Tubi Tuesday: Let the Wrong One In (2022)

The charming, intentionally silly horror comedy “Let the Wrong One In” tries to do for vampires what “Shaun of the Dead” did for zombies.

How come we hardly ever see vampires stuck in an eternally mundane existence? What We Do in the Shadows’ hapless Derek aside, nearly every vampire seems to have access to limitless wealth and free time to engage in all manner of debauchery. While eternal life would certainly give you the time to amass some savings, surely there are some vampires out there who don’t manage to figure that out and instead end up working some dead-end job to make ends meet for the rest of eternity, right?

Doesn’t sound very fun, does it? Kinda punctures the fantasy of being a vampire, huh?

It turns out that maybe what we want is limitless wealth, free time, and plenty of good years to enjoy it. The other parts of vampire life? Not so much. Leave it to the Irish to show us that whether vampirism is a blessing or a curse may have more to do with who’s turning into one.

Let the Wrong One In is the most recent film from writer/director Conor McMahon, who, despite our very similar names, is, in fact, not my more talented doppelganger. You may know him from his 2012 film Stitches, a nasty and gleefully gory killer clown romp that has since developed a small cult following. Let the Wrong One In doesn’t really have Stitches’ mean streak, opting for more emotional resonance, but it’s still a fun and bloody romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously, at least for the most part.

At times, Let the Wrong One In feels like it’s going for a conscious homage to Shaun of the Dead.

Both have a deep awareness of their genre’s classics. Both feature protagonists trapped in a state of suspended male adolescence. Both feature some flashy editing and characters bumbling their way to heroism.

The comparisons might be inevitable, but Shaun set the standard for this type of homage/spoof, and there are surely worse movies to be compared to than probably the best horror-comedy of the millennium.

The suspended adolescent in question here is Deco (Eoin Duffy), a Dublin lowlife who stumbles over to his mum’s house after one of his many nights at the club, sporting a nasty bite on his neck and a sudden aversion to sunlight and garlic chips. It doesn’t take long for his more responsible younger brother Matt (Karl Rice) to figure out what’s happening: Deco’s been turned into a vampire.

Before long, he’s drawn the attention of a local vampire hunter named Henry (Buffy’s Anthony Head in a cheeky bit of stunt casting), who shows up at their doorstep with an arsenal of stakes at his disposal. Deco was turned by Henry’s ex-fiance Sheila (Mary Murray), the leader of a local bachelorette party/vampire coven, who plans to turn many more of Dublin’s party crowd to their side. It’s up to Karl and Deco to infiltrate the coven and save Dublin from a serious influx of bloodsuckers.

Let the Wrong One In is objectively a very silly movie.

However, also like Shaun, it attempts to give us a beating, blood-pumping heart through Deco and Matt’s relationship.

Deco could be described as a vampire long before he got bitten, bleeding his loved ones of their trust and patience to the point that he’s basically been written off by their mom. His relationship with Matt is strained even when he’s not trying to drain his blood. Weirdly, turning into a vampire gives Deco the chance to finally step up and take some responsibility, even if it takes him a long time to get there.

Sadly, it doesn’t quite manage to pull off the balance of humor and heart.

For most of its runtime, it’s unrepentantly silly and tongue-in-cheek, and its more emotional scenes feel like an odd fit. Duffy’s performance goes a long way toward making Deco likable in spite of himself, but his arc feels a bit unbalanced, and his turn toward reluctant heroism feels forced.

The whole “vampirism as addiction metaphor” thing is a bit overplayed at this point after stuff like The Addiction, Bliss, Thirst, and many others. McMahon doesn’t really find a unique angle on it here.

Luckily, the movie’s inspired wackiness and commitment to old-school horror craft carry the day when its emotional impact struggles.

McMahon delivers the copious blood splatter we’d expect from the director of Stitches, and its use of practical effects is delightful. It’s not exactly side-splitting, but the actors seem to know exactly what kind of movie they’re making and pitch their performances accordingly.

It opts for an ending that’s weirdly heartwarming, which I think was the smart choice.

We’ve seen vampirism as a curse plenty of times, but it sometimes takes turning into an undead monster to realize what’s important in life.