Horror Movie Review: Let Me In

I've seen many vampire movies that were good horror flicks. But the movie "Let Me In" ( by the director Matt Reeves ) is the best of them all. A high quality tale about a pre-adolescent young boy named Owen who has an alcoholic mother, an absent father and kids bullying him unmercifully. Owen has a desperate need to be accepted by someone ... anyone.

Abby is a mysterious girl who moved in next door in the same building. She moved in during the night and did not wear shoes in the snow. She is a vampire though not of her own choosing. She longs for childhood friendships. She radiates innocence and deep melancholy.

She meets Owen one night on the snow covered jungle Gym behind the building they live in. Here she finds unconditional acceptance. Owen questions her, but does not press for answers. He is unassuming.

Owen meets Abby's caretaker one night. Abby's caretaker kills people via draining their blood into a plastic milk jug and then bringing the blood home for her to drink.

The movie never becomes bogged down in the traditional style of the common vampire movies. Abby fits neither the over-dramatized Dracula mode nor the New Moon sexy teenage vampire mode. She is sweet and innocent as any 12 year old girl might be. Only when she is desperately hungry or in danger does she become the blood thirsty beast.

Abby truly longs for the innocence of childhood that beams from Owen. Even when attempting to tell him she could never be his friend, it is evident that his friendship is exactly what she longs for.

Like any form of evil, Abby cannot enter one's home with being explicitly invited in. She must literally be asked to come in. If she enters without invitation, she begins to self-destruct via bleeding to death. Owen's response is to say "Come in, come in" and to hug her.

Sex is not a part of the relationship between Owen and Abby beyond the hug and the simple kiss. Their relationship retains the innocence of childhood. Although Owen is curious about sexuality, he is still too childlike to even dally into its territory. What he seeks is warmth and acceptance.

This movie can be analyzed at many levels. It defies the dusty over-used monster movie style. There is plenty of graphic violence but each violent scene is short in duration and shrouded in darkness. Joyce and I highly recommend this movie if you are willing to suspend your expectations of a gory Vampire film. There is plenty of blood, but little gore.