"Would you still like me...even if I wasn't a girl?"
Let Me In is one of those movies that you struggle to define. Many people have called it a horror movie, in fact the cover blurb from Steven King says it's the best American horror movie made in the last 20 years. My problem is that horror for me means scary, there is nothing particularly scary about this flick. There is a psychological undertone of fear but you always feel kind of insulated from it if your're rooting for the two kid leads, as you should be. They are at the core of the story and their story is one of friendship, endurance and acceptance. Of course it's served with a side of grisly murder, vampirism and abandonment but every cloud has a silver lining right? What this flick is, against all odds, is highly original. Despite being based on Swedish novel Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist and following an original Swedish adaptation of the same name it still manages to stand out. Lindqvist himself said "Let Me In puts the emotional pressure in different places and stands firmly on its own legs. Like the Swedish movie it made me cry, but not at the same points. Let Me In is a dark and violent love story, a beautiful piece of cinema" I don't think I could say it any better than that.
Owen (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) is a lonely, somewhat disturbed, young man. A product of divorce, the oppressive hand of his overly religious mother and being on the receiving end of the school bullies. He takes his licks and refuses to fight back instead withdrawing into himself and the dark side of his adolescent mind. That is until he meet's Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz) the new girl who moves in next door with her father (Richard Jenkins). Abby is a little bit strange in her own right, she walks barefoot in 3 inches of snow and claims to not feel the cold, her first words to Owen are "we can't be friends". Undeterred by her bizarre statement Owen pursues her and begins to form the beginnings of what will become an unbreakable bond. As Abby's secrets begin to unravel, Owen learns to stand up for himself at her behest and her 'father' becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. The more Owen learns about Abby's dark side and her condition the closer they become until each has to make a choice that will change their paths forever.
Let Me In is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece. While some may find the pace to be somewhat slow I would say that it's just right, where the story sits back and let's the leads take their time and develop the story it is done with a deliberate effort on Matt Reeves part. He uses all the tools of modern cinema that are at his disposal, cinematography, music, acting, to craft a beautiful movie that is not only dark and brooding but very sweet with almost a feel good vibe. This genre-bending approach is what makes Let Me In so intriguing. The acting from Moretz and Smit-Mcphee is off the charts. You feel every ounce of their pain, loneliness and despair. As well as being uplifted by their friendship and blossoming relationship. The overbearing darkness created just grabs you and never lets you go, taking you for the ride right along with the kids.
Audio/Video
Right up front the video presentation of Let Me In is intentionally dark in tone. The few brighter scenes are well defined and bring out some great detail and add a little visual flair. There is some slight grain here and there but it fits with the mood and visual style rather than taking away from it, creating a film-esque look out of a digital transfer. With the darker tone here the blacks are rarely perfect but they are never plain bad, they tend to skirt the edges of being a touch murky or an ink like solid. This is a solid transfer, it's not perfect, but it has a certain amount of flair and charm that makes it very easy to overlook the slight flaws. The audio track on the other hand is very good, it's moody and soft but pops in all the right places. Almost in perfect unison with the movie it accompanies, it rumbles along and hits you with just the right amount of emotional dissonance at the right time. A stand out scene from the audio side of things is the pool scene towards the end, hearing the terror and violence from the underwater vantage point of Owen is a great audio effect. Overall this loss-less audio track is of the highest quality
Special Feature:
There is an excellent variety of material to be found in this package. Including a commentary track with Matt Reeves, a picture-in-picture feature, a couple of featurettes and then the standard fare of gallery's, deleted scenes and trailers. The stand out for me is definitely the step by step dissection of the highly unique car crash sequence. It features full voice over, production stills and animatic explanations. Definitely a must see for anyone who found the crash scene as visually pleasing as I did. Another neat little extra including with the blu-ray package is a Dark Horse comic book, featuring a prelude to their four part mini series Let Me In: Crossroads.
Let Me In is simply a phenomenal motion picture experience. Getting too caught up on labels for a genre defying movie like this will alienate some viewers who would be definitely missing out on a treat. It's a movie about friendship and how real friendship can transcend physical and emotional boundaries to find the good in all things, even the monsters that only come out at night. I would recommend this flick to everyone, I don't think many people would come away from it disappointed.
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Written by: John Ajvide Lindqvist (Novel) Matt Reeves (screenplay)
Starring: Kodi Smit-Mcphee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas
Distributed by: Relativity Media
Website: http://www.letmein-movie.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment