Let Me In ****½
Let Me In is the first horror movie to be released by Hammer Film Productions in more than thirty years, their last horror feature being 1976’s To The Devil A Daughter. You may think the return of Hammer, the production studio responsible for producing some of the most iconic horror movies ever made (or the British ones at least), would be a pretty big deal but, alas, this is not the Hammer that many horror fans have known and loved over the years.
You see, the film may boast the HAMMER name in big bold letters at the start of the film but that is all it is – the name. Having been previously bought by another party who subsequently failed to get the company going again, Hammer was sold in May 2007 to Cyrte Investments, a Dutch consortium known for backing reality television series Big Brother (there’s a potentially worrying sign right there). The consortium purchased the Hammer name and the company’s library of films but obviously has no creative connections to the Hammer that was and even more obviously isn’t British anymore. Suffice to say, any films bearing the Hammer name from now on will not be Hammer films as many know them. This, however, is not to say that Let Me In is unworthy of being associated with the Hammer name. Many might be wary of this film for being a remake, particularly given that many horror remakes are simply not very good.
And with the sterling reputation of this film’s inspiration it would certainly be easy to get it all wrong here. 2008’s Let the Right One In was a critically acclaimed and award winning Swedish horror film based on the 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist (the original Swedish title being Låt den rätte komma in). At a time when the majority of horror movies being churned out by Hollywood were not delivering the goods, it showed just how horror should be done. So good then that, to some, the mere idea of a remake, particularly so soon, is almost a horrific thought. After all, the film has only been remade because the majority of American viewers aren’t really interested in watching foreign movies with subtitles. Fear not, though, as in the capable hands of Cloverfield director Matt Reeves, Let Me in establishes itself as a truly worthy horror film in its own right.
Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a lonely and slightly disturbed social outcast. Bullied and tormented at school, he spends the icy days plotting revenge on his tormentors but unable to ever carry out his plans and the bitterly cold evenings spying on his neighbours. However, he finds his life changes when Abby (Chloe Moretz), a self-assured 12-year old girl, moves in next door with her ‘father’ (Richard Jenkins). Despite Abby’s protestations that they cannot be friends, a friendship soon develops between them and they form a deep bond. Abby even gives Owen the courage to finally stand up to the school bullies. But as Abby appears only at night and is seemingly immune to the winter weather, Owen starts to realise that she isn’t quite like other girls. As a series of gruesome murders occur in the town and a policeman (Elias Koteas) closes in with his investigation of them, Owen must face the reality that his friend may in fact be a vampire and that their friendship may actually be something a whole lot more sinister.
Not having had the good fortune to see Let the Right One In, I am unable to make comparisons between that film and this remake but I can honestly say that, as a film in its own right, Let Me In is a superb piece of filmmaking. By not conforming to the typical genre mould that most Hollywood horror movies seem to fit into, writer/director Matt Reeves has made a film that is truly worthy of carrying the Hammer name, even if it is unlike anything ever made by the company before (although this is coming from someone who has never seen any of the original Hammer horror movies, so I cannot be completely sure of this). Subtlety is the name of the game here (even the 80s setting is subtle, facets of the period appearing but not being made a big deal of) with Reeves not falling back on tired jump scares or stomach churning gore (I’m looking at you Paranormal Activity 2 and Saw 3D) to create the horror but rather utilising stylish and effective filmmaking techniques to creates the scares.
A chilling and unsettling tone is established from the outset and this is done through effective cinematography and lighting, uneasy musical accompaniment and great use of sound. Darkness is used to terrific effect, the picture never being too dark for us to be unable to see what is going on but dark enough to create and oppressive environment in which we can’t be really sure of what is going to happen, even when we know exactly what is going to happen. Simple in-camera touches such as people being cast as near silhouettes and parts of the image being rendered out of focus also add to the oppressive and uneasy look and feel, as does the setting, with the snow covered landscapes making for an appropriately desolate backdrop to the film’s events.
Such is the simplicity of the this film that even the musical scoring, superbly composed by Michael Giacchino, alone is enough to create a sense of unease and the same is also true of the sounds that can be heard through the walls between Owen’s room and Abby’s which create their fair share of chills all on their own. Even though blood does flow on occasion, the numerous murder/vampire attack scenes are shown in little gory detail and instead the horror comes from the frenetic presentation of these sequences. We see only what we need to see and nothing more, the sequences being intense and terrifying without pandering to the grotesque. Even a potentially disturbing scene in which Abby licks blood off the floor manages to avoid seeming needlessly disgusting.
This intensity is also present in the school bullying scenes, which prove quite brutal and through this brutality give us an insight into why Owen is such a disturbed child. Real tension is present throughout the film and the suspense that comes with it is one of the things that really set this film apart from so many other scare flicks. A scare flick, however, is not all this film is. This is a film that is so much more than the average horror movie in more ways than one. As much a character piece as it is a horror film, the storyline here is one that real literal and emotional depth and that features characters who we really can care about, something that makes a real change to the usual cast of nobodies being picked off one by one by some faceless killer.
Reeves’ script delivers pretty much everything we could ask for, offering up a thoroughly well developed plot that places its central characters right at the heart of the story and that focuses purely on them rather than delving in the origins of its vampiric killer – Abby’s backstory is only alluded to in conversation, never thoroughly explored – and, aside from a rather one dimensional school bully – well played by Dylan Minnette who conveys so much evil in just one simple glance – who just seems plain evil when compared with the much more complex Abby, the characters are every bit as well developed as the plot. None of the characters are all bad or all good, but rather shades of grey, something that makes for a far more interesting story than we typically get in horror films.
At the heart of the story are Owen and Abby, two lost and troubled souls who are both responsible for doing bad things but aren’t really bad in their hearts. Their unlikely friendship proves to be as sweet as it is disturbing, two lost souls finding a likeminded individual in one another but something more sinister seemingly being hidden beneath the surface. Owen is a good boy and sees goodness in Abby, even as she coldheartedly feasts on her victims, and this makes his transformation from effective passive bystander to willing accomplice entirely convincing. Abby too is completely multidimensional, at times coming across as pure evil but at others seeming like a complete innocent who simply doesn’t want to be alone in the world. Certainly, she is as about as far away from the typical faceless horror movie killer as you could possibly get.
Together, these troubled characters make for a sort of sweet but twisted love story and on deeper level a study of what evil really means. The successful portrayal of the characters isn’t entirely down to Reeves’ writing but also, perhaps more importantly, the excellent acting of Kodi Smitt-McPhee and Chloe Moretz who both deliver mature performances displaying acting ability way beyond their years and provide a perfect balance between the different sides of their character’s personalities. Smitt-McPhee’s portrayal of a troubled young boy tormented at the hands of bullies is sad and all too believable while Moretz manages to effortlessly shift between seeming like evil incarnate and innocent but disturbed, being subtly menacing without seeming completely evil and every bit as likable as she is sinister. Individually, these young actors are great but together they are truly sensational, acting against each other as if everything we see on the screen is actually real and portraying a real sense of tenderness, something which is particularly evident in a sweet and tender scene involving a Rubik’s Cube.
This same tenderness is also present between Moretz and Richard Jenkins and the acting is pretty much excellent across the board, although it is the young stars who steal the show. Portraying unnamed characters, Jenkins and Elias Koteas also prove excellent, the former in particular continuing a string of superb performances that cast him parts where he is virtually unrecognisable. The tenderness that is seen between Moretz and the two male co-stars whom she acts alongside ties in with the sweeter side to the film as a whole. This isn’t just a horror film but also a love story of sorts and in this regard the film also delivers, the film managing to be as moving as it is terrifying. The writing and acting is, of course, largely responsible for this but the cinematography and musical scoring also contribute. While the cinematography is often used to create chills, it also proves to be quite beautiful and enchanting at times.
In a stark contrast to the darkness that often features in the visuals, light is also used to great effect, particularly evident in a shot where lights from the apartment block where Owen and Abby live beam down onto a snow covered climbing frame where the characters are sitting. This is a shot with almost magical qualities to it and the film as a whole delivers one masterful shot after the next. Also, rather than completely contrasting the darker shots that feature in the film, it complements them instead, the film flowing naturally between its sweet and scary moments in pretty much every aspect.
The same is very much true of the musical composition, with the music managing to convey hope and wonder as well as terror and sadness, the score being as beautiful to the ears as it is chilling. This is what really makes this film special – it isn’t a film that simply aims to scare you, it also aims to move you and it succeeds superbly. Only held back from complete perfection by some slight dragging late on (only a very minor complaint), this is a very haunting and sometimes beautiful film that will stay with you after leaving the cinema. Chilling to the bone and warming to the heart, Let Me In is definitely not your conventional horror movie and it for this reason that it is such a terrific piece of cinema and the best horror movie in ages. Forget Paranormal Activity 2. Forget Saw 3D. Let Me In is the horror movie you really should be watching.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
© BRWC 2010.
