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by Jeff Eason |
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30 Days of Night attempts to
revive bloodsucker genre
Movie monsters come and go in cycles. For the
past few years, zombies have been the cinematic monstre
du jour with dozens of films featuring the undead brain-eating
devils hitting the theaters and video stores. Some of
them, such as 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, are
classics of the genre while others, such as All Souls
Day and Zombie Cheerleader Camp (I’m not making this
one up), are forgettable at best.
Danny
Huston stars as vampire viceroy Marlow in 30 Days
of Night. |
Josh
Hartnett (right) fights off a hungry vampire in
the new fright film 30 Days of Night. |
The last heyday of quality vampire movies was 1979-1994
when audiences were treated to Nosferatu, The Hunger,
Salem’s Lot, The Lost Boys, Bram Stoker’s Dracula,
Near Dark and Interview with the Vampire, all within a
decade-and-a-half span.
There might be a vampire movie out there that will jumpstart
a new golden age of bloodsucker films, but I’m afraid
30 Days of Night ain’t it.
It’s not for lack of trying, however, as this new
Sam Rami-produced splatter-fest genuinely has its moments.
But without a sympathetic character to hang your hat on
or vampires worth caring about, it leaves the audience
as cold as its Arctic Circle setting.
30 Days of Night is based on the Ben Templesmith graphic
novel (that’s adult-speak for comic book) and stars
Josh Hartnett as Eben Oleson, the young sheriff of Barrow,
a small town in the northern reaches of Alaska. Being
so close to the North Pole, the town is blanketed in a
month of nightfall each winter. Apparently that makes
it the perfect vacation destination for a troupe of gothic-attired
vampires traveling by ship.
The vampires send a stranger (Ben Foster) to scout out
Barrow before they arrive. With his appearance, odd things
begin to happen such as the slaughter of all the town’s
sled dogs and the destruction of a lot of perfectly good
cell phones.
When night finally comes, the vampires begin their assault,
killing most of the town’s residents within a few
hours while Oleson, his estranged wife Stella (Melissa
George), and about ten other people hide out in a hidden
attic. The vampires are led by Marlow (Danny Huston) and
Iris (Megan Franich) and speak a guttural language that
sounds vaguely Eastern European (Transylvanian?) in origin.
They suspect that there might be survivors hiding somewhere
in Barrow and they try to find them before the month-long
night turns to day.
30 Days of Night has a great original premise—one
that should have spawned a better movie. Unfortunately,
this is not a thinking man’s vampire flick, and the
holes in the plot are glossed over as director David Slade
slides from one gory action scene to another. At one point,
it is revealed that the vampires can smell the blood of
humans but it is never explained how they would fail to
sniff out a dozen people hiding in an attic. The town
is covered with construction vehicles and snowmobiles,
but no one makes a serious attempt to travel the 80 miles
to the next town. Worst of all, there is no explanation
or back-story of the vampires themselves. Who are they?
Where did they come from? A little bit of history would’ve
gone a long way to revealing motive and character.
Ironically, the scariest character in the movie is actually
a human. Ben Foster is making a career out of menacing
the bejabbers out of townsfolk (check him out in 3:10
to Yuma) and his stranger gets under the skin of all he
encounters. The movie could’ve used more of his character
and less of Eben’s wimpy younger brother Jake (Mark
Rendell).
Atmospherically, Slade and Rami do an excellent job of
giving the audience the sense of isolation needed to creep
them out. Unfortunately, they waste that setup on a bloodbath
instead of a quality psychological thriller.
30 Days of Night is rated R for strong horror violence
and language. It is currently playing at Regal Cinema
in Boone. |
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