Cinema Snark: Let Me In

This is the condensed version, because mama's going to bed early tonight. So, let's see how succinct I can make this.

Let Me In

So there's this boy. He's pretty much a serial killer/school shooter waiting to happen. He's bullied by other kids and acts out revenge fantasies (with knives) in his room. Then this girl (Abby, played by Chloe Moretz, whom I might have to marry [after she turns 18]) about his age moves in next door. They become friends, blah blah blah, she's actually a vampire. And then something resembling romance blossoms.

If this sounds like a weird premise for something that's supposed to be a horror film, you're absolutely right. It is weird, and different, and that's the biggest reason it's pretty damn good.

In short, it's a horror film that's not a horror film. It's got its fair share of blood (as any self-respecting vampire movie should), but it's not actually about the violence. Let Me In exercises an admirable amount of restraint in the gore department, choosing to make the film about characters and atmosphere instead. The horror is more in the premise than anything else - it's essentially a love story between two killers. The boy hasn't actually killed anyone yet, but he's well down that dark path when we first meet him, and the one ray of sunshine (as it were) in his relatively hopeless life is this mysterious girl, who will almost certainly make him into a killer in the future.

It's not scary as such - it's disturbing. It tones down the disturbing-ness a bit from the original Swedish film (translated to Let the Right One In), which itself had toned down the disturbing-ness from the book it was based on, but it remains one of the most unnerving horror movies I've seen recently. Abby and her "father" do some pretty horrific things, but the worst acts of cruelty are reserved for the middle-school students who torment the main character.

It seems oddly appropriate, given what we've been seeing in the news recently.

So, to sum up: if you're looking for a different breed of horror movie, something that focuses on story more than tits and murder, see it. It's well-made and generally well-acted and it gives you a lot to think about. And then watch the Swedish version, because it's weirder and creepier. Because, you know. Sweden.