Although the early 21st century saw many non-English language films becoming popular in American markets, Hollywood was still unwilling to let imaginative works of genre fiction exist within their own context. The Grudge, Martyrs, Mirrors, Pulse, and One Missed Call are just a fraction of the excellent international horror films that inspired disastrous remakes that failed to understand the cultural context of their originals. Bad remakes like Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street can exist without ruining the legacy of their predecessors, but a misjudged reinterpretation of a foreign arthouse title can do permanent damage to the original film’s standing.
Let The Right One In was instantly heralded as a Swedish classic, as Tomas Alfredson's intimate adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel offered a unique perspective on vampire mythology. Rather than heightening the gore, Alfredson chose to tell an emotional story about two children forced to become outsiders due to societal constraints; that one of them was a vampire over 200-years-old made their connection even more fraught.
