Let Me In is set in the snowy world of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Here we find Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a sad and lonely boy. Bullied at school and seemingly friendless, Owen lives with his mother (Cara Buono), who is going through a nasty divorce. Owen spends most of his time sitting in the courtyard of their apartment complex, eating candy. One night, he meets his new neighbor, Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz), a quiet girl who wears no shoes, despite the snow on the ground. Although Abby is distant, the two begin to build a friendship. But, while Abby's demeanor may make her seem similar to Owen, her life is much different. She lives with a man (Richard Jenkins) who kills people so that Abby can have blood, and Abby only comes out at night. She encourage Owen to fight back against his tormentors at school, and his time with Abby becomes the best part of Owen's life. However, it's difficult for a predator like Abby to remain hidden and things will soon get dangerous for everyone involved.

For the record, let it be stated that Let Me In is very similar to its predecessor. At times, it feels like a shot-for-shot remake. However, Reeves has taken a very wise approach to the source material. First and foremost, he's streamlined the story. Let the Right One In became bogged-down with subplots concerning neighbors who live in Owen's apartment complex and his parents. Here, we only briefly see the neighbors and Owen has very little interaction with his mother. In fact, we never clearly see her face, and he only speaks to his father on the phone, as opposed to the weekend visit we see in the original. This creates a Charlie Brown-esque world which is devoid of adults, leaving Owen to solve his problems on his own. Reeves has also done away with some of the vague questions as to who or what Abby is. Here, she's a vampire -- plain and simple. We never learn how she became one or where she came from, as that's not integral to the story.

Despite these improvements, Let Me In also shares some of the same problems as Let the Right One In. As with Oskar in the original, Owen is an unlikable main character, and it's very difficult to relate to him. Even if one has experienced bullying like Owen, it's hard to get behind this character. (The fact that he looks like a young Gary Neuman doesn't help.) Abby is more engaging, as Moretz plays her with a great deal of pathos, and it's easy to feel sorry for this creature who looks like a 12-year old girl, but has been roaming the earth for an unknown amount of time. These characters make for a movie which lacks emotion, and we, the viewers, simply watch the film as opposed to experiencing it.

Let Me In suffers from some technical issues as well. I realize that this isn't Cloverfield and that Reeves is working with a different set of circumstances (budget, etc.), but considering that this movie comes from a man who had me convinced that a monster was rampaging through New York, the CG here is terrible. Anytime Abby goes into vamp mode, she becomes CG and the effects are so jittery that it pulled me out of the movie. Otherwise, Reeves shows a great visual style and proves that some of the breathtaking camera-work in Cloverfield wasn't just a result of the "hand-held" genre. The man clearly loves shooting from the back seat of moving vehicles. Having said that, as much as I wasn't impressed with Let the Right One In, I must say that the key shot in the finale in that film was done better than the similar shot in Let Me In.

Both versions of this story are interesting in the sense that they are vampire movies which really aren't about vampires. Instead they focus on the loneliness which anyone can feel, be they immortal or not. And while it's a remake, Let Me In retains the slow, European tone of the original film, even with the shorn side-stories. This is a very well-made (sans CGI) and acted movie, but the story still leaves something to be desired. But, this is the rare case where if you can only see one version, I recommend the remake.

Let Me In is like an insane commercial for Now 'n Laters on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is quite sharp and clear, showing no defects from the source material. There is some slight grain here, but one gets the feeling that this is an intentional, aesthetic choice and has nothing to do with the quality of the transfer. This is a dark film, but the image is never overly dark and the black tones ring true here. The image has a nice amount of depth, as evidenced by the pond scene. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. From the opening scene, this track asserts itself, as we are treated to a low pounding which rattles the subwoofer. Even though this is a quiet movie, we get some nice surround sound and stereo effects during the few crowd scenes and during the attack sequences.

The Let Me In Blu-ray Disc contains an assortment of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Writer/Director Matt Reeves. Viewers can also choose to watch the film with "Picture-in-Picture Blu-ray Exclusive: Dissecting Let Me In", which provides pop-up videos with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. "From the Inside: A Look at the Making of Let Me In" (17 minutes) is very well-made and concise. We get a lot of comments from Reeves, who shows a lot of enthusiasm for such a dour movie. The piece contains a nice amount of on-set footage as it explores casting, Reeves directing style and the shooting of key scenes. "The Art of Special Effects" (6 minutes) takes us through six scenes from the film and shows how the effects were layered onto a live-action shot. "Car Crash Sequence Step-by-Step" (6 minutes) has Reeves commenting on how the shot was achieved as watch pre-viz footage and behind-the-scene stills. The Disc contains three DELETED SCENES which run about five minutes and can be viewed with commentary from Reeves. There is an interesting moment here where Owen's gym teacher approaches him. It's clear that this was cut to preserve the feeling that there's no adult supervision in this world. We also see that Abby has telepathic powers. The Disc contains two TRAILERS for the film, as well as a Poster & Still Gallery.