Hammer Horror is back!

Spent my birthday watching Let Me In (the original Sweedish movie was called “Let the Right One In”) and it actually turned out to be one of the few remakes that works. The filmmakers have taken what was good about the original and Americanised it without making it too Hollywood and losing the poetic beauty of the friendship between a boy and a vampire trapped in a young girl’s body. Matt Reeves shows that, after this and the very different Cloverfield, he is a genre director to watch. The film is beautifully shot and the cast, especially Chloe Mortez as Abby and Richard Jenkins as her “father” is exceptional. There are problems - the CG during the vampire attacks is fake-looking, and the almost complete elimination of the castration subplot will anger purists. But overall this is a classic character driven horror film. The relaunched Hammer Films couldn’t have asked for a better first theatrical release. It's just a shame that movies like this struggle to find an audience, while audiences flock to crap like Twilight.