Me In is no exception. One scene in particular, which many fans consider to be crucial to the story that was originated by John Ajvide Lindqvist in his novel, Let the Right One In, was cut from the American remake entirely.
What Shocking Moment Didn't Make the Cut?
In Let the Right One In, the young vampire, Eli (Lina Leandersson), who befriends social outcast Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) says quite simply: "I'm not a girl." The core of the story is young love and friendship, and despite Eli's insistence that she isn't female when Oskar asks her to "go steady," it is implied Oskar either doesn't fully understand his new friend's gender ambiguity or simply doesn't care and loves Eli anyway. Though still more ambiguous than the book, there is a scene in Let the Right One In where Oskar is spying on Eli in the shower while she is rinsing off a large quantity of blood, and notices what is, to the audience, not biologically female genitalia. Given Oskar's age, it is unknown whether he would have any understanding of what he's seeing, but to the audience, it's relatively clear that the crude scarring on Eli's body hints to castration, which reveals that Eli is, in fact, biologically male. The American version cut this scene entirely.
Both iterations of the young vampire are played by young, female actresses. Though, in the Swedish film, actress Lina Leandersson is more androgynous than Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays the character in the American remake. Also, the choice to change the character's name from Eli, which is more gender-neutral to Abby in Let Me In, makes the character lean decisively feminine instead of vague and up to interpretation. In an interview with Gizmodo, the director of Let Me In, Matt Reeves, said: "...there isn't anything in [Let Me In] that is going to change that interpretation." However, the interpretation isn't as clear without the shower scene, and the message fails to land.
The Book Provides Even More Detail
Lindqvist's novel, Let the Right One In, is even more explicit than the Swedish film. Eli's backstory is detailed when Eli explains how he was born a young peasant boy and imprisoned by a vampire noble who performed a penectomy, castrated him, and turned Eli into a vampire. After Eli escaped, he chose to adopt a female appearance and met Håkan, who was her father figure in both movies. Håkan's backstory also differs from the novel to the film adaptations because, in the book, he's a pedophile. Both films are ambiguous regarding what relationship the two have. Let Me In's choice to water down the source material made the film flat in comparison, though both films possess a unique take on vampire lore which makes them equally watchable for horror fans.