30 Days of Night (2007)

Plot of 30 Days of Night

I usually give horror movies some leeway when it comes to realism because these scenarios would never happen in real life. I give the same leeway for movies based on comic books. 30 Days of Night is a horror movie based on comic book so don't go in expecting the next great Vampire flick. No sexy or cool Vamps or suave dapper Christopher Lee types. Just evil monsters that have been hiding for centuries, always on the go. They discover Barrow Alaska, where the sun sets and does not rise for 30 days, giving vampires plenty of time to slaughter the townspeople and hunt down the survivors. Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), Eben's younger brother Jake (Mark Rendall) and a handful of survivors try to make it to sunrise. Can they do it?

Review of 30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night is far from perfect. With plot gaps such as no reasons are ever given as to why Eben and Stella are separated as well as big gaps in continuity, the overuse of the “Shaky Cam”, and vampires who annoyingly screech throughout, we are treated to a hit and miss addition to both comic book and horror genres by Hard Candy director David Slade. And you know what? That's fine with me. As long as there are good effects, good acting and a story that makes some sense, I consider it a decent horror movie. Cinematography wise, the color palette fits the mood of the film perfectly. Drab grays and shadows, even the snow is more gray than white. There is one shot that not only is a good example of the use of color, but the carnage that has been wrought by these monsters is and overhead shot that moves down the street, bodies lying in splattered puddles of blood, monsters darting here and there, grabbing victims. Great shot.
 

Besides seeming to always need a haircut no matter what role he is playing, Josh Hartnett is the strongest actor in the film, especially when it comes to protecting family. One scene in which his deputy has killed his family to spare them from the vampires has Hartnett shaking the man telling him, “Youprotect your family! Not kill them!” with emotion that you can feel. But then at other times he can be a little over the top. BUT remember, it is a vampire movie based on a comic book. Melissa George, who plays Stella, Eben's estranged wife is the standard strong woman character who wasn't even supposed to be in town (she missed her plane). I don't know the character name, so I can't lookup the actor, but the lead vampire was extremely well acted. You don't want to mess with him because you can feel that he has centuries of experience at slaughtering humans. Which makes the final fight between him and Eben a little unbelievable. If you had centuries to practice, wouldn't you be the best warrior ever?
 

I can't quite put my finger on the reason why, but 30 Days of Night reminds me of Phantoms, a movie based on the novel of the same name starring Ben Affleck (Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms!- just a favorite quote from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back for those in the know), Rose McGowan and Peter O'Toole. But I digress. 30 Days of Night isn't without it's fair share of problems, but if you can overlook those, what you have left is more or less an action flick with elements of horror that is worth a rental on DVD.

Until 30 Days of Night 2: The Lost BoysConnection
keep reading,

Mitch E
mitchemerson@hotmail.com

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This review was written by Mitch E. Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved.