Hollywood News : Career Retrospective: Matt Reeves

Matt Reeves is just about to rock the horror world with his Hollywood remake of the Swedish flick LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. The film is entitled LET ME IN, and will arrive in cinemas across the UK on Friday 5th November. The movie revolves around a bullied young boy who befriends a young female vampire, who live is secrecy with her guardian. We’re going to have a review of the film up on the site within the next few days, but for now, let’s take a look at the career of it’s director… so far.
LET ME IN is Reeves’ third feature, following his success with the 2008 mock-doc CLOVERFIELD – you know, the movie that saw the Statue of Liberty’s head being tossed down a New York street in one of it’s early trailer previews, and his debut, THE PALLBEARER. Reeves is from the JJ Abrams stable. I say, that, but in fact their relationship dates back to when they were just 13 years old.  Reeves, who has been making short films since he was just eight, met Abrams while their movies were being aired on a local cable access channel in Los Angeles, and the pair hit it off. The two remained friends, and Reeves went off to the University of Southern California to attend film school. When there, he gained acclaim with his short film “Mr. Petrified Forest,” which eventually got him signed to a talent agency. Work started to come in, and Reeves bagged the job co-writing the Steven Seagal sequel UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY, along with Richard Hatem, a decent-ish film released in 1995.

A year later, Reeves made his own directorial debut with his self-penned THE PALLBEARER, a romantic comedy starring then hot property David Schwimmer (fresh from his FRIENDS success) and Gwyneth Paltrow. The film revolved around Schwimmer’s character , whose life is turned upside down after being asked to be a pallbearer for the funeral of a classmate he doesn’t remember. When attending said funeral, his old high school crush temporarily returns to town…
In 1998 co-created the TV show FELICITY with his old mate JJ Abrams, a series produced by Touchstone Television and Imagine Television that ran until 2002 about a high school girl who follows her high school crush to college to be near him.
Following, and indeed during the run of FELICITY on The WB Network, Reeves embraced projects like a co-writing/ producing gig on THE YARDS (2000), and a spot of guest directing on TV shows RELATIVITY, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET and a pilot for CONVICTION, but it was in 2008 where his career really took off with CLOVERFIELD.
Obviously taking inspiration from films like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and REC, CLOVERFIELD saw Reeves team with his pal JJ Abrams, who assumed the role of producer.
The film, which revolves around a monster attack in New York as told from the point of view of a small group of people, was an international success and secured Reeves’ future in Hollywood. The film grossed a massive $80 million + at the US box-office from a budget of $25 million. It also garnered rave reviews from critics and fans a like, and now a sequel is in the work, and could be Reeves’ next project.

Before that, LET ME IN will play out in cinemas in the UK from November 5th. Here’s the synopsis. The film tells a terrifying tale about an alienated 12-year old boy named Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is viciously bullied by his classmates and neglected by his divorcing parents. Achingly lonely, Owen spends his days plotting revenge on his middle school tormentors and his evenings spying on the other inhabitants of his apartment complex. His only friend is his new neighbor Abby (Chloe Moretz), an eerily self-possessed young girl who lives next door with her silent father (Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins). A frail, troubled child about Owen’s age, Abby emerges from her heavily curtained apartment only at night and always barefoot, seemingly immune to the bitter winter elements. Recognizing a fellow outcast, Owen opens up to her and before long, the two have formed a unique bond.

We’re amped to see what Reeves has done with the big-budget remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN with LET ME IN. In fact, our own Katie McCabe saw the movie this week, and will be hitting us with a review in the next few days.
What is for sure, is that Reeves is certainly a filmmaker to look out for in the future, and I for one cannot wait to see a sequel to the marvellous CLOVERFIELD.
LET ME IN opens in UK cinemas on November 5th, 2010.
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