Review: Don’t Let Her In

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Don’t Let Her In
Directed by Ted Nicolaou
Full Moon Features; MVD Entertainment
61 minutes, 2021 / 2022
www.facebook.com/fullmoonfeatures
www.fullmoonfeatures.com/
www.MVDentertainment.com

For those of us who either grew up in the ‘80s VHS video boom, or are a fan of that prolific period, this release has a definite draw. It was directed by Ted Nicolaou, who set off the infamous Subspecies franchise and gave us TerrorVision (1986).

I am assuming we have all heard the expression “roommate from hell,” and some may have even experienced this phenomenon. Well, what if that were more than just an expression? Imagine if the person sharing your flat was, say, the nanny who hung herself in The Omen (1976), or one of the building tenants in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). That is the starting point of this release.

Kelly Curran

A young couple live in a loft (at the iconic Nate Starkman & Son building in Los Angeles) that is freakin’ huge, and that they can’t really afford. There is Amber (Kelly Curran), who designs posters for indie horror films and looks like she popped out of an Archie Comic, with a blonde bob and teeth for miles. Her boyfriend is Ben (Cole Pender), a guitarist for an up-and-coming band. They need a roommate, and that person shows up in the form of Serena (Lorin Doctor), a dark and mysterious New Age-y artist who works with herbs and minerals, and also can be found chanting a lot. The direction this is going is pretty obvious from the start.

Of course, there is an ulterior motive for Serena being there while there is a stranger, Elias (Austin James Parker), who looks a bit like The Witcher, that is hanging around outside the building.

Lorin Doctor

We soon get to see Serena’s true nature (and often her boobs at the drop of a lingerie). She easily seduces the couple one by one, setting up the evil plan to spring forth from her involvement.

And now that Amber is pregnant, obviously with something beyond human, how will our young couple, who are about as committed to their relationship as they are to their breakfast cereal, deal with this situation?

Well, honestly, it’s pretty predictable, but please, keep reading. Even though the ending can be seen a mile away, this is a fun romp and so typical of the fare of Full Moon, short at an hour’s length, and to the point. You get what you wish for, and that is a Full Moon production. They aren’t known for rocket science, and that’s just the way it should be. This film definitely keeps on brand: nudity, gore, and demons. There is little to no fat that needs to be trimmed; it’s going in a direction and successfully gets there.

Cole Pender

Doctor has a kind of weird, almost Mortician Aadams kind of stroll when she’s in evil focus mode, with arms tight down at her sides and hands at nearly 90 degrees to her body. But everyone does their role well.

This is a very small, COVID-period cast of just four characters, but it’s Curran and Doctor who hold up the film. It’s sensual and bloody, with some really top notch practical demonic SFX.

There are essentially two extras added on the Blu-ray. The first is a bunch of Full Moon Production trailers of their newer stuff, such as The Resonator: Miskatonic U and Blade: The Iron Cross. This film is also represented. The other is a 9-minute Behind the Scenes featurette, that starts off focusing on the career of the director (including his work on the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), and then delves into the make-up and production of this film, with an interview with Curran.

Full Moon has a reputation for films just like this, that are quickly done and are effective, with extremely low budgets (but look really good) and tend to be a tad goofy. This is not a comedy, but there is an auteur feel to all their releases, and this one works. Also, there are a few times when characters are watching movies on the television, and you will never guess what production company they are from…

IMBD Listing HERE 

Review: Room 203

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Room 203
Directed by Ben Jagger
Ammo Entertainment; Vertical Entertainment; Voltage Pictures
104 minutes, 2022
www.vert-ent.com/
https://ammo-ent.com/

Apparently, 203 appears in many films on hotel or room numbers, if one does a Google search. According to one numerology site, “the number 203 resonates with freedom and experience…203 energy also resonates with relationships, with infinite possibilities, and with creative expression [and] can give rise to unanticipated and intense experience.” Also, 203 is a prime number (for those fans of the 1997 film Cube).

In this case, the pre-furnished Room 203 is located in an apartment building in Shreveport, Louisiana. It’s quite a lovely place, with a huge stained-glass window (leading to an amusing TS Eliot reference) giving a nice light and an imbuing an almost religious tone, presenting what looks like Knights Templars in battle. But the prologue shows that there is the presence of evil rather than good (not that any religion is necessarily good). This sets up the tone for the rest of what is to follow.

 

Francesca Xuereb, Vicktoria Vinyarska

We are introduced to blonde Kim (Francesca Xuereby), who is moving into the apartment, despite the reluctance of her parents. Mind you, she is on her way to start college as a journalism major (psych minor), so… Kim is to share the place with her lifelong friend (and “bad influence,” according to Kim’s mom, who’s a real peach), brunette wannabe actor Izzy (Vicktoria Vinyarska). The different hair colors can symbolize a few things, such as classical good (light, or pure) and evil (dark or troubled), or it could just be to help the viewer immediately distinguish between the two as we “meet” them.

Thanks to renovations, the top floor (20th, I am assuming) is empty, except for Kim and Iggy’s flat, and the obligatorily weird and robotically edgy landlord, Ronan (Scott Gremillion) who lives down the hall. Then Kim meets video journalist major Ian (Eric Wiegand, who reminds me a bit of Thurston Moore of the band Sonic Youth), and, ‘tah-dah,’ new boyfriend.

Thanks to the film’s prologue introduction, we know two key elements about the apartment, one being that one of the walls has something weird and mysterious happening, and the others are a locket that is more than a piece of metal and a miniature music box.

After some Izzy sleepwalking with the music box and other weirdness, Kim starts to get suspicious that something in the apartment is off. For a journalism student, it took her a while, but her and Ian start their research, which of course leads to some…research, if you get mah drift. This comes as no surprise, even if it is pretty fast. Canoodling comes quicker than realizing something is amiss and wanting to figure it out, which seems strange to me.

This could have easily been a Sigle White Female (1992) roommate from hell situation, but in this case the hell part is a bit more accurate as the story progresses past the first introductory act. There are a lot of layers in the film, even though it’s a bit of a slow burn with a bunch of jump scares, such as possession, ancient curses, a creepy industrial basement space, and a resident evil entity called The Morrígu, “a figure from Irish mythology… and it has been translated as ‘great queen’ or ‘phantom queen’… is mainly associated with war and fate especially with foretelling doom, death, or victory in battle. In this role she often appears as a crow … and [is] a shape-shifting goddess.” (Thank you, Wikipedia.)

As the third act unravels, we learn the truth behind secrets (one I should have seen from a mile away, but missed completely) and then there is the battle between, natch, good an evil.

A quibble I have here, and is too common in indie cinema these days, is that some of the film is quite dark. Even the apartment, at night, the old table lamps are just not bright enough; personally, I would buy higher wattage bulbs and brighten the place up a bit. To be fair, you can make out what is happening, but I had to have my monitor tilted at just the right angle to see the events unfolding, such as in the basement.

My big question, though, is as follows: Kim calls the apartment “affordable,” but I am wondering how the two women can afford it with what seems like no apparent means of support; certainly not from Kim’s apathetic parents. Kim is a college student who Zooms her classes (it takes place as the Covid pandemic was kicking off in Spring 2020), so perhaps a scholarship? Izzy goes on some auditions, but those don’t pay. My other query, and this is trite and silly, but It’s a pretty big space, with at least two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, so shouldn’t it be Apartment 203 rather than Room 203?

All-in-all, with a relatively slow first couple of acts with some fun bits thrown in and lots of expository of present events and shady information on past ones, the third act is compelling and comes to a pretty satisfactory conclusion.

The film is available on all major VoD platforms, including iTunes, Prime Video, DirecTV, Cox, Time-Warner, Dish, Vudu, and Google Play.

IMBD Listing HERE