Let Me In

As a string of murders occupy a small New Mexico town in the middle of winter in the mid-eighties, Owen (The Road’s Kodi Smit-McPhee) must deal with his own survival in public school. A victim of relentless bullying, the shy and diminutive boy struggles daily to avoid injury and humiliation.

With his mother distracted by the bitter divorce from his father, Owen is neglected until he meets Abby (Kick-Ass’s Chloe Moretz), a mysterious girl who just moved in next door. He immediately notices that she is not like other children and soon comes to grips with the fact that that this seemingly innocent girl is a guise for a savage and hungry vampire. On their heels is a policeman (Elias Koteas) who grows suspicious of Abby upon visiting her caretaker (Richard Jenkins) in the hospital after a botched murder-suicide.

Easily one of the most perverse tales of young romance, Let Me In is a haunting and provocative film that rises above the tropes of a traditional horror film, working more like a dark thriller with an emotional stake. Director Matt Reeves has an effective handle on the struggles and isolation of childhood; the severe bullying that paralyzes Owen feels all too real. The strength of the film falls on the shoulders of its young leads, Moretz and Smit-McPhee, who rise to the challenge of creating mature and complex characters. And horror fans and film historians take note: this marks the triumphant return of the legendary British horror brand Hammer Films, which produced the film.

Let Me In is a technically and dramatically accomplished supernatural thriller adapted from the bestselling Swedish novel Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist that was the basis for the original film. Through and through, it is a fantastic adaptation that will leave even the staunchest purist completely satisfied. –tiff.net