Sat Oct 4, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger

Swedish Director Slams Remake of his Film

'Let the Right One In' is Just Fine as is He Says

We’ve been writing a bit about the Swedish vampire sensation Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In).  We’ve already mentioned how it will finally get some screen time here in the states starting October 24 before coming to DVD in January.  We also told you how Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves will be directing the English language version for the newly revived Hammer Films.

What we didn’t tell you are that director Tomas Alfredson doesn’t think a remake is such a good idea. According to Slash Film, he told MovieZine, “Remakes should be made of movies that aren’t very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong.

“I’m very proud of my movie and think it’s great, but the Americans might be of another opinion. The saddest thing for me would be to see that beautiful story made into something mainstream.”

Alfredson was drawn to the 2004 novel from writer John Ajvide Lindqvist about a 12-year-old boy and the 200-year-old vampire child, Eli. The dark coming of age tale was a big hit and ripe for screen adaptation.

The film was an international sensation, winning the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award at Edinburgh Film Festival and first place in the Horror Features category at the 2008 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

 “I don’t like to whine, but of course – if you’d spent years on painting a picture, you’d hate to hear buzz about a copy even before your vernissage!”"

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