Let Me In is a remake of the successful Swedish horror Let The Right One In [2008] and despite not having seen this I am led to believe sticks to the storyline extremely closely. This is not what I would call your typical vampire movie with the vampire taking shape in the form of a 12 year old girl Abby (Chloe Moretz) and not a wooden stake to be seen. If anything it is more of an emotional love story.
We start, as is the growing trend these days at some unspecified point in the future with a man being rushed to hospital finding out along the way that he is the prime suspect in several murders occurring around the sleepy backwater town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Whilst is left alone in his hospital room he jumps from the window to his death.
Rewind two weeks where we are introduced to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) a boy who is bullied at school by three of his peers and whose parents are currently going through a divorce leaving him somewhat of an introvert and lacking confidence. The director is clever in that the father is never seen and the mother is only in scenes briefly so we do not get to know her which means we really only get to know Owen and hence share his loneliness. With the arrival of Abby and her father though, he finds happiness in her company and the pair create a friendship that Mortez and Smit-McPhee act out excellently.
Alongside this growing friendship is the more sinister hunt for fresh blood which leads to the disappearance of some locals and the police search that ensues. Where many vampire movies head down the vicious mass murdering group who go around killing for fun this paints the picture of a much more calculated sect who kill to survive and are aware that many killings will lead to too many questions being asked and them eventually being found. It is a means to survive nothing else.
There were some well crafted pieces of cinematography with one scene in particular involving a car crash making up for the poor use of CGI and special effects (that were thankfully infrequent) which would be more in line with a lower budget production.
The background and history of Abby and her father is kept vague for most of the movie which invites the viewer to create their own past for them, suffice to say that we are assume they have been around a long time. This leads to an interesting question that wasn't really answered- if Abby had been around a long time trapped in a 12 year old body surely her mind would have grown up? Yes there is a sense of maturity surrounding her but at the same time she never really shakes off that sense of still actually being an innocent kid. Perhaps this was intentional and shows the innocence of youth prevailing over the evil within. Either way Mortez is fantastic at depicting her character showing us that she has a very bright future in the industry.
When I sat down to watch Let Me In I was not expecting what was served up before me. Luckily though it was a pleasant surprise as the movie gets you hooked at the start and thanks to the great on screen chemistry between Mortez and Smit-McPhee keeps you engaged right up until the credits start rolling. Definitely worth a watch.
We start, as is the growing trend these days at some unspecified point in the future with a man being rushed to hospital finding out along the way that he is the prime suspect in several murders occurring around the sleepy backwater town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Whilst is left alone in his hospital room he jumps from the window to his death.
Rewind two weeks where we are introduced to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) a boy who is bullied at school by three of his peers and whose parents are currently going through a divorce leaving him somewhat of an introvert and lacking confidence. The director is clever in that the father is never seen and the mother is only in scenes briefly so we do not get to know her which means we really only get to know Owen and hence share his loneliness. With the arrival of Abby and her father though, he finds happiness in her company and the pair create a friendship that Mortez and Smit-McPhee act out excellently.
Alongside this growing friendship is the more sinister hunt for fresh blood which leads to the disappearance of some locals and the police search that ensues. Where many vampire movies head down the vicious mass murdering group who go around killing for fun this paints the picture of a much more calculated sect who kill to survive and are aware that many killings will lead to too many questions being asked and them eventually being found. It is a means to survive nothing else.
There were some well crafted pieces of cinematography with one scene in particular involving a car crash making up for the poor use of CGI and special effects (that were thankfully infrequent) which would be more in line with a lower budget production.
The background and history of Abby and her father is kept vague for most of the movie which invites the viewer to create their own past for them, suffice to say that we are assume they have been around a long time. This leads to an interesting question that wasn't really answered- if Abby had been around a long time trapped in a 12 year old body surely her mind would have grown up? Yes there is a sense of maturity surrounding her but at the same time she never really shakes off that sense of still actually being an innocent kid. Perhaps this was intentional and shows the innocence of youth prevailing over the evil within. Either way Mortez is fantastic at depicting her character showing us that she has a very bright future in the industry.
When I sat down to watch Let Me In I was not expecting what was served up before me. Luckily though it was a pleasant surprise as the movie gets you hooked at the start and thanks to the great on screen chemistry between Mortez and Smit-McPhee keeps you engaged right up until the credits start rolling. Definitely worth a watch.
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