Let Me In review

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. For those that know me you know about my love for horror films so once a month I’m going to review and discuss a scary flick. We’ll look at the classics, some new films, and I want your suggestions on what I should review. I’ll do my best to cover all the different genres within the genre – slashers, ghosts, monsters, etc.

SPOILER ALERT! – These will be reviews so if you haven’t seen the movie you’ll want to watch it first before you read this. Let’s do this.

LET ME IN

Let’s jump into vampires again. Although this time not really in the sense that you would normally view a vampire film. If you’ve heard of Let Me In before but weren’t sure that was the title, you are probably right. This film is an American “remake” of the Swedish film Let The Right One In that was released in 2008. Quick disclaimer that I have not seen the original film so I can’t compare the two but from what I understand they are quite similar and both are very well liked.  I think the term they use to describe the two of them is a romantic vampire film, which would be the first time I’ve ever heard that. It is appropriate though for the subject matter of the movie. We’re always used to seeing vampire movies that may include Dracula, maybe taking place in some gothic setting with someone or a group of people hunting down the monster. Let Me In has some of those aspects but is very different in a lot of ways. The Director of the Swedish film was asked to do this film in 2010 as well but declined.

Let Me In takes place in Los Alamos, New Mexico in the 1980s. First scene is an ambulance bringing a badly burned man to the hospital who then winds up dead by falling out of a window. Then we are taken back two weeks in time when we meet a young boy – maybe 10 or 12 – named Owen whom we quickly learn is very lonely and is bullied badly at school. He wants to stand up to the kids that pick on him but is afraid of the consequences. Soon we see a man and a young girl move into the apartment complex where Owen and his Mother live. It’s winter but this girl doesn’t wear shoes. The two children begin to form a bond outside on the jungle gym of their home. The young girl’s name is Abby and she tells Owen she cannot get close with him and that he needs to stand up to the bullies. Owen becomes infatuated with Abby, as she really is his only friend. Meanwhile the man who seemingly is Abby’s father is seen hiding in the back of someone’s car with a trash bag to hide his face. He kills his victim and while draining his blood into containers, spills all of it. We’ve learned that Abby is indeed a vampire and because she cannot feed on the blood her accomplice was going to get her, she attacks a man and feeds on him. Her handler then disposes of the body. He goes out again a few nights later in search of victims, but is seen hiding in the car by the passenger in the front seat. This leads to a car accident – which is filmed in a very surreal way where we know the car is flipping over and over but the foreground remains constant. Realizing he will be caught he burns himself with acid. This is when we pick up back at the beginning of the film at the hospital. Abby realizes what happens and gets to his room where he allows her to feed on him and then falls to his death from the hospital rom window. We switch gears back to Owen as their school has gone to a pond for an ice skating field trip. Owen finally musters the strength to stand up the bullies. He hits one of the kids with a pole upside his head slicing his ear open. He tells Abby and she is proud of him. Later as the two are hiding out in an underground apartment, he cuts open his finger in an attempt to make a blood pact with her. She cannot resist drinking the spilled blood and reveals her vampire form to Owen and then quickly runs off. She then attacks and feeds on a neighbor walking her dog. Things don’t go well for the neighbor by the way. We see her in the hospital days later. Curtains drawn as she sees the IV in her arm. Having turned after being bitten, she begins to feed on her own arm when the nurse comes in to open the curtains. She bursts into flames when the sun hits her and the room is engulfed in flames. One of the more intense scenes of the film. Abby finally tells Owen she is indeed a vampire and the man who may have been her father is not. His name is Thomas and Owen then finds a photo of Abby as she looks currently and Thomas as a young boy. As Abby says in the film she has been 12 years old for a long time. While all of this is happening a Police Officer has been on the trail of these murders and is getting closer to Abby and Thomas. Owen spends the night at Abby’s and awakens to find the officer knocking on the door. He breaks in and with Owen hiding, enters the bathroom where Abby sleeps during the day. He lets in sunlight and she wakes up and attacks and kills the officer. She tells Owen she has to leave and we next see a heartbroken Owen at his school’s pool. The bullies aren’t done with him and set a trap. The brother of the boy whose ear was cut grabs Owen by the hair and holds him underwater. As we see the shot from in the pool, we begin to hear screaming and suddenly bloody limbs being thrown in the pool. Owen comes up for air and as he’s catching his breath, we see a pair of bloody bare feet by his side. Abby saves him and the film ends with Owen on a train with a large trunk with him. A knock comes from inside and Owen replies in kind. We don’t know where the two are going but their journey is with one another.

Let Me In was a film that has a lot of emotion. Setting is big with me and I love that this isn’t in some big city but a town in New Mexico. It’s winter and it’s cold and bleak. A lot like Owen’s life. Great colors and lighting in this film. Lots of grays and blues. The viewer feels that as well and the landscape is always blanketed with snow. The only real color is the ambers from streetlights or in the hospital. We almost never see sunlight until the very end on the train. The two of them seem to be happy now so the lighting scheme matches. Well done. When has a vampire ever been a hero of sorts? A friend? Abby truly does care about Owen but well, she’s a vampire. Being a vampire is a curse. You are damned to live forever and must live on the blood of living creatures. She cannot have a relationship with anyone. In the end though she shows that she can help him from his problems by slaughtering his tormenters. We actually like her. Owen is the boy who is a lot of boys in life sadly. Small and gets picked on. The bullies in this movie are no joke either. Really, really nasty. He’s very fragile as we also learn that his parents are getting divorced. All of sudden he has this wonderful person enter his life but the reality of who she is screws him up even more. You truly feel for this character, which is what makes this movie so good. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Owen while Chloe Grace Moretz portrays Abby. The two are outstanding. So believable in a film about unbelievable circumstances. If you haven’t already, check out Smit-McPhee in The Road while Moretz has made a nice name for herself as a young scream queen in films like Carrie, and Wicked Little Things to name a few.

I actually watched this movie years ago and feel bad that I still haven’t seen Let the Right One In but hopefully soon. I’ll watch any vampire movie but this one is really good. In the end a nice story of how we feel about one another regardless of who or what we are. Life as a child can be hell whether you are picked on or are doomed to be 12 years old forever.

Enjoy the trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reRRAEVHq8E