30 Days Of Night

Year: 2007
Director: David Slade
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster

Out of all the mythical creatures that have terrorised movie audiences over the years, none have been as popular as the vampire. The bloodsucking nocturnal being has thrilled movie fans for the longest time, in many different incarnations. And here we have another vampire film, but not quite as familiar.

30 Days Of Night is set in a little town known as Barrow, Alaska. It is at the northernmost tip of the USA, thus it is cold all year, and for a month there, the sun does not rise. That month has come again, and a majority of Barrow's inhabitants leave town to escape the prolonged darkness. A small population of about 150 stay behind, including the town sheriff, Eben Oleson and his estranged wife Stella.

On the last day of sunshine, a mysterious stranger walks into town and wastes no time getting himself in trouble and winds up in the lock-up. This is when he tells Eben and Stella that death is coming. Then bad things start happening. The power gets cut off. All modes of transportation are disabled, including the sled dogs that wind up dead. People start dying, in violent fashion. Eben quickly finds that Barrow has been invaded by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires, who have come to kill and drain the blood of every human being they can find for the following month of darkness. The survivors band together and try desperately to last a month indoors, trapped by the vampires hunting them on the outside.

30 Days Of Night is based on the graphic novel of the same name by writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith, and they have come up with a different kind of vampire altogether. These aren't the ones that wear middle age costumes and look like Tom Cruise. They don't wear skin-tight suits and kill werewolves. They don't carry swords and fight other vampires that look like WWE wrestler Triple H. No, these vampires are vile, mean killing machines with dark eyes and a full set of sharp teeth. Oh, and they don't speak English. Cool.

Director David Slade certainly has a great vision for this film. I admire his style, which includes occasional handheld camera work, dim lighting (to suit the darkness mood) and minimal music. But you ought to check out his music score during the climax, it's pretty cool. Slade also does not hold back on the gore, and rightfully so. After all, what's a vampire flick without the blood, right?

Out of all the actors on hand, it's Josh Hartnett that shines the brightest as Eben, displaying a mature sense of acting. He plays the sheriff that is scared, yet trying to be brave for his townsfolk, being protective and having to think constantly on how to stay ahead of the enemy. Melissa George, who plays Stella, does more emotional scenes than the rest of the cast, which is a pity. A tough exterior might have suited her character better. Danny Huston is truly menacing and terrifying as the vampire leader Marlow, while the underrated Ben Foster makes good of his limited screen time as the stranger.

However, as good as this film looks on the surface, it is flawed. The pace of the film is rather slow, from the time the first attack begins until the last 15 minutes of the film. Understandably, the entire movie is supposed to depict the 30 days in question, but the passing of time isn't smoothly done. The film jumps from the first day to day 7 to day 18 and so forth, yet it doesn't quite feel like time has moved that much, and trust me, it's not because the darkness is constant. A lot of the dialogue is also quite cliched and could have been improved, including the vampires' lines.

Overall, a slightly above average attempt at making a good vampire film. (3.5/5)