It seems that the preponderance of horror films that have been released lately are focusing on terrible creatures that have been reduced to angst ridden emo teen idols. Thankfully, some of the genre’s filmmakers have eschewed this regrettable path trying to restore some of the elements that made this type of movie so compelling. A case in point is under consideration here, ‘Don't Let Him In’. It returns to when encountering the antagonist of the film results is fright and a deadly amount of blood and gore instead of a teen girl broken heartedly consuming a quart of Rocky Road bemoaning breaking up with her undead boyfriend. To be fair, this film does contain a touch of bad relationship decisions at the core of the story but the guy is neither a werewolf nor vampire, just a good old fashion serial killer. The archetype of the serial killer has managed to captivate the darkest recesses of the public imagination for well over a century. The tabloid press frightened the people of old London town regaling them with the sensationalistic details of Jack the Ripper. Since then serial killers have provided a rich source of inspiration for screenwriters and ‘Don't Let Him In’ is just the latest in a long string that is far from ending. While not even close to the films at the zenith of the genre it does hold its own and presents itself as an honest attempt to create an old school horror flick. The flaws they can be found here are mostly technical in nature reflecting the inexperience of the filmmaker. It must be noted that these procedural missteps do not reflect what is obviously a talented auteur discovery his own unique style. It takes time for any director to establish his means of artistic expression. This natural course is made more difficulty when the filmmaker chooses to go against the current public expectations to return to a previous format of the genre. The serial killer has a greater potential in a horror movie due largely to their existence in the real world. Your chances of being killed or falling wildly in love with a vampire are indistinguishable from nonexistent but an unfortunate group of people have crossed paths with a serial killer encountering a painful death as a result.

Every parent provide sage life advice to their children but in the case of those of us with daughters it inevitably includes warnings about avoiding the ‘wrong’ type’ of boy. Most of us fathers would classify possession of a ‘Y’ chromosome and pulse as grounds for such a classification but the more realistic among us will mitigate these draconian criteria to a more realistic good hearted, hard working man. There is little doubt that Mandy (Gemma Harvey) had received similar admonitions at some point in her young life but apparently she has failed to take a few of the more pertinent ones to heart. Not only would any realistic advice warn against engaging in a one night stand but not even the worse parent would condone taking a trip to the country side after such a superficial encounter. Paige (Sophie Linfield) may have had such counsel but it obviously never registered. She had a passionate night with the charismatic financier Tristan (Gordon Alexander) to accompany her to a rustic retreat. The getaway was arranged by Mandy’s older brother Calvin (Rhys Meredith) and his girlfriend Paige (Sophie Linfield). Neither one is particularly happy about the extended invitation but Calvin is used to Mandy’s predilection towards ill advised, impulsive actions. The movie begins in medias res depicting the results of such dad decisions as a young woman is shown bound in a dark room watching a man in the shadows sawing off a foot from a human ankle. Fathers mat want to show this scene to their daughters on as regular basis under the guise of a cautionary tale. This ploy of piquing the attention of the audience is an accepted practice especially in horror flicks but I find it is not as effective as slowly building to a critical moment. The director and co-author of the script, Kelly Smith, proceeds with more imagination but this opening is effective but not completely indicative of the more original aspects of direction that is to follow. Much of Smith’s prior experience was listed as a ‘negative cutter’ but it obviously afforded an education experience that he is putting to good use. As the plot unfolds we discover that the extent of Mandy’s brash invitation is far worse than anyone could have imagined. Evidence mounts indicating this attractive, beguiling man is a heinous serial killer. The nom de voyage attributed to him by the media is ‘The Tree Surgeon’ due to his propensity for cutting the limbs from his hapless victims using the body parts top festoons the trees. Since this flick is being released just after the holidays you might say he plans to deck the trees with parts of Holly. Please forgive the pun, I couldn’t help it.

To make a story like this work a few necessities must be dutifully checked off. Smith attends to them properly providing the mandatory isolation in the English countryside and the intrusion of a wild card character into this little group. A standard plot device favored by scary camp fire stories is the hitchhiker. Right on cue Shawn (Sam Hazeldine), the aforementioned hitchhiker, staggers in with a serious looking wound to the abdomen. This allows the audience a modicum of reasonable doubt as to the identity of the murderer. Again Smith is to be applauded for willingness to increase the degree of difficulty in his freshman opus. It takes a delicate balance to pull off this maneuver and Smith comes exceedingly close to doing it. Aficionados of classic horror will unravel this twist prior to the official reveal but it was honestly injected in the story and the effort fully appreciated. Smith is certainly a fan of traditional gothic horror; something that is evident in the care he infuses into this work. his influences are plain to discern but the feeling here is not that he is ripping off the greats but rather like than of s student of painting interpreting the Masters to garner a full understanding of his craft before establishing a personal style. The way smith permits the circumstances to simmer demonstrates a willingness to be a story teller instead of relying on shock value. The film reported cost £750,000 which undoubtedly helped by precluding a reliance on effects in favor of good old fashion cinematic ingenuity. This is seen in the deliberate use of camera angles, lighting and set design. All of this points to a burgeoning career I look forward to following.