Film Review: Let Me In (2010)

BOTTOM LINE: Successfully combining a sweet innocence with chilling horror, "Let Me In" is the real deal as a touching and tragic vampire love story, but is let down by a few poorly executed CG moments.

THE GOOD: The most refreshing aspect of "Let Me In" is the truthfulness on display between its two lead characters. Unlike those awful "Twilight" films, there is a sweet, genuine innocence that resonates between Owen (Smit-McPhee) and Abby (Moretz), two 12-year olds who are drawn together by their circumstances. Owen is a bullied boy, whose parents are going through a divorce. One night, he sees the arrival of Abby and her father in to his apartment complex. One night, when Owen is enacting a fantasy of standing up to the bullies in the court yard outside his apartment, Abby appears, and the two form a close bond. At the same time however, a string of murders begin, which eventually leads to Abby and the revelation that she is a vampire, and that her father is not her father, but was at one time a boy just like Owen who protects her. The film conjures up effective images of the pain of adolescence, and those times of transition from innocence to the reality of the real world. There is a chemistry between these two child actors that is worth watching in this film, and it delivers on a fantasy whereby a bullied boy not only gets a girlfriend but a bodyguard. The effective finale where Abby kills Owen's tormentors is subtly done, taken from Owen's point of view while he is submerged underwater, with body and head parts floating down beside him. Although the film is perhaps strongest in the telling of Owen and Abby's touching and tragic tale, the film does not shy away from delivering some chilling horror. When Abby kills, she is nasty. When she turns a neighbour in to a vampire, who subsequently starts feeding off a blood pack while recovering in hospital, the resulting scene is dark and disturbing as the neighbour bursts in to flames by incoming sunlight. The film adheres to vampire lore, but uses it as a springboard to tell a very human story between two lonely characters. The best shot of all is the final one, where Owen and Abby communicate through morse code while she sits inside a trunk Owen is sitting next to. "Let Me In" is a strong vampire film; a touching story that delivers more than just the horror, and absolutely wipes the floor of the "Twilight" films in every way, shape and form.

THE BAD: Given how well the relationship between Owen and Abby is portrayed on screen, it is somewhat easy to overlook the obvious flaws, including why Abby's 'father' would kill to protect her, knowing what she is, that she will eventually out live him and that she is developing a new relationship with a new boy. He goes to the extent of burning himself with acid to protect her when a murder goes wrong. And then Owen, after learning who Abby's father really is, and how she is in effect luring Owen in to be his replacement, seems to go along with it after initially being displeased with what he sees. These questions are not resolved satisfactorily in this film. Another problem is the use of CG to create Abby's vampire acrobatics when she kills people. Although shocking to watch, they are also not well rendered, looking more silly and artificial with each passing shot. Some actions and body movements seem lifted straight out of "The Exorcist", which is not necessarily a bad thing if they actually looked realistic.