30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007)

Add Review To List
Add Film To List
Write Your Own Review

"That cold ain't the weather. That's death approaching."

Based on the best selling graphic novel by writer Steve Niles & illustrator Ben Templesmith, this film adaptation features vampires overrunning the small town of Barrow Alaska during its annual month without sunlight which brings all the suspense and bloody action any horror or vampire fan could ever ask for in a decent film.

Given this general plot, then the direction of the film isn't too hard to fathom once the main characters are established. The simplest of the ideas is that of the lone drifter who enters a small town and creates chaos in their wake. The same occurs here, with Ben Foster playing a really creepy stranger from the coast who clearly doesn't fit in, but unlike other characters such as him, he knows what terror he's brining on the town by his mere presence there. The casting of this character was essential to make the events he foreshadows all the more creepy, scary, and believable, as they all intensify the scenes leading up to the vampiric invasion that we know is coming...as well as build up a great amount of suspense and wild imaginations of what'll happen.

I've never been a fan of Josh Hartnett, but his role as Sheriff Eben Oleson being the main character in the story {despite being too young to be the Sheriff rather than a deputy} is good, though not 'cause I like the film as a whole. Josh actually did a nice job here. Throughout he assumes the leadership role among the stragglers whom are trying to survive the vampiric wave that's descended upon the town. He takes greater risks as the film progresses, and is more willing to make death defying decisions at a moment's notice to ensure the survival of all the stragglers, rather than just himself, his wife Stella (Melissa George), and his son Jake (Mark Rendell). So while this was also a key casting decision in the film, his role didn't impress upon me as much as the unnamed stranger.

Marlow (Danny Huston) is the leader of the vampire clan that's attacking the denizens of Barrow during the month of darkness. Unlike other movie vampires, he seems like an average human save for his pich black eyes and constantly bleeding mouth. Being the clan leader, he actually communicates with the other vampires intelligently, though not in any decipherable language. Both of those aspects were really cool to me, as they provided a spin on the traditional depiction of vampires in films, as he's not like modern vampires, or gothic ones; just less grotesque and more intelligent than the zombies of both "Shaun of the Dead" & "Dawn of the Dead" (2004). Danny wasn't as creepy as the stranger as no other character matched that guy's edginess, but he was a totally believable leader despite not having any unique physical traits apart from the other vampires; and he's middle aged. [maybe this whole thing was just the average recession victim's mid-life crisis?] While his minions may take the harshest hits for him, he too still gets down and bloody in all the violent attacks that populate the film, which I enjoyed since leaders who don't participate aren't nearly as exciting {like Cutler Beckett to Davy Jones in "Pirates 2 & 3"}.

Mark Boone Junior {Gordon's sleazy partner in 2005's "Batman Begins"} plays Beau Brower, a resident of Barrow whom doesn't like taking any crap from anybody, though is still useful in a good fight. I didn't expect much from his character in the film since Eben, Melissa, and Marlow were getting the most screen time, but in the end he really surprised me. An overall good character since the filmmakers break the traditional expectations of the jackass being the one to either go first, or go in the grisliest manner, or worse, be of no use to the plot. Luckily he proved his worthiness among the stragglers, and I'd actually like to see more characters like him with his story arc in these types of movies.

All the supporting cast were good in their respective roles, but aren't worth mentioning in lengthy paragraphs as the previous characters mentioned are the best, and hog the screen the most. Deputy Billy Kitka (Manu Bennett) was actually alright too, but wasn't as entertaining as Beau Brower.

Being a creepy film, then there are three perfect settings for a horror movie, 1) your own house & neighborhood; 2) the woods at night covered in winter snowfall; and 3) an isolated ice tundra blanketed in fog, snow, ice, and hailstorms. In this film, it's clearly #3, which is a treat since not many others than John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982) have been able to make that work given the limited variety of locations reasonably available to utilize in the storytelling. And many of the scares and suspense of the film relies on the visuals, as the film follows the cardinal rule that "it's what you don't see that scares you." The fog and howling winds with the same general color tone to everything enhances what could've been measly scares with no value. But since the film didn't scare me at all, it greatly enhanced the suspenseful aspect of the whole thing, which was all the more better. However, towards the climax the visuals start to flail when hordes of vampires take over the screen rather than eerily quiet streets with howling winds buffering any vampiric noises. A better example would be that of "Halloween" (1978) getting narrower and more claustrophobic as the ending neared. Something like that could've worked here, such as using the tundra or derelict ship outside the town. Still a great job at the visuals by Cinematographer Jo Willems, and great use of cuts back and forth from the villains and heroes by editor Art Jones.

The gore factor was also treated nicely by director David Slade, who showed only what was necessary while still maintaining shock value after the vampire has jumped out, which is something that you rarely see in horror films in which once the monster reveals itself, the scare value plummets, but not this time around. And the fact that he didn't try and substitute gore for good suspenseful scares earns him major points from me.

However, the reason this gets just 4 stars is because it also feels like an action film rather than full fledged horror, which roughly the first 2/3 of the movie felt like. While the action and showdown were good, I think had they chosen to stick with the isolated horror & creepy aspect that was prevalent throughout those 2/3 of the film, then it would've made for a better ending. Though being based on the graphic novel (which I've not read), I assume they wanted to stay true to the story.

Overall, this movie is my favorite vampire movie to date, as it features better visuals and more suspense than Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula" (1992) which was a love story, though better than modern and oldie vampire films in my opinion. So this film is an 'A' in my book, and I seriously hope more like it are to come.