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Intent on following on its own path from the
original film, Dark Horse releases the official
prelude to the 2010 film "Let Me In," an
introduction four part comic book that takes the
time out to remind us that this is its own beast but
also very much like the story it takes from with
this new version. And much like the remake currently
in theaters, the prelude is about as dull as the
live action narrative primarily because as a story
about a vampire the entire atmosphere drains the
life out of the reader from page one. Rambling and
meandering, the entire comic takes so many pages of
dialogue and drab art to set up the ultimate hook of
the entire prelude which will lead in to Abby and
Thomas moving in to the apartment tenement that
leads Abby to meet Owen.
We
meet character whom we know will die, we meet
characters we know are being set up to die, and
there are characters whom are introduced to just to
set up the tension with a comic that's lacking in
action or suspense and really lays it on thick with
verbose exposition and clunky foreshadowing, all of
which is about on par with the movie in terms of
story craft. The entire focus of the prequel to the
movie is so far on the handler Thomas who is also as
dull here as he is on-screen. When he's not
lumbering around town hearing people talk about
property and real estate, he is busy trying to find
food for Abby who sits inside their farmhouse
waiting for the food. He picks up drifters and
brings them back to his barn for Abby to feast on,
and meets assorted characters in the town all of
whom are promising victims in Abby's enduring
hunger. Adding a noticeable inconsistency, the
writers peg Thomas as Abby's handler and guardian
forcing her in to doing whatever he thinks is
necessary where in the film Abby basically pushed
him around and made him her slave. |
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In
the film she wants to talk to Owen so she kicks
him out of his own room, while in the first
pages of the comic Thomas forces Abby to trade
her jewelry in for money and she can do nothing
but stand back and whine. "Let Me In:
Crossroads" is lacking in dread or atmosphere or
suspense and while the film wasn't remotely a
masterpiece, it at least succeeded in keeping
audiences attention. This prequel is just more
exploration in to uninteresting characters and
even posits the possibility that Abby had a
relationship before Owen, as she meets a young
stoner who she happens upon in the same way she
did with Owen, appearing on top of a car without
warning to greet him and retreat in to her home.
There's really no purpose or point to this
meeting because it fogs up the entire motive
behind Abby and Owen's relationship. In "Let Me
In" she seemed to want to befriend Owen at first
for food, then out of curiosity, and then as a
last resort for a new handler. Her happening
upon this young man makes her seem just like a
naive kid, when we're told quite clearly in the
film she's anything but. There
really doesn't seem to be much purpose for this
four part comic beyond expanding on bland
characters, offering some grim kills, and
threatening to show us Abby's demonic form,
which the film avoided doing at all costs. "Let
Me In: Crossroads" has nothing to offer for even
hardcore fans of "Let Me In." Sadly there is
such a thing. Unless you want more endless
dialogue and groan inducing foreshadowing to the
film, there's nothing here. |
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