Let Me In‘s $1.9 million Friday earnings and likely $5 million weekend tally is a shocker. One of the finest films of the year hands down and easily one of the best vampire flicks of all time — so far above above the level of the Twilight films that they’re not even in the same ballpark– and Joe Popcorn has…what, blown it off?

Why does quality never seem to figure in Eloi determinations about what to see? The better reviewed a film is, the less Average Joes want to see it — is that the equation these days? Was it the one-sheet image of Chloe Moretz lying on her side in a semi-tuck position, which alluded to something semi-delicate and/or atypical? The trailer advertised a straight horror experience, but the fact that Let Me In is a much more sensitive and multi-layered thing shouldn’t have gotten in the way. I understand modest returns on a film like this, but $5.5 million? What happened?