Just finished watching MONSTERS. It was produced in that cinema verite style I never seem to tire of, had interesting people in it, made it easy to believe in alien monsters in a realistic, lived-in world. I loved the idea of a new ecology competing with our own, an idea explored in MIST and my novel THE INFECTION. A little more action and smarter decisions by the main characters would have been nice, however.

Just finished LET ME IN. Wow, what a great movie. The lived-in sets, the acting, the realistic storytelling, the pacing, the music, the tension, the chemistry between the kids, all of it was done almost perfectly in my opinion. I hadn’t expected this. Usually the Americanized version of a successful European film is almost guaranteed to, well, suck. This one didn’t. It was excellent.

Here’s an example of a low-budget horror film done without stereotypes: SALVAGE. The film offers us believable characters who aren’t always likable but you can’t help but sympathize with; as a result, their terror is infectious to the viewer. (Unfortunately, for me the premise of the cover-up was kind of dumb and ruined the otherwise very poignant ending.) Still, it was entertaining and I recommend it.