Let Me In....Revisited
Hello one, hello all, and welcome back to another exciting…uh…review…by yours truly, Zo of Horror Bound! Today for Horror Bound Revisited (and on par with our monthly theme of Spine Chilling Kids) I decided to review a film that wasn’t as good the first time around as it is now. I had to really struggle for it to keep my attention when it initially came out, which means I didn’t have an appreciation for everything that that film brought to the horror genre or what it did for the creepy kid/vampire genre. Can you guess what movie I’m talking about today? But before I announce that, let me just go over the rules for this kind of review again. There may be spoilers, I may rant about something completely off-topic (doesn’t mean I will but who knows?), and there may or may not be some repetition. These Revisited reviews are meant to have fun, so let’s have some fun talking about Matt Reeves’ horror classic…Let Me In.
Let Me In was, as mentioned above, directed by Matt Reeves and stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as Owen, a young pre-teen who is mercilessly bullied every day. One day when he comes home, he meets his new neighbor Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), who is far more sinister than how she looks. They strike up a friendship, a friendship that will go on…forever (or at least until he dies am I right!!! Sorry…spoiler…)
I know what you’re thinking… ‘This movie is amazing! How dare you dislike it! You’re a MONSTER!!!’ And for the most part, you’d be right. I didn’t like it upon first viewing. I thought it was too slow, some of the characters bored me, there wasn’t enough action, etc. etc. etc. But for our monthly theme, I decided to re-watch it and see what I missed and…wow I missed a fucking lot!
For starters, Matt Reeves’ direction here is uncanny. He did a fantastic job with his actors and it shows in Chloë Grace Moretz’s incredibly creepy and disturbing performance. She comes off as cute and cuddly…at first…and then it’s all blood and guts. Like, the director didn’t hold back either…some kids legitimately get killed here (see: bullies). It gets to the point where Abby is almost like Owen’s stalker…like she follows him around and takes out anyone who gets too close to Owen…wanting him all to herself. Oh, but not to feed on! No no…she wants Owen to be her human protector/slave for all eternity (or at least until he gets old, is no longer useful, she finds a replacement, and THEN kills him). Chloë Grace Moretz is downright disturbing in this movie, and she got way under my skin as Abby. That isn’t to say Kodi Smit-McPhee wasn’t good as Owen, he was pretty good as well.
Another thing that I missed the first time was the incredible score and the cinematography. I think the way it was filmed really helped capture just how fucked up Abby was when she went full-on vamp on some of these victims. There was also quite a bit of blood and gore when she went there…and man was it screwed up!
I know a few people in horror community are going to give me a hard time here, especially since I didn’t initially like this movie. But please, guys, I’ve come around! Don’t hate me for it! This movie definitely has a creepy as FUCK kid, copious amounts of blood and guts, and it has a plot that does feel a little heartwarming deep down if you’re someone who doesn’t/didn’t have a lot of friends at that young of an age. It’s filmed and directed well, there’s great music and a great cast, and it really is entertaining. For that…I’m giving Let Me In…
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