30 Days of Night

When I first heard the concept of and premise behind these novels and the subsequent film, I said to myself, "Self, how could you have been so blind? Vampires in the Arctic, what storyline could have been more obvious?"

So I went to see the film. I had read a review on another blog and it was rave. The writer claimed that no good had come from the vampire genre in some sixty years but this film was stellar. I, unfortunately, must say that I was not as impressed as he. Perhaps it was all the hype that this fellow writer had placed on the film or perhaps it was my aversion to films that use shock and gore to make up for lackluster dialog and two-dimensional characters, but there was definitely something missing from my cinematic experience.

I'm not saying that it totally stunk. The make up was decent and I dug the way they made the vamps jaws unhinge. And if you aren't like me (a total elitest bastard about plot and characters and dialog) and you do go in for gore for the sheer sake of gore, you're in for a romp. To be completely frank, my favorite character had no dialog save for feral screaming. The love interest of the head vamp was Iris, played by newcomer Megan Franich, and for a character who never spoke, only devoured and screeched, she was, by leaps and bounds, the most terrifying aspect of the whole experience (the aforementioned blogger had given this title to Danny Huston, who played the leader's lackey, Marlow).

Josh Hartnett's portrayal of Sherriff Eben Oleson brought forth (in my own mind anyway) memories of Zeke... I can't quite explain why, I just know that all through the picture I kept flashing back to scenes from the Faculty, expecting him to suggest drugging the rest of the survivors so their blood would be tainted and the vampires wouldn't be able to feed from it.

All in all, my recommendation for those who have not yet experienced this celluloid wonder is as follows: If you like blood and gore and don't really care if all of the characters are created equally forgettable, run, don't walk to your local cinema. If you are seeking an innovative and terrifying approach to the vampire genre, save your eight bucks and rent the DVD.