The Nightwoman Cometh


In movies that I’ve seen recently, horror has not really come across as it should.  Scary should be scary.  A feeling is scary.  Excessive gore is not scary.  I don’t know why people feel the need to replace the looming feeling with gruesome deaths.  That’s just not what horror should be.  Horror should be an experience.  This was brought back to the forefront with Paranormal Activity, and more recently, the movie I am about to write about, Let Me In.

Let Me In is the story of a boy who lives a life where nobody truly cares for him.  He then meets a girl in the courtyard of his New Mexico apartment complex.  But first impressions aren’t always what they seem.  It stars two great up and coming child actors, Chloe Moretz and Codi Smit-McPhee.  There are also some great supporting performances by the always good Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas.

I’m going to start with a nitpick before going into what I like.  Snow in New Mexico?  Even with the recent weather issues that our planet has endured, that seems to me like a lot of snow for New Mexico.  I could be wrong, and tell me if I am, but New Mexico seems too warm for that.  It slightly distracted me from the greatness that was appearing before my eyes.

Now the good stuff.  Like the mood.  Director Matt Reeves set up a great atmosphere for the film.  There was never really a light-hearted romance between the two children.  Even what would normally be light-hearted in another movie felt like there was some sort of impending doom coming along.  The moments that were meant to cause fear could have caused fear, had I not been desensitized by the internet and other films (that’s another story for another day).  This is in part due to, in my opinion, the great use of sound and music.  The use of silence or quiet sound breaking immediately to loud was a great tool.

I just remembered another nitpick, but it’s not something that makes this film any less good.  This comes from my having seen the original European version, Let the Right One In.  Let Me In seemed to be a lot less subtle with the mystery surrounding the girl.  Sure, the original did reveal certain aspects of the mystery, but Let Me In seemed to accelerate these aspects and lay it on thickly.  I’m not sure that the audience who went to see the movie was that dumb.  Filmmakers don’t always need to pander to the bottom.  You can make a film with some intelligence.

All in all, I would highly recommend Let Me In to anyone who likes a good, tense horror movie that isn’t just horror.  It has aspects of drama thrown in there just to spice it up a little bit.  On my Flickchart, Let Me In is at position 106 right under The Truman Show and right above Cruel Intentions.  Don’t judge me.

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