Review of Let Her Out

Let Her Out (2016)
6/10
Great style, terrible substance
14 October 2017
"Let Her Out" is a small budget movie. But you wouldn't know that by looking at it. This is perhaps one of the most visually impressive movies of the year. It's got a vivid color palette and camera use that is never boring. The makeup effects are realistic even when they're completely over the top. This movie has the look of a major studio production and millions and millions of dollars behind it.

The film starts showing us a hooker who is eventually raped. The intro of the movie is done with almost no dialogue and is told concisely. The intro ends and we are brought into the movie proper. It's 23 years later and we are introduced to Helen, the product of that rape. Or is she? Helen finds out she has a twin that died in utero and was absorbed by her body. It is implied that perhaps Helen wasn't the product of rape but perhaps the twin was. Anyways, the absorbed twin begins to take control of Helen body giving her blackouts.

If you're reading this and think it sounds silly, well this is a horror movie. Such silliness is more than welcome if it provides some solid scares and an interesting peak at what it means to be human. Perhaps, the twin isn't really taking control and maybe Helen's brain is using it as an excuse to attack those who have victimized her.

But that would be giving this story far too much credit. While I love this movie visually, its story has no depth besides, "bad twin gets out and does bad things!" any attempt to maybe use this bizarre situation to reflect upon the human condition is completely wasted. Part of it is how we have no real characters in this movie. They are just props that move the plot along. Even our main character, Helen just seems to be there to occasionally be taken over by her twin. All the other characters exist to be victims of these episodes. Even the ending turns into little more than a creature feature with the evil twin going on an apparent murder rampage.

The acting doesn't help at all. Some is serviceable and some is just downright bad. It's all rather disappointing. When so much good gets mixed with so much bad, it's tough to end up good overall. And that's where "Let Her Out" ends up. I almost want to recommend it as a visual spectacle, but in the end you'd have to watch the dreadful story. And that is something I cannot recommend.
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