Release Date – 10/1/2010
It’s the winter of 1983 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. At a small apartment complex, an odd boy named Owen sits alone in the playground. We find out that Owen is the outcast at school, constantly being picked on by a group of bullies. Also, his parents are going through a divorce and his mother doesn’t pay much attention to him. One night a girl his age named Abby moves in next door and they spark up a friendship. The girl is even weirder than Owen which causes him to wonder what’s up with her. We find out she lives off of blood and her Father goes out at night killing for her. Everything starts falling apart when the police get involved in the murders. I was a big fan of Let The Right One In, which was the Swedish version of this movie that came out in 2008. While this isn’t as good, its almost as good. Its an awesome young vampire story that just embarrasses the likes of Twilight.
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) plays Owen. He’s the perfect nerdy outcast. Lanky, greasy hair, and quiet. Most of his time is spent alone talking to himself and wishing he could stand up to the bullies at school. With this role and his great character in The Road, this kid is proving to be an impressive child actor. The same could be said about Chloe Moretz who plays Abby, the vampire. This is a complete 180 from her role as the smart ass Hit Girl in Kick-Ass. She’s also quiet and odd, which is why the two kids hit it off. But all along she’s hiding her secret from Owen for fear that he won’t be her friend anymore. Supporting roles go to Richard Jenkins as the “father” and Elias Koteas as the lead investigator for the murders. Too small to matter but they fill in the gaps when story needs to progress.
The movie is very slow at times as its not an action based horror film. Its more of a young love story but with an evil twist. And yes there are some brutal scenes. But the point of the movie is for the friendship between Owen and Abby to grow, only to realize the friendship may not work. BECAUSE SHE’S A VAMPIRE! Let The Right One In was pretty fresh in my brain still so I noticed little differences here and there. Writer/Director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) said he followed the book as closely as possible and not the Swedish version of the movie. But I would say some scenes are identical to the other movie. This is basically for the lazy Americans who don’t want to read subtitles. And while I did think this movie was awesome, a few key differences like the use of CGI on Abby attack scenes and an ending not filmed as well as the Swedish version make Tomas Alfredson trump Matt Reeves in the directing department. But still an awesome movie. I can’t say that enough. I have to keep my eye on Reeves, the guy takes on some very interesting projects.
IMDB – 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 89%
Movie Wiseguys – 8/10
