30 Days of Night (2007) by David Slade

Director: David Slade
Year: 2007
Country: US/New Zealand
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire

Plot:
Holded off in an Alaskan town the few remaining left during a month of eternal darkness finds the town under a constant attack from vampires looking to feed on the unprotected townspeople and must fend them off in order to save themselves.

Review:

This one was quite an enjoyable and fun vampire effort. Among the better qualities here is the long build-up to the vampires arriving, which is nicely handled through a slew of chilling scenes. The first attacks on the dog kennel and the houses on the outskirts of town, complete with the couple who are dragged under the houses, as well as worker attacks and the eerie howling in the distance are shoehorned nicely around the action of how they're slowly being overtaken all manage to come together in a setting up a fine based for the bigger, better action scenes here. The best of these is the spectacular assault on the town where they relentlessly overwhelm the townspeople jumping around, ripping up bodies and generally destroying the town rather fun, which is made all the more fun by the overhead viewpoint showing the streets and snowbanks littered with blood and feeding on the bodies around here.

There's also quite a few other attacks in here, from a thrilling encounter on the streets where they overrun a car, the attacks of the station and all the fun of the later half which features the ambush in the general store, the encounter in the house and another big escape attempt through the streets using a giant machine-tractor tearing through their ranks in breaking up the bodies that makes for a great time here. As well, the finale here makes for some really enjoyable times with the final battling in the building, the big rescue attempt to get the friends' free and then the over-the-top final battle amid the burning town with some nice visual action, a brutal brawl and a fine finale which makes for a great finish on a high note.

The cast is quite impressive as they delve into the story. Josh Hartnett is quite enjoyable Sheriff Eben Oleson, the rational level-headed man in charge. He comes off great as the man willing to let the events play out in the beginning with the familiarity of the townsfolks before being thrust into action role in the second half. He doesn't always look the best in those action scenes, but he's serviceable and the chemistry with George is enough to have a sense of sympathy and suspense as they battle the creatures. Speaking of, Melissa George is her usual spectacular self as wife Stella. Sassy, sweet and a take-no-guff type of figure, she gives off an endearing turn with the interactions between the two with her free-spirit meaning the start of the action, and they have a good time together in the second. Likewise, the vampires here are fun, ferocious and bloodthirsty which is what they should be like which is nice to see.  Along with the film's gore and impressive overall look for the vampires, these manage to hold this one up compared to the few minor flaws here.

The biggest issue here is the film's inability to get the characters on the same page here in regards to what they're facing which leads them through a long stretch of time being defensive when it easily could've been going on the offensive to ward them off. This one spends so much time with the group completely unaware that they're vampires and writing everything off as just crazed individuals that the first half's suspense about the encroaching swarm is somewhat downgraded because it's obviously vampires that the town doesn't believe in. Even though there's plenty of evidence here about them being vampires, the inability to grasp this concept makes a lot of their actions suspect in terms of keeping their chances of staying alive down. Finally, the vampires themselves aren't all that scary, essentially doing just their usual bloodthirsty route with them attacking anything that moves and it comes down to the actions moreso than the creatures themselves. These here are the film's flaws.

Overview: ****/5
Overall, this was quite the enjoyable and somewhat engaging action-packed vampire film that doesn't really have too much wrong with it. Those who are into those kind of genre efforts should dive in as well as those that enjoyed the comic, while those that aren't into it should probably heed caution with this one.