Time for a bit of Gaelic garlic and sibling rivalry as one brother struggles with his ne-er do well older brother who just happens to be a vampire in the new horror comedy LET THE WRONG ONE IN, which recently had its’ Scottish Premiere at the Glasgow Frightfest 2022.
For brothers Matt (Karl Rice) and Deco (Eoin Duffy) they are lost in the shadows in their relationship. Deco has been kicked out of the family home by their mother due to his junkie habits, but whilst out on the town for the craic, he gets bitten by a bride-to-be who herself has just had to deal with somebody from deepest Eastern Europe and the town is about to be painted red.
Deco gets invited back into the house, unbeknownst to the disapproving mother and a doctor, Henry (Anthony Head, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) turns up at the house at Matt’s request to look at the marks on Deco’s head. However, he isn’t a doctor, but the fiancé of the infected woman who has just taken a bite near to Deco’s Adam’s Apple who reveals that his vampish girl and her fellow hens are planning a major party at a local club called ‘The Crypt’ – and all are invited to suck up to them.
Deco has extra complications in the form of his girlfriend, Natalie (Lisa Haskins) who has left repeated messages on his voice-mail -and might want to leave a more permanent physical message on his forehead if he doesn’t respond asap….
Writer/director Conor McMahon’s delightfully energetic and balanced mix of laughs-meets-neck lacerations taps into the joys of SHAUN OF THE DEAD and Sam Raimi’s original EVIL DEAD, with a touch of Joel Schumacher’s THE LOST BOYS thrown in, bound with a fair amount of that wild-eyed passion and soul from Alan Parker’s THE COMMITMENTS where disbelief and genuine desire combine to try and achieve a few dreams or nightmares in the process.
Great gore effects (and issues over rabbit-as-food over rabbit food) add to the ghoulish charms. Good performances all round and the appearance of Head in his old stake-out ground give this crowd-pleasing crossover.
