Customer Reviews

30 Days of Night [UMD for PSP]

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(82)
3 star:		(64)
2 star:		(35)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

It's nearly Halloween, so I went to see a horror film today, so here I am ready to share my thoughts on the vampire horror-thriller "30 DAYS of NIGHT". The film is based on the graphic novel/mini-series by Steven Niles and Ben Templesmith. I like vampire movies in general, although I have to say that NOT all "vampire flicks" are created equal. Thankfully, I am happy to say that this film lives up to its promise, and has become one of my favorites.

An isolated small Alaskan town called "Barrow" with a population of 560+ experiences 30 days of total darkness. No sunlight will be seen for a period of a month, so most of the town's inhabitants leave for this period to brighter pastures except for the 152 townsfolk; of whom some one stated that " we live here because we can". On the last day of sunlight, unusual things start to occur; satellite phones are found destroyed, the aforementioned one emergency helicopter is damaged beyond repair, even snow dogs are killed. The town sheriff; Evan Oleson (Jason Hartnett) finds a filthy, bad-toothed drifter (Ben Foster) who seems to be a harbinger of the danger to come. No long, after, the town is under siege by band of inhuman creatures bent on killing everyone in sight...

30 DAYS OF NIGHT is a straight-forward vampire film. It doesn't waste much time setting things up with minor character development with Evan and Stella's (Melissa George) background; with their rocky marriage, characters are introduced quickly and how they are related to the town. Director David Slade goes to the throat with the intensity and apprehension of the screenplay as soon as the band of vampires (led by Danny Huston) makes their appearance. Instead of just going for all-out mayhem, he calculates each scenario and accompanies it with a heart-pounding atmosphere and emotion that builds up the suspense. He also uses silence as an effective strategy to set the film's eerie feel.

The usual rules to vampirism is applied; vulnerability to sunlight, super-human strength and can turn other humans into vampires. However, the band of vampires seems to have only one goal; to feed on human blood, nothing subtle, but FEED. Before their siege, the pack leader instructs his band to "rip everyone's head off and do not turn them..".The language of the vampires has that ancient-like tone but somewhat sound Germanic is a very nice touch. The vampires are grisly, inhuman-looking predators, not the "seductive" blood-suckers that have been the stereotype for many years. However beastly and savage the band may be, but they are far from being dumb; the vampire pack is intelligent and organized (much like wolves are organized). No mental control or shape-changing abilities are displayed, the vampires in this film are portrayed as hungry, vicious, shrieking, deformed beings who assault the sleepy town in a hellish attack.

The film is not perfect, it does have its shortcomings. It didn't explain why a very minor number of townsfolk have been turned by the vampires (even with the pack leader's instructions) or what rules do apply on how and when a human has been turned. There is something very downright creepy and unsettling in the proceedings; I think this may be the first time I've seen an eight-year-old child turned into a vampire. Also, there are minor weaknesses in the plot where the usual clichés are present; a panicky old man with his son, a fear-fraught man who makes a wrong decision with his family, and a scared teenager. All these factors cause problems for the lead characters. There were quite a lot of instances that I feel that an "extended director's cut" is coming for the DVD release. (I hope and wish for one).

Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the graphic novels (yet) so I cannot determine how faithful the film is to its roots. To the film's credit, the film does succeed on most vampire films have not. It did deliver an intense, grisly and a clever visceral thriller that hits the marks right and never stoops to wallowing in blood and gore alone. It showed a side of the human spirit about courage, the determination to protect its own, and the capability for sacrifice. A band of vampires attacking a small Alaskan town during a 30-day stretch should have been thought of sooner as Danny Huston said in the movie; "We should have come here years ago.".

The film's premise is MUCH more interesting than other films' overused plot with blood-suckers living among us and just preying on beautiful women. It is also a much needed break from the "torture" shows with unyielding psychopathic killers.
"30 DAYS OF NIGHT" is a vampire film with a rarity that achieves its potential. It is more a classic monster film than a contemporary horror movie.
RECOMMENDED! For horror fans..[4 stars]

30 Days of Night is pretty much a siege movie with heavy elements of horror and gore. Siege movies always succeed and fail depending on whether the tension and dread built up from the beginning of the film suspends the audience's disbelief. Siege films like The Thing and Romero's Living Dead trilogy works well because right from the get-go we see the tension build not just on the location the cast are put in but within the besieged survivors as well. Survival becomes that much more difficult due to human frailties and an inability to work together bringing the whole group down. The monsters outside are bad enough, but sometimes it's the survivors themselves who must share the blame.

David Slade's (director) movie does a very good job of bringing the initial tension and dread the comic brought to life in its first chapter. The story takes place in Barrow, Alaska which happens to be located within the Arctic Circle as to allow it a very peculiar yearly event of having pitch-black night which lasts for a period of an entire month. The movie begins just as the town of Barrow prepares for this month-long prolonged night. Most of the town decide to move down south for the month where the night doesn't last as long, but enough stay in Barrow to give it a semblance of life and activity.

The build-up of the characters in 30 Days of Night marks one of the weaknesses in the film. There's barely much characterization in distinguishing one Barrow, Alaskan from another. The lack in character development from all the characters whether human or vampire doesn't invest the film with anyone we want to see make it out through the night and into dawn. Even Danny Huston, a very underrated and overly capable actor in past films, fails to elevate his lead vampire character Marlowe beyond it's genre trappings. Known only as The Stranger in the credits, Ben Foster's Renfield-like character edges between caricature and genuine creepiness in his performance. Foster knows he's in a genre movie and has fun with the character. He's the only one to truly take on his character and roll with it.

I now get to the subject of the vampires themselves. Most vampire movies seem enamored in portraying the vampire as some sort of seductive, fashion-obsessed, or in the case of the Anne Rice-type anachronistic in their dress, with an unnatural immortality they either live as hedonistically as possible or bemoan their cursed existence. There's never been a true portrayal of the vampire as a pure, hunger-driven monster with an appetite to match their status as one of folklore and legend's top-tier boogeymen. Slade goes for speed and agility in his vampires instead of hypnotizing and mesmerizing their victims. The vampires in this movie owes much to the frenetic and over-amped infecteds of 28 Days Later.

The attack itself and the subsequent siege worked well enough in the early going. There were some great overhead shots of the town's people losing it's fight during the initial feeding frenzy as the camera shoots the scene high overhead. The only thing Slade had a misstep in terms of the siege itself was after those first couple of nights. The rest of the 30 days didn't seem to show enough desperation on the faces and bodies of the last few survivors. Really, the only way the audience even knew a couple weeks have passed were the caption telling them how many days into the month-long night has passed. I think with some better editing and a better sense of structure in the middle section of the movie to show time actually progressing the movie would've been many levels better.

All in all, 30 Days of Night was just good enough that I had a fun time watching it. The premise itself was original and put a new spin on the vampire genre that has rarely been tapped. The performances were pretty average with no one bringing the whole film down with a misstep performance or raising the bar with a great one. The final product had a chance to be something great, but just ends up being a good and original take on the vampire story with elements of Night of the Living Dead.

Okay so on the extra disc you get insight of the film being made. Sound effects, clothes, stunts, teeth, alien look of the creatures, their trademark killing blow look, the strange language of the vamps, the premiere, etc....

Fantastic to watch if you were ever interested in directing a movie you get to see a glimpse of what all the director has to do.

A clever new take on an old genre, but it is far longer than it needed to be which ended up making the graphic violence more mind-numbing than scary or intense.

Amazon did a fine job giving us a synopsis of the story wherein our most northern Alaskan community which suffers through 30 days of night is besieged by vampires. While this is a fun graphically violent, atmospheric, and generally well-acted horror flick, it really doesn't deserve much more from me than my hits and misses evaluation.

The Misses:

(1) Overly long by about 30 minutes. One becomes disconnected to the characters and plot after so much violence for such an extended period of time as the violence is rather repetitive in nature.

(2) Tissue paper thin plot even though it was a clever take on an old genre.

(3) Too many people wondering in and out from nowhere in what is supposed to be a very small isolated town.

(4) The lack of a real climax and any kind of satisfying resolution.

(5) A completely silly and nonsensical fight scene near the end that is supposed to be our climax, but is laughable, uninspiring, and just down right stupid.

(6) For all the cleverness of this film, the vampires are still reduced to simply screaming animals and often we just get these long shots of them doing just that. It seems endless and rather grating on the nerves after awhile.

Hits:

(1) The film is very nicely acted by all involved making the characters seem real in a very unreal situation. That really helps a film in this genre.

(2) The camera work is exceptional and I'm not referring to special effects and make up which are very good, but rather the actual camera movement and angles which create atmosphere, tension, and genuine creepiness. The best shot of the entire film is a straight down shot from above as the legion of vampires literally massacre the town. It is absolutely bone-chilling.

(3) A clever concept that re-invigorates an old genre.

(4) The set designs are excellent and reminds one of John Carpenter's version of The Thing (Collector's Edition).


In the end, this film comes off as more style than substance and forgive the pun here, but it was overkill of a good idea. I think fans of this genre will love it for what it is and those with only a passing interest in vampire films may be less impressed. I liked it overall, but just felt disappointed when it was over as the film really lacked punch at the end which became confused, out of focus in its inept attempt to be climatic and heart wrenching at the same time.

Realizing that people have different opinions about what they read and watch, and that not all will agree with each other on what's good and what isn't, I was still somewhat surprised by how many viewers didn't find the horror movie, 30 Days of Night, to be as great as I did. I'm usually pretty hard on horror flicks and don't expect a lot when I go to see one, but 30 Days of Night won me over in a way that left me stunned at the end of the movie and wanting to immediately see it again.

Directed by David Slade, the story takes place in Barrow, Alaska (a real town), which is in the northern part of the state and once a year experiences thirty days of night. Most of the town's people head south for the entire month, but there are enough humans left to entice a group of roving vampires to spend some quality vacation time there. It all begins when a stranger arrives (played wonderfully by Ben Foster) during the last day of light and cuts the telephone lines and kills the sled dogs so that the remaining town's people will be snowed in and unable to escape the wrath of his master, Marlow. The vampires then waste little time in attacking the town and killing every human being they can get their hands and teeth on. It's the town's sheriff (played by Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife (played by Melissa George) who manage to gather the surviving citizens and to find a place where they can hide from their hungry predators. The problem, of course, is finding a way to stay alive until the sun once again appears after thirty long days of night. That's going to be the challenge and few are going to make it.

I thoroughly loved this movie and have watched it about twelve times, enjoying every single viewing. Though I'm not a big fan of Josh Hartnett, I bought him as the sheriff and found his character to be totally believable. I also felt that all of the other actors did an excellent job as well, especially Danny Huston, who played Marlow, the lead vampire. He was utterly terrifying. I thought the vampires were played true to life in that they were portrayed as savage, violent predators, killing everything within their grasp so that they can feed on the blood. They were unbelievably fast and didn't hesitate in taking someone's head off, separating it from the body with one powerful sweep of their clawed hands. The desolation of Barrow was captured perfectly by the set designer and director of photography as the camera took in from above what was happening below as dozens and dozens of people were massacred in different parts of the town by the marauding vampires. This movie had me literally sitting on the edge of my seat and jumping in all the right places. In many ways I thought this was the best horror flick of 2007, running just ahead of the film, 1408, with John Cusack.

With regards to the DVD, I think I was close to being the first person to buy it when it eventually came out. I was hoping the movie would be released in a Special Two-Disc Collector's set, but it only came out as a single. Bah, humbug! Still, there's a great featurette on the making of the film, containing interviews with the cast members and crew, plus a look at the real Barrow, Alaska. The strange thing is that when the DVD came out, my roommate's daughter was getting ready to fly to Alaska with some friends, and I kept trying to get her to watch the movie before she left. She told me NO! in a rather loud way, not wanting to have nightmares the whole time that she was there, freezing in below-zero temperatures. I would've gone to Aruba, myself! LOL. Anyway, this film certainly has a special place in my DVD collection of horror films. Highly recommended!!!

Creepy, eerie, scary and dark, this movie was surprisingly different from most Vampire movies; there are still sharp teeth involved and loss of blood but also many more heart stopping intense moments when the watcher forgets to take the next breath. I won't rehash the premise since everyone here did it so well, but basically a small town on the outskirts of Alaska is about to enter the infamous 30 days of night when the sun rays can't penetrate the dark clouds and snow doesn't seem to cease falling. It's a rough place to live when things are well and even worse when it suddenly falls under attack by a pack of powerful and hungry vampires.

The best parts was the hide and seeks games that the survivors had to play, the town sheriff, his ex wife, brother and few friends are on a run from house to house and trying to say alive till the sun comes back. Their only hope of survival is being chopped short each day that they hide and loose more members as the Vampires think of worse methods of setting up traps and picking them out one by one.

The movie was a little long but it had plenty of heart stopping moments, it made me worry about the characters and there was plenty of guts and gore for the horror lovers. The death scenes are not for the squeamish, this movie is pretty explicit but I found that it worked in perfectly with the creepy moments when nothing stirred; there was plenty of contrast between fighting and hiding. The ending was very interesting but I had my gripes with it, to say what it was would be spoiling something but I felt that one person's decision was unnecessary. Other than that I had a great time snuggled up in bed watching it, this was one of the few movies I watched today and it was very entertaining.

- Kasia S.

Leaving tired cliche` in the dust, 30 Days of Night has revitalised the vampire genre. For the most part, vampire stories are contrived bits of drivel, not worth the film they were printed upon. However this film creates a tense and moody atmosphere. By making the vampires more animalistic and feral the film makers created a far more terrifying enemy. Not to mention the addition of the drifter to set the stage for the seige, instilling a sense of menace to an otherwise peaceful town. The monsters actually use tactics to kill, hunting in packs using scouts and spotters, leaving some of the town's-folk alive to use as bait for the hero group. Add in the fact that these are not beautiful or romantic incarnations of human desire, but monsters intent on human flesh and you get a film that isn't following any rules. The producers have done away with ancient symbols and maxims regarding vampirism, refining the killing methods to the universally agreed upon steps: sunlight and destruction of head or heart. If you are a fan of well made movies, be they horror or otherwise, then check out "30 Days of Night."

30 Days is one terrific horror movie. In fact,it's the best since " Mimic". Hartnett gives a low key, just what is needed for this part, performance. The plot is plausable and the pace has you in it's grip. I would have changed the ending a bit but....This is a good one, and I can't wait to add it to my video collection!

It seems they only come about once a year. 30 Days of Night, superficially a horror film but truly an action/suspense to the bone, is based on an outstanding comic book miniseries with the same title. It is directed by David Slade, who brought us the surprisingly suspenseful and unique Ellen Page vehicle Hard Candy. Although 30 Days of Night is a different type of film, the same all encompassing suspense permeates and Slade is once again very fortunate to have some of the best young actors around today as part of his cast.

The film takes place in the isolated village of Barrow, Alaska where the sun annually disappears for 30 days straight. As the sun sets for the last time in a month, the town Sheriff, Eben (Josh Hartnett), increasingly gets busier and busier over the course of a few hours. Some peculiar vandalism occurs and some sled dogs are killed. He investigates and soon stumbles upon a bizarre drifter (Ben Foster) who becomes the film's "crazy old man" cliché character who warns of the town's fate. Although Foster is of course young, that cliché may very well be intentional as it probably goes all the way back to the Renfield character in Dracula. Foster's character is definitely the Renfield of this film, so perhaps he brings the formula full-circle. Anyway, the townie characters are for the most part likeable and that makes it even more exciting when a ruthless posse of vampires shows up and wreaks havoc on men, women, and children alike. No punches are pulled as we see Sheriff Eben do his very best to protect the few folks who remain holed up in some old guy's attic.

The film has solid performances from Hartnett and Melissa George and I guess they help to anchor the marketing end and make this very good movie some well earned money. However, others are far better. Ben Foster convinces this viewer that his performance in 3:10 to Yuma was the real deal. I think we may be looking at a great actor on the verge of stardom. Danny Huston, who plays the lead vampire Marlow, contained an amazingly eerie and chaotic emptiness just enough to keep a layer of vulnerability to his host exterior, which was probably a nice businessman out of Anchorage. He is a great villain.

The real winner in 30 Days of Night though is the village of Barrow and its tundra setting. It represents the northern most settlement in the United States but from what I hear the town wasn't portrayed accurately, nor was the film shot on location. That's somewhat forgivable because as it turns out 30 Days of Night has a very unique feel and it is a nice looking production overall, especially compared to most horror films. The sound effects and music were great and some of the aerial shots that Slade creates are unforgettable. It's like Near Dark meets John Carpenter's The Thing, but I would wager a guess and say that Slade is not a hardcore horror movie buff and despite the aforementioned comparison his film is unique for the genre. The genre in general is way too derivative and most horror filmmakers are far too celebratory of their peers. It's like a clubhouse sometimes and the regurgitating of each other's ideas is as acceptable as giving each other their secret handshake. Slade seems influenced from better films than those of that somewhat tainted genre and his movie is much better for it. He did his own thing and now horror filmmakers can steal from him.

Remember those scary vampire flicks where the characters frantically try to wait out the night and avoid becoming fodder to the undead? Knowing that if they could just hold on, the sun, like clockwork, will rise and force the nasties to skulk away to their crypts. But what if the sun doesn't come up the next day? What if it doesn't come up for thirty days?

The tiny, remote town of Barrow can be found somewhere in the boonies of Alaska. It is the northernmost town in the U.S., and each winter, thanks to its proximity to the North Pole, it suffers a month of rigorous, sunless days. Around this time most of Barrow's residents usually migrate to better climates. This winter, the population count dwindles from 563 to 152. It's about to be drastically reduced even more.

It's the last day of the sun now, and town sheriff Eben Oleson (a very good, steady Josh Hartnett ) is investigating a slew of peculiar events in Barrow. First, he finds the charred remnants of cellular phones. Then there's news of a pack of dogs which had been massacred, followed by the sabotaging of the town's sole helicopter. A mangy, loony stranger (Ben Foster, again sinking his teeth into his role) raises a ruckus in the local diner and soon starts spouting enigmatic and disturbing comments (such as "The cold ain't the weather. That's death approaching."). Disquietingly, the Internet and phone services fail, and the power goes out. Then the vampires come.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT, based on the taut graphic novel by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, takes its time to deliver the goods, but when it does, bloody hell! For the first 20 minutes or so, the players (re: victims) are introduced and their interrelationships delved into. We meet the angry couple whose dogs were just slaughtered, the hermit living on the town's outskirts, the sheriff's younger brother and grandmother, the girl left alone for the month...However, it's quickly established that the two main protagonists are Sheriff Oleson and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), who's a fire marshall. Romantically, things haven't been good for these two for a while, and in fact Stella was on her way to the airport to get the hell out of town. But events conspire to trap her in Barrow and force her to work with Oleson to desperately save what's left of the populace.

From the very start, the film makes you aware that these folks don't stand a chance against their vicious, supernatural stalkers. For the characters in the film, it takes a bit longer for this realization to dawn. But when it does, it's a despairing, crippling thing. Helpless and isolated, the terrified survivors must determine whether to hole up or flee. But it doesn't matter, really. The odds for them are very bleak. The vampires are cunning and remorseless, and they keep coming. No romanticizing here of the undead, no pretenses to velvet cloaks and cultured elegance and tortured angst. The film deconstructs these monsters into rough, feral, ghoulish things, with fearsome teeth that would baffle a Beverly Hills orthodentist and make a Mako shark go all covetous. Instead of genteel, lordly speech, some ancient, guttural language is used. And most of the usual stuff don't work on them: not garlic, not holy water, not the cross. Direct sunlight would kill them, but...

30 DAYS OF NIGHT is a nasty, white-knuckle fright ride, and so what if there isn't much character development? The movie has an awesome gimmick and it runs with it full tilt. THIS is a rated-R picture and it takes advantage of that. Shudders - and the anticipation of them - come aplenty as the hapless survivors attempt to survive by engaging in a tension-wracked game of hide and seek from the vampires. And when the Barrow-ites are caught, the film wallows in scenes of devastating carnage and gore. I thought I was desensitized to horror cinema by now, but this one had several truly brutal, graphic vampire attacks which startled me to bits. The bleakness and fright and dwindling hope felt by the film characters are palpable. The two leads are appealingly brave and selfless, and one wishes good things for them, even as that sinking feeling washes over one - that there probably isn't a happy ending in sight.