“The Moth Diaries” (2011) is actually a decent vampire movie. Yes, the protagonists are teenage girls at a boarding school, but this is much more “The X-Files” than it is “Twilight.” It actually reminded me a lot of the fantastic “Let Me In” (2010), the Americanized version of “Let the Right One In” (2008).

Rebecca (capably played by the talented Sarah Bolger) grows concerned when her best friend is seemingly enthralled by the creepy new girl (Lily Cole). Vampire mystery ensues.

This is a really good movie for the first hour and 15 minutes or so, even if the sparing flashback sequences are a little awkward. Regrettably, its chances of being a truly great horror film are foiled by a quick and underwhelming anticlimax, complete with special effects that are about at the same level we would expect from network television. It’s like the screenwriter and director ran out of energy and decided to wrap up the whole shebang so they could grab lunch.

It’s still a fairly good movie, though – I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

Postscript: you know you’ve seen a lot of horror movies when their titles all begin to sound alike: The Moth Diaries, The Mothman Prophecies, The Vampire Diaries, The Zombie Diaries, Diary of the Dead, etc.