“10 PM. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE?”
This post is way overdue, but after finally re-watching ‘Let Me In’- the brilliant (and arguably better) American version of the Swedish film ‘Let The Right One In’- I couldn’t resist sharing a few thoughts. Let me say right off the bat that I would NOT recommend viewing ‘Let The Right One In’ prior to ‘Let Me In.’ Yes, the Swedish film is technically the original, but director Matt Reeves has done the impossible and proven once and for all that remakes are in fact NOT the root of all the evils of the film industry.
Twelve-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is living alone with his alcoholic mother as his parents are going through a divorce. Owen doesn’t have any friends, he’s bullied relentlessly at school, and, to be frank, he’s a little creepy (he buys a knife and imagines using it to strike back at his oppressive schoolmates). One evening, two strangers- an older man and a girl who is apparently his young daughter- move in next door in Owen’s apartment complex. One night he meets the girl, Abby (Chloe Moretz), and warily befriends her. The trouble is, Abby is more than a mysterious twelve-year-old girl. As she tells Owen, “I’ve been twelve for a very long time.” And she needs blood to survive…
What then ensues is a darkly compelling tale of young love at its worst- and make no mistake, this is not a movie that some sappy teenaged girl would giggle at.
‘Let Me In’ achieves a level of sophistication that very few films in the horror genre have ever achieved, let alone today’s horror genre, which is full of films that by rights ought to be confined to Best Buy’s comedy aisle. Instead of relying on cheap scares and overdone gore, this movie relies almost solely on the weight of its characters. Owen is a very disturbed character, but he is vulnerable enough to inspire sympathy, and most of us will still be able to identify with his insecurity, especially in the face of an increasingly troubled world. Likewise, far from romanticizing the vampire concept, the character of Abby may finally remind audiences of the original intent of vampire lore: Shock and horror.
You might not know it based on today’s watered-down vampire flicks, but the original vampire is an inherently theological metaphor (just ask any informed Catholic). A vampire takes the blood of humans in order to extend its earthly life, in contrast with Christ sacrificing his blood so that we might attain eternal life in Heaven. Additionally, vampires act as effective symbols for demonic possession as understood by the Church, and this is especially true in the case of ‘Let Me In.’
Like a demon, the vampire has no power to invade unless it is invited in. We are also taught that a person without faith or a solid family structure will be more vulnerable to demonic possession, and, thanks to his parents, Owen has neither. As such, when Abby’s true identity is revealed to him, instead of fleeing from her, Owen is thrown into serious moral confusion. Without either a person or an institution to serve as the basis for his morality, Owen is slowly coaxed into the night by the only creature that has ever shown genuine interest in him.
Owen’s predicament should seem familiar, for it is precisely the predicament of what was once known as the Christian West.
Christian thought still perpetuates life in America and Europe in more ways than the secular left cares to admit, but there is currently in our society a movement to purge God- that is, the source of our understanding of good and evil- from public life. As a result, “evil” as a concept has been largely deconstructed. The media loves to talk about war and revolution in socio-economic terms, but what about moral terms? “Enfranchised” and “disenfranchised” have largely replaced the terms “good” and “evil” in the media's vocabulary. In the wake of our institutional abandonment of Christianity, the meanings behind words like “good” or “evil” have been called into question, and the consequences have been disastrous.
Recall ‘The Exorcist’, one of the greatest horror films of all time, a film concerned with recognizing the difference between good and evil before evil can triumph. ‘Let Me In’ is the other side of that coin. It serves as a stern warning about what the future holds, should we fail to recognize that all-important difference.
Re-watching the movie on DVD, I noted that the film’s opening scene includes a televised speech by Ronald Reagan utilizing a quote popularly attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville.
“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good…”
And with that not-so-subtle nudge, the best horror film of the decade commences.
