30 Days of Night
(2007)
review by KFear

When I found out that 30 Days of Night was being directed by the man behind the camera of Hard Candy I was a bit skeptical.  I then assumed the film, although based on a graphic novel, would be something a little more along the lines of Interview With a Vampire than a tale of bloody open warfare between a quiet Alaskan town and a group of vicious vampires.  First, you can rest assured that Sam Raimi (who produced the film) did not turn this into another lame production of cheesy scares and Takashi Miike rip offs.  Instead, David Slade creates what feels more like a creepy nightmare, where the scares are effective, the vampires are sinister, and not a drop of blood is spared!
 
Welcome to the northernmost town in Alaska; 80 miles away from anything that can be deemed as civilization.  It is here where the people of the town are getting ready for 30 consecutive days of no sunlight.   It’s an annual event, and all of the civilians pretty much go about their normal lives and do their best to remain sane until 30 days later, when the dawn returns.  It’s not a big deal for a township who believes that they live out there in the frigid cold because, to put it simply, “nobody else can”.  Later on in the film this little saying also relates to the townspeople’s courage and the strength as they have to survive a brutal attack from a gang of blood hungry vampires.  In a nutshell, that the plot of the film (with  subplots involving subtle relationship issues between the leads, and run of the mill characters conversing on what to do now and where to go next).  It’s the usual gang you’ll see in any horror movie dealing with a variety of people in live or die situations.

As the film smoothly rolls forward, the audience becomes more and more in tune with what the Alaskan villagers are up against, and it’s entertaining to see the frantic sequences that involve the hungry vampires ransacking the village in order to find more blood of which to feed on.  A ton of necks are bitten and Slade certainly isn’t shy to show you all the gory details.  I won’t spoil all the gooeyness, but the special effects (not just the gore) in this film are very convincing and, at time, similar to some of the cinematic brilliance that we’re now used to seeing in films such as 300 and Sin City.  Though the effects and the racing suspense will leave you fully alert for the next big scare, the film does manage to run a bit long for the sake of the linear plot design.  Still, whether or not you especially like vampires, you’re in for a a ride from start to finish, as the film pleasantly applies a few new twists to the usual vampire themes.
   
While 30 Days of Night does many things right, it nearly falls flat when it comes to character interaction, which is very unconvincing and, at times, a little silly.  For example; When a character is bitten by a vampire, our more strategic heroes must execute them before they fully turn and become a threat to the surviving villagers. The result is generally a little awkward as if our group of actors are having trouble showing any remorse between them.  You’ll probably root for Mark Boone Jr.’s character (the big ugly guy) more than anyone else just because he’s by far the most interesting and intriguing character.  Either way, the performances, although not terrible, are incredibly uneven and make the whole scenario a bit less convincing.
       
30 Days of night delivers some bad ass vampire carnage and it doesn’t necessarily pretend to be much else other than a gory fright-fest.  When the town becomes a warzone, we’re introduced to our vampire army with full makeup and razor sharp teeth.  They’re creepy too!  Now…the vampires might look the look but they don’t come across as the smooth talkers that we wish our villains to be so much of the time.  The head vampire tries to deliver clever lines more suited to the likes of Pinhead but they all come across as a cheesy and ineffective way to establish his sinister side.  It also doesn’t help that these “badass lines” are delivered in an entirely different language.  Eh…perhaps these vamps are trying just a little too hard. 

Perhaps they just shouldn’t have had any dialogue at all.
       
Maybe  I’m being too harsh on a film I actually enjoyed quite a bit from start to finish.  The setting is superb and the village in Alaska reminds me a lot of the setting for Steven Kings Storm of the Century, which I thought was also a great way to include harsh weather circumstances into the mixed of an already deadly situation.  Kudos go to the special effects team, director Slade, and Sam Raimi for creating a truly edge of your seat ride in all of its bloody glory.  While the film is meant to take place throughout the thirty days of Alaskan darkness, the main focus of the film is not to create a real sense of time as a means to carry on the plot, nor does it need to.  This film was made for people who like their horror fast paced, bloody, and creepy as hell.  In that respect, this film certainly delivers if you can look past some of the minor flaws.