Admittedly, I was quite baffled when I saw this film pop up in a brief New York Times article by Jeannette Catsoulis. Her somewhat favorable review, alongside comparisons to other iconic tween-centric properties such as The Goonies and Stranger Things, drew my morbid curiosity and I decided to view this film with an open mind, trying to stymie doubts about its quality and not go in to my viewing set out to dislike it. What transpired over this film's runtime left me confused and frustrated. Let's discuss!
This film was entirely bereft of atmosphere, compelling characters, and charm. The screenplay is shallow and predictable, relying almost completely on obvious, lazy tropes and formulas, from "Tragic Backstory = Instant Sympathetic Protagonist" to "Comic-Relief Sidekick" and all areas in-between. The characters, sequence of events, and set pieces are uninspired and derivative at best. When one inspects the filmography of the film's writer-director Craig Moss, who is responsible for gems such as "The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It" and "30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," one can understand immediately the quality to be expected from "Let Us In."
The script is so absent of creativity, it comes as no surprise that the performances of the actors and actresses involved are milquetoast and wooden, even from Tobin Bell of the "Saw" franchise, who is criminally underutilized as the "Creepy Town Weirdo" stereotype. At no point did I believe that there was confidence or energy placed in this film, both on-screen and off-screen. The cinematography is sterile and conventional, nothing is presented in an engaging or visually interesting manner to give this film any kind of identity. The score for this film is so painfully generic that I am convinced it was comprised exclusively of royalty-free music, it was that unbearable. The sheer volume of failures this film accumulates adds up over its runtime, resulting in an exponentially tedious experience.
Now if one wants to defend this film and its overwhelming wealth of flaws on the basis that it is a family-friendly horror film, that is very misguided. Having a family-friendly film of any kind, regardless of genre, does not necessitate a severe lack of quality and craftsmanship. The films "Coraline" and "Monster House" as well as the show "Gravity Falls" are prime examples of accessible, spooky, family-friendly media that have charm, are engaging and entertaining, and do not wallow in tedium and mediocrity. If the work is done and the effort is put in, then you'll never have to sacrifice quality for accessibility for all ages.
In short, "Let Us In" is a stellar role-model of what to avoid in filmmaking. If you as a viewer enjoy well-rounded characters, an intriguing premise, good humor, consistent internal logic, self-awareness, a half-decent script, and good chills, then do not waste your time with this, there are so many better options to choose from.
