30 Days of Night (2007)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Awesome scenery. Great atmosphere. Great premise and setting. This was really freaky! There is just so much happening within the first 20 minutes of this film alone that one doesn't even get a chance to catch your breath. There's no false scares here; these are all REAL scares. It was genuinely frightening at times, also thanks to incredible make-up effects. As the film progressed, it also became action-packed with nail biting suspense. This was easily one of the most interesting and exciting vampire films I've seen. One thing, though, why did the vampires resort to seemingly senseless killing instead of just quenching their thirst? Or did they intend killing as many as possible as food stock? But then the blood doesn't stay fresh. Just a thought, but otherwise the film was quite a thrill-ride!

Very nice style except when it got a bit too shaky for my liking. Some of the music was slightly out of place but other than that I liked all the sound. I liked the story and the setting. The acting was strong too. I liked the style of the vampires, they were like real people but not normal! It was awesome. They created some really good tension and fear. Scary, creepy and reminiscent of John Carpenter. It was vampires with a great twist.

Vampire films are arguably one of the most over-exposed of the horror sub-genres, but TDON is a refreshing departure from what has become mainstream vampire movies. Set in a northern Alaskan town that experiences the natural phenomenon of losing the sun for a month, the town is besieged by a group of mysterious vampires. They are vicious, pitiless creatures, intent on wiping out the human race. Ordinarily, I'd be looking for a bit of backstory to put the plot and its movement in context, and am usually annoyed when there is none. However, the lack of history of these vampires just adds to their mystique, and the sense of their eternal existence. Josh Hartnett leads a crew of more than passable actors, but Danny Huston steals the show as the vampire patriarch, Marlow. He develops a style and execution that has the viewer actually despising the character, no easy task in modern cinema. The other vampire actors also display a merciless, violent approach that have you rooting for the trapped townspeople, just as their future seems hopeless. The production values and sets are above average, as are the FX and CGI, certainly something you would expect from a big movie house like Columbia Pictures. The only thing that I couldn't wrap my mind around was the passage of time. Supposedly, these townspeople had to survive by hiding for a full thirty days, but the pacing of the vampire's killing and the thinning of the townspeople herd couldn't make me believe that they lasted that long. It was probably the most implausible part of the movie. Still, it was an entertaining thrill ride for 90 minutes.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT had gruesome and violent vampires only interested in feeding to their fill on the townspeople of Barrow, Alaska.That's the best part of the movie. The rest is, shall we say, very silly! First off, Barrow, Alaska looks like some old Western town with storefronts like Saloons or General Stores, only missing hitching posts outside. If you've ever seen actual photos of Barrow, you would notice that most every dwelling is a dome shaped abode or mobile home. Very few houses look like the ones in the movie. Nearly everyone in the Barrow of the movie is Caucasian, another inconsistency with a town that is not only real but primarily populated by Inuit peoples (Eskimos for the layman). The main hero and heroine are both typical, overly attractive people that look totally out of place in an area as rough as Barrow. They look like they just walked out of Macy's in Denver. Both are mostly uninteresting characters who you aren't empathetic with in the least. I was watching and rooting for the vampires to obliterate the town and all it's phony Alaskans, then sail away into the night on their big ship. For me, that would have been a happy ending to this lame movie. Guess you can tell I didn't like it that much, huh? It's a 4 out of 10 and ONLY because the vampires were cool.