Let Me In: A-

I had to slap myself a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming when I watched this. It’s actually a horror remake that doesn’t defecate all over the material on which it is based. Then I had to slap my friends to make sure they were awake. Then they slapped me back and I started crying a little and we had to pause the movie. It was really embarrassing.

The movie (based on a great Swedish film) is about a little boy who is neglected and pushed around to the point of alienating depression who meets a little girl who is secretly a vampire. They strike up a friendship and they bond because they are both outsiders. If you ever felt like a nerd or misfit as a kid, this film will push all your buttons. If you ever felt like a little girl vampire, it’ll probably do something for you too. But you aren’t a little girl vampire, so maybe watching stuff like this movie is just feeding this weird complex you have, you weirdo.

The mechanics of human/vampire symbiosis are explored in a new and interesting light; we still have the ghoul character (which is always fascinating), but other codependency situations and survival tactics are explored that I can’t recall having seen in another vampire film. The film really makes you question whether or not the pair have a genuine friendship or if they are engaged in a complex courtship ritual that vampires use for their own longevity. Can vampires, even after living for several lifetimes, feel and even love? Or are they complicated chameleons? Different movies have different rules, but the design of the film and the interactions between the two made me ask these questions.

The whole thing is dark as fuck. The acting is fantastic. The little girl is the actress from Kick Ass and Hugo. She plays a ruthless undead monster and a tiny fragile pixie wonderfully. I was really impressed by Richard Jenkins. He goes from drowning in nutsack jokes in Stepbrothers to playing a really convincing and creepy ghoul. There’s gore, scares, and even a massacre.