It’s rare to see a horror movie made with as much artistry as Matt Reeves’ “Let Me In,” and I think it’s all the more haunting because of that. The film focuses on developing a hostile environment over cheap screams, a move that pays off in spades over the course of the film.
Believe it or not, the blood-sucking adolescent vampire Abby (the omnipresent Chloe Moretz) is hardly the most menacing villain of the film. That dubious honor would belong to the bullies, who make life a living hell for the shrimpy but sweet 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee of “The Road“) for no other reason than the fact that he’s an easy target. And they aren’t just name-callers or lunch money-stealers; they want to inflict potentially life-threatening pain. Maybe they are a little excessive, but after all, movies are a heightened reality!
The ravenous Abby inspires the unassuming Owen to fight back against his tormentors, and indeed he does. But she also teaches him a thing or two about friendship and love, which seems to innocuously bloom between the two outcasts. It’s this rose amongst a bed of thorns that gives “Let Me In” such a peculiar warmth and comfort amongst the bluntly portrayed horrors of Abby’s bloodlust.
All the while, there’s a peculiar undercurrent of Ronald Reagan and all that he has come to represent running throughout the film, an interesting setting change by Reeves. It’s easy to tell he has a real vision for the movie and tender compassion for its characters. That makes a difference in a horror movie, where everyone seems written only for the purpose of dying. B+ /
In less than two weeks, we are headed into October. More quality fall entertainment, more Oscar contenders. But really, “The Social Network” leads off the month and it’s all downhill from there. Sorry, every other movie coming out in my month of birth. AND PLEASE TAKE THE POLL AT THE END … I blanked and left it off for a few days, but please vote!
October 1
I’ve stated twice that I’m dying to see “The Social Network,” and I’ve predicted it twice now to win Best Picture. I’m counting on a great movie, and I’m planning on catching the first showing after school on Friday.
“Let Me In” reminds us of a time when vampires were still scary, not sexy. Chloe Moretz (best known as Hit Girl) plays the blood-sucking child in question in this remake of the 2008 foreign horror flick “Let the Right One In.” I think subtitles make anything creepier, but Hollywood sees English-language versions as a way to make things more accessible.
I love the book “Freakonomics,” and I think the documentary montage without any particular focus is a perfect complement to the bestseller. If it’s anything like the book, it will be fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking. It’s an interesting tactic to put it on iTunes before releasing it in theaters, and I’ve been asking myself whether or not I should wait for the big screen.
And on another note, poor Renee Zellweger has dropped so low as to start doing low-brow horror like “Case 39.” To think she won an Oscar just 7 years ago…
October 8
Ugh, “Secretariat.” Inspirational sports movies now give me an averse reaction. And there’s also more gross horror in 3D with “My Soul to Take.” Way to sell your soul, Wes Craven. With the only other wide release being a corny Josh Duhamel-Katherine Heigl romantic comedy, “Life as We Know It,” it looks like I may be seeing “The Social Network” for a second time.
On the indie side of things, I’ll be happy to see some of the offerings. For example, I’m sure “Inside Job” will be an illuminating (and probably slanted) view of what really went down with the economic meltdown in 2008.
“Stone” looks intense, much like “Brothers” appealed to me this time last year. With an impressive cast of Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton (Milla Jovovich to a lesser degree as well), it could be a pretty good under-the-radar movie.
“Tamara Drewe” has been playing at a lot of film festivals this year to mixed/positive reviews, most of the praise going not to director Stephen Frears but to leading lady Gemma Arterton. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” has also been playing film festivals recently albeit to much less success. Despite the widespread acclaim the filmmakers’ past two movies, “Half Nelson” and “Sugar,” have received, this just hasn’t caught on. “Nowhere Boy,” the story of John Lennon, premiered at Toronto this week, but I didn’t hear anything about it. No news is NOT good news at a festival.
Marshall and the Movies 
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