True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series) (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Rabbit ears on pawn shop televisions are about my speed; needless to say, I don't watch television. However, kind friends mainline this series two or three shows at a time, and they got me hooked: were I to be completely honest, I might have to admit to giving serious thought to obtaining this by less-than-legal-means. It actually might be worth jail time.
Speaking as someone who was born in America's deep South, this series captures everything about Louisiana that is appealing. (Spanish Moss, vampires, latent racism and homophobia, the dichotomy between Christian Southern values and patriarchal, brutality-enforced poverty, sassy Southern women who know how to fight with chains, etc.)
What it makes it really stand out, though, is the casting: there isn't a bad actor in the bunch--and they are all believable as Southern archetypes. Nelsan Ellis as the short order cook/drug dealer Lafayette and Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin as the romantic leads give mesmerizing performances.
True Blood, or possibly the original series of books from which it arose, is an arresting set of stories: Faulkner says that the only thing really worth writing about (or thinking about, by extension) is the human heart in conflict with itself. The Southern United States depicted in True Blood is conflict embodied--you are a supposed to be a good Christian, and follow the rules of an established society, but you live in the middle of a swamp so dense and wild that it believably could be home to minions of Satan, like vampires.
It's a lot to think about. If you are one of those artistic/professional types with too much to do, don't start watching this; it becomes an obsession.
And Now: A Short Review of the Actual DVD--this is the regular, not Blu-Ray version, as my $100.00, cigarette-burned, pawn shop t.v. doesn't do Blu-Ray.
Price: $10.00 less than my local electronics store.
Extras: There is some very funny stuff here that was not on the original websites for the series: ads for lawyers for vampires; vampire hotels; vampire dating, all done with the appropriate levels of fake bad acting and camp.
Don't be afraid to look at the French language ad as well. It uses all of six French words which you probably already know.
There is also a short video parody of someone like Hugh Downs doing an in-depth report on vampires. Complete with bad video backgrounds for foreign locales and hokey vampire internet conspiracies, this is a well-done, satirical background take on some of the 'vampire movement's more glossed-over history.
One negative: the commentary tracks play over the original episodes; it's neat to watch for about five minutes, and then it's a little bit like dissecting a romantic relationship--the mystery dies once the magic involved gets out into the bright light of day.
However, overall, True Blood Season One is well worth watching again--particularly in the pilot episode, the acting, and the effort the cast and crew put into characterization and detail, is even more obvious the second time around.


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TRUE BLOOD chronicles the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps... where vampires have emerged from the coffin, and no longer need humans for their fix. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin, Golden Globe(R)-winner for "True Blood", Academy Award®-winner for "The Piano") works as a waitress at the rural bar Merlotte's. Though outwardly a typical young woman, she keeps a dangerous secret: she has the ability to hear the thoughts of others. Her situation is further complicated when the bar gets its first vampire patron - 173-year old Bill Compton (Steven Moyer, "Quills") - and the two outsiders are immediately drawn to each other. Delivering the best of what audiences have come to expect from Creator and Executive Producer Alan Ball (writer of Oscar®-winning Best Picture "American Beauty", creator of the Emmy® Award-winning HBO® series "Six Feet Under"), TRUE BLOOD is a dark and sexy tale that boldly delves into the heart - and the neck - of the Deep South.
DVD Features:Audio CommentaryDocumentaryOther

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)In Season Three of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Joss Whedon and the show's writers proved that the series could survive Buffy killing Angel. For Season Four the task was to prove that "BtVS" could survive losing Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley, who were spun off into their own film noir vampire detective series. The surprising success of their effort is displayed in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season," a season that is more impressive with each viewing.
When last we left our heroes most of them had just survived graduating from high school. Now Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and Oz (Seth Green) are off to UC-Sunnydale while Xander (Nicholas Brendon) tries to survive in the real world and Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) twiddles his thumbs in his apartment. Instead of the "high school is hell" idea, the underlying symbolism of the season is now the brave new world of college. Buffy has moved out of the house to live in the college dorm (surprising), but with somebody other than Willow (more surprising), and is trying to move beyond Angel (sad, but not surprising). After a dalliance with Parker Abrams (Adam Kaufman), the personification of that horrible "transition" person your friends always warned you about after your first big breakup, Buffy hooks up with clean-cut Iowa farm boy Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), charming psychology graduate assistant by day, Initiative super-soldier by night.
By now we are familiar with the double-story arc structure of a "BtVS" season. For Season Four the first half story arc has to do with the mystery of the Initiative, while the second half is the confrontation with Adam. More importantly, there are several monumental character changes inspired by the desire to keep a couple of actors and the decision of another cast member to leave. Wanting to keep James Marsters around, the idea of putting that bloody chip in Spike's head, neutering the vampire when it comes to putting the bite on human beings, was a masterstroke (and, dare I say, surprising). Suddenly, Spike is a de facto Scooby. Meanwhile, with Emma Caulfield sticking around as Anya, she becomes the show's comic relief in place of her boyfriend Xander. Then, when Seth Green left the show to concentrate on films, what we thought was an offhanded comment in "Doppelgangland" suddenly comes to fruition for Willow when she meets Wicca wannabee Tara (Amber Benson). All of these changes end up having much more significant impacts on the show than the addition of Riley Finn as Buffy's new love interest.
Season Four begins with a lot of interpersonal issues, from trouble with dorm mates ("Living Conditions") to getting dumped ("The Harsh Light of Day," "Wild at Heart"), before getting caught up in the mystery of all those soldier types running around the campus in the dark ("The Initiative"). Buffy and Riley finally discover the truth about each other in the landmark episode "Hush," the only episode ever to earn Joss Whedon a well deserved Emmy nomination for Best Writing of a Drama (insert outrage over snubs of "The Body" and "Once More With Feeling" here, please). The second half of the season finds Riley learning to work with Buffy ("Doomed") and Buffy enjoying working with the Initiative ("A New Man") before Professor Maggie Walsh (Lindsay Crouse) tries to kill her ("The I in Team") and her stitched together uber-demon Adam (George Hetzberg) breaks free and sets up the final confrontation ("Primeval").
Ultimately, the strength of a season is judged by the episodes that are essentially off the main story arcs. For Season Four this means a Halloween episode with one of the best punch lines ever ("Fear, Itself"), the great Buffy and Faith mind-switch ("This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You?"), the discovery that the coolest and most important in the world is Jonathan Levenson ("Superstar"), and the hilarious insanity of Willow's wish list ("Something Blue"). Of course on that last episode once again the joke is on us as the alternative reality give us a preview of what is to come down the road. One of the most unique aspects of this season was that the climatic battle with the year's big bad happens in the penultimate episode and the season finale, "Restless," serves as an actual epilogue as Buffy and friends encounter the First Slayer (Sharon Ferguson), and sets the stage for significant develops to come.
The fact that Season Two ended with the greatest episode ever of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in "Becoming, Part II," when Buffy has to kill Angel to save the world, obscures the fact that on balance Season Three and Season Four were both stronger seasons overall. The operatic finales might not reach the same heights, but the lows are higher and the on average score is higher. The worst episode of Season Four is probably the season premier, "The Freshman," which suffers because like all first episodes in a season of "BtVS" the goal is to have Buffy rededicate herself to being the Slayer so that new viewers can feel like they understand the gig. If anything, Season Four reaffirms that the strength of this show is character development and not just vampire slaying.
Final Comment: It is nice to see that the extras for Season Four contain twice as many commentary tracks as we have been privy to for each of the previous three collections. In a perfect world it would be great if all of the episodes had commentary, provided by shifting tag-team combinations of writers and actors, in the tradition of the very early episodes of "Farscape" on DVD, but I have long had the feeling that the cast of "BtVS" is rather intimidated by the encyclopedic knowledge of the show enjoyed by its fan base.

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Buffy begins college feeling completely overwhelmed. But once the monsters show up, it's just like old times. Then she strats dating Riley, a handsome commando battling the same monsters. He's part of a secret organization called The Initiative and Buffy is all too happy to join the team. But she soon suspects The Initiative may be more dangerous than the monsters they are supposed to be battling . . .

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Seasons 1-4 (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)Many media and television critics have labeled BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER the new Star Trek, and there is a very real sense in which this will prove to be true: like Star Trek, Buffy is about to have as big or bigger an existence as when the show was in first run. There is a very, very simple reason for this: a gigantic number of people have mindlessly and dismissingly ignored Buffy, wrongly thinking it is just a show for teenagers. In fact, it is unquestionably one of the intelligent, funny, engaging, and brilliant shows in the history of television. Even at its peak, Buffy was able to catch only a very small amount of the viewing audience. All of this means: there are a lot of potential Buffy fans out there.
This set is perfect for either of two individuals. For those very small number of Buffy fanatics who for whatever reason haven't been able to afford the previous box sets, this will afford a remarkably inexpensive way of collecting the first four seasons. The list price for the entire set is only twice as much as the cost of the box sets of seasons 2, 3, or 4. This truly is an amazing bargain.
This should never have achieved television greatness, yet it did. When Buffy premiered, it seemed the height of folly to do a low-budget television show based on a mediocre film. It seemed obvious to many that no show produced by a fledgling network (initially the WB and later the even smaller UPN) with the words BUFFY, VAMPIRE and SLAYER in its title could be more intelligent, innovative, and superb than anything produced by the BBC, or HBO, or the broadcast networks. But one of the great things about Buffy is that it almost immediately began destroying all ones assumptions and misconceptions.
After the first season, Buffy began to eschew the format common to most TV shows where each episode contains a self-contained story, but instead opted for season long (or more) story arcs previously found in series like TWIN PEAKS, THE X-FILES, BABYLON 5, and the soaps. These long arcs are unquestionably a source of much the show's great power with fans, but it is also the reason that many potential new viewers were unable to get into the show. After a period of time, there was simply too much back story to pick up. This set should allow anyone to get the full Buffy experience, at least through the first four seasons. The show also broke with previous formats in combining comedy, romance, action, suspense, and realism in a degree not previously found on television. One episode might be primarily comedic, the next intensely romantic, another tragic, but most often one show would combine all of these. The show always did very poorly in Emmy nominations (despite being vastly better than any of the other shows nominated; that it didn't at the very least win every writing award is testimony to how absurd these awards are), and part of the reason is surely the fact that it fit uneasily in the established categories.
Season One is in many ways the weakest season in the history of the show, but it is nevertheless amazingly successful. Almost in the first fifteen minutes, the core characters have been introduced and the chemistry that would drive the central friendships established. The season primarily consists of self-contained episodes, though a few themes that go season-long and even into the second season are introduced. We meet Willow, Xander, and Giles, who form the heart of the Scooby Gang through all seven seasons of the show, along with Angel and Cordelia, who depart after season three for Los Angeles and Angel's own show. Despite an excruciatingly small budget, Joss Whedon (the creative genius behind Buffy and Angel) and his team achieve miracles.
Season Two is when the show achieves true greatness. The central story is that of the doomed love between Buffy and Angel, and there surely has been no more heart breaking pair of lovers in TV history. The show hits its full strike and rushes through a brilliant set of episodes, and along the way expands the cast to include Oz, who turns out to be a werewolf, and a pair of Sid and Nancy vampires, the platinum-haired Spike and his insane psychic girlfriend Druscilla. The final episode of the season is one of the most heart wrenching, and I defy any but the most hardhearted of individuals not to shed a tear or two.
Season Three picks up where the previous one left off, and instantly proves it is capable telling stories with astonishing virtuosity. The Gang is in its final year of high school and as befitting seniors, the problems they face are more emotionally challenging, and all are called upon to deal with fresh disappointments and problems requiring more mature reactions. A new major character, Faith the rogue slayer, is introduced, and story of her embattled relationship with Buffy is a story that extends for more than just the one season and just the one show, carrying over onto ANGEL as well.
In Season Four, Willow, Buffy, and Oz go off to college; Giles is unemployed (having previously been librarian at Sunnydale High), and Xander striving to find his way after high school. The season contains several superb episodes, including the highly acclaimed "Hush," performed with no dialogue for most of the show.
These first four seasons are almost beyond criticism they are so remarkable. I urge anyone who hasn't experienced Buffy to do so, especially those who considered themselves smart, savvy, and literate. If ever there was a show made for smart people, it is this one. Just get over the silly name and your misconceptions, and take the plunge. You won't regret it.

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The Hunger: The Complete First Season (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)This was a Showtime series back in the late 90's. It was produced by brothers Ridley and Tony Scott. The show is basically Tales From The Crypt without the in-your-face black humor and less interested in the scares and more interested in the eroticism of its stories. It's a spin off of the Tony Scott directed film of the same name starring David Bowie(who would go on to host the second season's episodes). The whole show is on the same level as that film. It's filmed in the similar smokey style, the sex is explicit and integral, and it involves the supernatural world on some level or another.
Most of the episodes are really entertaining, all only running about 25 minutes, and all are introduced by a very cheeky Terrence Stamp. Tony Scott even takes the directorial reins on the first episode of this season and the next. Some familar faces show up as well like Lena Headey(300, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles), Karen Black(Trilogy of Terror, Five Easy Pieces), Daniel Craig(what, you live under a rock? He's the new Bond!), Curtis Armstrong(Revenge of the Nerds, Risky Business), and some others. Actually, this may only be interesting to me, but this is the only time you'll ever see Curtis "Booger" Armstrong involved in a sex scene. Whether that's good or simply interesting is up for you to decide.
The transfer for this first season DVD set is pristine. It's fullframe, though. Not sure if it was filmed that way like Tales From The Crypt, but it seems to have been framed with the intention of fullframe. The sound and colors all shine. There are no really good special features to brag about. On the fourth disc you get a 20 minute featurette that goes beind the scenes of the second season and gives you a preview of it as well. There are interviews with the show's creators and producers including Ridley and Tony Scott, but nothing too deep or insightful. You get some tid bits in regard to what their intentions with this show were. It's worth checking out and it does wet your appetite for season two, which I believe was the last season this fine show had.
They better release the second season and not pull an Outer Limits, the other really good anthology show that aired on Showtime. I mean this show is only two seasons long so I would hoep that it's not a problem. We'll see. This is more like the old HBO series The Hitch Hiker then it is The Outer Limits or Tales From The Crypt. So, keep that in mind and remember this show is about dark and supernatural eroticism, so if you're offended by all the boobies and girating man-parts just skip it all together. The sexuality plays a major role in the character development and almost all the themes of every episode. CHECK IT OUT!

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Indulge your obsessions... 22 tales of the forbidden and bizarre as seen on Showtime
Terence Stamp hosts the first season of this spine-tingling horror anthology series from Executive Producers Tony and Ridley Scott, which features a phenomenal cast of familiar faces (including Karen Black, Joanna Cassidy, Daniel Craig, Bruce Davison, Giancarlo Esposito, Colin Ferguson, Jason Flemyng, Balthazar Getty, Lena Headey, Margot Kidder, Sally Kirkland, Jason Scott Lee, Chad Lowe, Stephen McHattie and Timothy Spall) as you've never seen them before. Inspired by leading genre writers, each episode will draw you into a mesmerizing world of terrifying characters and erotic encounters, where demons feed on the weakness of men and temptation consumes reason.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season (Slim Set) (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)Season three: How can the cast of Buffy even hope to top the glorious second season? Well, for starters the very first episode is great. In "ANNE", still hurting from the events that occurred at the end of season 2, Buffy tries to forget her past and lives in another town working a waitress job until a girl recognizes her and asks for her help. Buffy realizes who and what she is and returns to Sunnydale, where the Scoobies have been filling in for the Slayer's absence. Then there is the addition of a new Slayer, Faith (Eliza Dukshu...remember her in True Lies? All grown up!!) who appears in Sunnydale as a powerful ally for the Buffy and the scoobies. This is short-lived though, as she soon becomes one of their greatest threats. The foreshadowing of plotlines in the second season become apparent as this season's villain is introduced...none other than the mayor of Sunnydale, who is attempting to ascend into a true/pure demon.
This season boasts many of the show's strongest episodes such as "The Wish", where Cordelia unknowingly makes a wish to a vengeance demon (Anyanka, who becomes the Anya we all love to laugh at later) and wishes that Buffy never came to Sunnydale. This episode is grand, as we see an alternate reality where Buffy left California and never stopped the Master from rising and as a result, he succeeded in opening the Hellmouth. Truly one of the better episodes. We also are given a taste of foreshadowing in later episodes...Buffy's sister Dawn (to come in season 5) is mentioned in a glimmer of dialogue that will remain meaningless until two years later (can you find the episode? Hint...listen to both Faith and Buffy talk in the later epsiodes). Faith is terrific as Buffy's nemesis, a Slayer just like her.Oh, did I mention Angel returns from a hell dimension as well?
The scoobies get their own star time as well. In "THE ZEPPO", Xander proves that he is more than just the weak part of the group, adept at getting them donuts and not much else. In "THE WISH" and "DOPPLEGANGLAND", we get to see a Vamp Willow...very interesting and two of the season's best episodes. This season also brings us more of the Watcher's Council, the mysterious group that Giles works for including Wesley, who later leaves to aid Angel and Cordelia in Los Angeles in the spin-off show Angel. And finally, we get to see the Scoobies graduate in a very typical Sunnydale fashion...with a huge battle. It was hard to top season two, but this season is more of Joss Whedon's masterpiece of television; let people and critics shun it...we all know great TV when we see it.

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All 22 classic episodes are available for the first time in this exclusive 6-disc collectorÂ's edition. From Â"Faith, Hope & Trick,Â" Â"Band CandyÂ" and Â"Bad GirlsÂ" to Â"Consequences,Â" Â"EnemiesÂ" and Â"Graduation Day, Part Two,Â" these Season Three episodes are a must for every true Buffy fan.

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Angel: Seasons 1-5 (Collectors Set) (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)To begin I must confess, the only time I have watched Angel..was after it arrived at my door this week in a cute little package. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge "Buffy" fan and own the Chosen Collection (Seasons 1-7). But because I have only recently started watching Angel, this review is for the boxset itself.
Since, I have the Chosen collection, I cannot help but compare the two. Angel the series comes in a (obviously) box, with 5 separate DVD holders that layer to make the face of our lovely brooding Vamp-hero-person guy. The sturdiness of the DVD holders caught my eye right off, they are much better than those in the Chosen collection (which were basically bonded with a weak adhesive) The box kinda folds apart, when you lift the lid, a panel falls down so you can see all the DVD season holders, the panel that falls down has a color pic of the Angel Cast. (this is similar to the Chosen collection)
The set includes a color-print booklet that outlines each episode with a short description. Each page highlights 3-4 episodes (the same number of eps. on the corresponding disc) and on the opposite page is a breakdown of the chapters in each show.
The most exciting feature (for me) is the letter from Joss Whedon to the "Angel Fan". A full letter comes folded in a blue envelope in which Joss Whedon discusses Angel, they whys and hows, and highlights some of his favorite moments. In comparison to the letter in the Chosen collection, Angel takes the cake.
The set is a bit pricey, but if you don't already have the individual seasons and like me, have been thinking and thinking that you MUST watch Angel in order to feel like a true Buffy-verse fan, then go ahead, indulge yourself! ;)
Though I am technically a new fan (not even through the 1st season yet!), for this past show, it has already made me laugh and cry. Some old and new faces to fall in love with.
So sit back, and let the dark mysterious stranger that is our beloved Angel entertain you, I don't think he will disappoint, he hasn't me yet!


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ANGEL SEASON 1 (6 DISCS)
ANGEL SEASON 2 (6 DISCS)
ANGEL SEASON 3 (6 DISCS)
ANGEL SEASON 4 (6 DISCS)
ANGEL SEASON 5 (6 DISCS)

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True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series) (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Rabbit ears on pawn shop televisions are about my speed; needless to say, I don't watch television. However, kind friends mainline this series two or three shows at a time, and they got me hooked: were I to be completely honest, I might have to admit to giving serious thought to obtaining this by less-than-legal-means. It actually might be worth jail time.
Speaking as someone who was born in America's deep South, this series captures everything about Louisiana that is appealing. (Spanish Moss, vampires, latent racism and homophobia, the dichotomy between Christian Southern values and patriarchal, brutality-enforced poverty, sassy Southern women who know how to fight with chains, etc.)
What it makes it really stand out, though, is the casting: there isn't a bad actor in the bunch--and they are all believable as Southern archetypes. Nelsan Ellis as the short order cook/drug dealer Lafayette and Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin as the romantic leads give mesmerizing performances.
True Blood, or possibly the original series of books from which it arose, is an arresting set of stories: Faulkner says that the only thing really worth writing about (or thinking about, by extension) is the human heart in conflict with itself. The Southern United States depicted in True Blood is conflict embodied--you are a supposed to be a good Christian, and follow the rules of an established society, but you live in the middle of a swamp so dense and wild that it believably could be home to minions of Satan, like vampires.
It's a lot to think about. If you are one of those artistic/professional types with too much to do, don't start watching this; it becomes an obsession.
And Now: A Short Review of the Actual DVD--this is the regular, not Blu-Ray version, as my $100.00, cigarette-burned, pawn shop t.v. doesn't do Blu-Ray.
Price: $10.00 less than my local electronics store.
Extras: There is some very funny stuff here that was not on the original websites for the series: ads for lawyers for vampires; vampire hotels; vampire dating, all done with the appropriate levels of fake bad acting and camp.
Don't be afraid to look at the French language ad as well. It uses all of six French words which you probably already know.
There is also a short video parody of someone like Hugh Downs doing an in-depth report on vampires. Complete with bad video backgrounds for foreign locales and hokey vampire internet conspiracies, this is a well-done, satirical background take on some of the 'vampire movement's more glossed-over history.
One negative: the commentary tracks play over the original episodes; it's neat to watch for about five minutes, and then it's a little bit like dissecting a romantic relationship--the mystery dies once the magic involved gets out into the bright light of day.
However, overall, True Blood Season One is well worth watching again--particularly in the pilot episode, the acting, and the effort the cast and crew put into characterization and detail, is even more obvious the second time around.


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TRUE BLOOD chronicles the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps... where vampires have emerged from the coffin, and no longer need humans for their fix. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin, Academy Award®-winner for "The Piano") works as a waitress at the rural bar Merlotte's. Though outwardly a typical young woman, she keeps a dangerous secret: she has the ability to hear the thoughts of others. Her situation is further complicated when the bar gets its first vampire patron - 173-year old Bill Compton (Steven Moyer, "Quills") - and the two outsiders are immediately drawn to each other. Delivering the best of what audiences have come to expect from Creator and Executive Producer Alan Ball (writer of Oscar®-winning Best Picture "American Beauty", creator of the Emmy® Award-winning HBO® series "Six Feet Under"), TRUE BLOOD is a dark and sexy tale that boldly delves into the heart - and the neck - of the Deep South.

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Let Me In (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)Let Me In is one of the most beautiful films of the year, and probably the best remake that I have ever seen. It is based on the Swedish film, Let The Right One In, which was released two years ago to monumental acclaim from both critics and art-house audiences alike. This touching story, concerning a young man's crush on a 12 year old vampire named Eli, captured the hearts and minds of everyone who was lucky enough to see it. If Ingmar Bergman were to direct a vampire-themed film, it would look a lot like this. However, one should not think of the film as yet another entry into the recent "vampire" craze. It is much more than that. This is the film that Twilight only wishes that it could be.
The remake deviates structurally from the original, only in that the opening is a bit different, and a few minor characters have been altered or dropped altogether. The integrity of the storytelling remains intact, and as a result, much of the remake resembles the original in all of its snow-drenched glory.
Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Owen, a lonely young man who is constantly bullied at school in the most brutal fashion. He spends his evenings at home playing with knives, and spying on the attractive neighbor next door. In addition to these disturbing quirks, he has an almost addictive fondness for Now and Laters, and constantly eats the candy throughout the film. Chloe Moretz plays Abby, a young girl who moves in next door with a man that we initially assume is her father. The two meet on the playground one night, and bond over the intricacies of a Rubick's Cube. Soon, Owen develops a crush on his new friend, oblivious that Abby is really a vampire, and that her "dad" is in fact a serial killer, who creeps out into the night, stalking and killing random victims in order to bring buckets of blood back to Abby, in order that she will survive.
Meanwhile, an older cop tries to figure out who the mysterious killer is, as the bodies continue to surface. As far as Owen is concerned, the bullying still continues at school, but with a little advice from Abby, and a little bit of weight training, Owen realizes that he can stand up for himself in one of the film's most shocking - and darkly comic - sequences. It doesn't take long for Owen to realize who and what Abby really is. In all of his fright and confusion, he decides to stay by her side, and as a result, Abby vows to protect Owen in the only way that she knows how.
As I said, this is one of the best films of the year. Both of the leads deserve Oscar nominations for their layered performances. The cinematography is breathtaking. The score is beautiful, although there are moments in the film that could do without a background score. This is my only criticism of this otherwise perfect film. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) has crafted a worthy tribute with Let Me In.
It is worth mentioning that this film is rated R, and while the film centers on two adolescents, it is not a film for the 12 and under crowd. It is much too disturbing at times, and the language is pretty rough. I would also encourage Twilighters to see the film, so that they may have a clear example of a film (Let Me In) and a product (Twilight).


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From Matt Reeves – the director of Cloverfield – comes the new vampire classic that critics are calling 'chillingly real" (Scott Bowles, USA Today), 'one of the best horror films of the year" (Cinematical) and 'a haunting, touching and unforgettable thriller" (Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine).In bleak New Mexico, a lonely, bullied boy, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee of The Road), forms a unique bond with his mysterious new neighbor, Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz of Kick-Ass), who moves from town to town with the man who appears to be her father (Oscar Nominee Richard Jenkins of The Visitor).Trapped in the mind and body of a child, however, Abby is forced to hide a horrific secret of bloodthirsty survival.But in a world of both tenderness and terror, how can you invite in the one friend who may unleash the ultimate nightmare?Based on the Swedish novel, Let the Right One In, 'Let Me In is a dark and violent love story, a beautiful piece of cinema and a respectful rendering of my novel for which I am grateful." (John Ajvide Lindqvist, author)

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