Movies
Don’t Let Him In (V)
Once things take a turn for the worse in a rather predictable fashion, we’re treated to yet another predictable twist that attempts to make the film more than it really is. Wrap it up with a cheap explanation as to why everything is happening at the end, and you’ve got nothing more than a lazy 79-minute bore.
Indie British thrillers are usually a sure thing. Maybe it’s their dry humor or tendency to simply charm the pants off of us with their accents, but flicks like Severance and Eden Lake prove that low-budget, independent thrillers from across the pond are generally a welcome addition to your DVD collection. Sadly, Don’t Let Him In is not one of those movies.
Don’t Let Him In follows the unfortunate experience of two couples as they visit a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway. Happy couple Paige and Calvin is forced to deal with Mandy, Calvin’s immature sister, and Tristan, her most recent one-night stand. Upon their arrival they learn of the “Tree Surgeon,” a serial killer with a penchant for hanging body parts from the trees. As they settle in for a night of incessant bickering and a healthy dose of mistrust, the arrival of a mysterious man, stabbed by an unknown assailant, causes an otherwise ordinary night to devolve into a struggle for survival. Mediocrity ensues.
Which is a shame, really. Don’t Let Him In is, at heart, a slasher film, yet it desperately wants to be a psychological thriller. Working under the auspices of the “whodunit” motif, the film starts off slow, attempting to build suspense through questionable characters with unclear motives. Once things take a turn for the worse in a rather predictable fashion, we’re treated to yet another predictable twist that attempts to make the film more than it really is. Wrap it up with a cheap explanation as to why everything is happening at the end, and you’ve got nothing more than a lazy 79-minute bore.
Given that it’s direct-to-DVD, the amount of extras are pretty impressive, with a behind-the-scenes featurette, clocking in at 41:22, topping the list. While the film itself leaves a lot to be desired, the opening spiel by writer/director/producer Kelly Smith talking about the long road that lead him to making the film is rather interesting. In watching Smith discuss the idea behind his film, his words echo many of mine in the review above. I suppose this is a good thing; he did get the point across, it just didn’t work in the way he had hoped. Despite this, hearing Smith talk about the film gives you a newfound respect for it. You may not like the movie, but his passion and love for it and independent film is undeniable and admirable.
Sadly, fans of visual FX are left with little more than a 01:16 collection of scenes that quickly compares before and after scenes of many of the film’s effects shots, created by Aetas Film. Sure, it’s interesting (as someone ignorant of how most effects or done, I found it rather intriguing), but it’s so short it’s nothing more than a tease. Tack on a trailer and the requisite commentary, the latter of which is pretty impressive for a DTV independent horror flick, and you round out the special features. Some good, some bad, but enough to compel fans of the film to purchase it.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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