"Let Me In" opens this weekend, and though it covers a very different subject matter than its competitor "The Social Network," both films follow two coming-of-age stories. In the case of "Let Me In," the boy coming of age is Kodi Smit-McPhee's Owen, who makes friend with a girl named Abby, who turns out to be more than she seems.

Though it is very different in tone, there are many comparisons that could be made to Steven Spielberg's own childhood coming-of-age tale, "E.T." Of course, E.T. is a bit more cute and cuddly than Chloe Moretz's Abby is, but director Matt Reeves says that Steven's classic definitely influenced him in the making of the film.

"I grew up being such a big fan of 'E.T.' and those movies. They really affected me and spoke to me. And so I think that I just saw some of those connections within the film," said Matt. "But it's interesting cause the film is such a dark film and so much darker than so many of those sort of Spielberg fantasies, which were amazing, and so I think I saw an opportunity to do something which was kind of a strange juxtaposition of some of those tones with something that was much, much darker and that was exciting."

Some of those influences can be seen in the way that "Let Me In" is told from a child's perspective, and the Charles Schultz-like disconnect between the children in the film and their parents. Matt was able to use his good relationship with J.J. Abrams to organize a chat with Steven and get his advice on directing children.

"He said, 'You know, the thing about it is, you have to let them bring themselves to it. When you go into a room, just say, well okay, this is your room, where would you go? What would you do?'" Matt explained. "He goes, 'I'm telling you, that's where the gold is, because they actually are the age of the character. You're imagining what it's like to be 12, they are 12.'"

Are you surprised to see Steven Spielberg's influence in "Let Me In"? Can you see the comparisons between it and "E.T."?