Let Me In is just one of many foreign films that undergo a Hollywood makeover for the American audience. Sometimes they meet with great success, like 1987’s Three Men and a Baby (France: Three Men and a Cradle-1985); sometimes they fare sort of middle-of-the-road, like 2001’s Tortilla Soup (Taiwan: Eat Drink Man Woman-1994); and sometimes, even with star power behind them, they never make a big splash, like 2004’s Shall We Dance (Japan: Shall We Dance-1996). Let Me In is a good example of how a small change (an alteration to the storyline to consider the cultural setting) can also open the door to other changes made to satisfy American tastes. Too heavy a hand with these changes can push a film away from its original atmosphere, resulting in a disappointing, cliché-filled movie-going experience. I would like to think that we Americans don’t need every movie to be chatty, noisy, or require a car chase. It would be great when Let Me In comes out on DVD to include both the Swedish and American versions so that everyone could enjoy pointing out what they see as a good or bad change.
