30 Days of Night (2007) Sony Pictures Entertainment
1 hr. 53 mins.
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ben Foster, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Kate O'Rourke, Craig Hall, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich
Directed by: David Slade
This film is rated: R

Rating: ** ½ stars (out of 4 stars)

Writer-director David Slade's vaunting vampire vehicle 30 Days of Night is a darn bloody good time to count one's giddy goose bumps. The premise about slick-minded bloodsuckers creeping in the frigid Alaskan nighttime is a refreshingly original concept. Slade's ("Hard Candy") graphic storytelling resonates properly with the right amount of thrills and chills to overcome some of the film's occasional problematic schemes. The hellish nightmare that exists in Slade's frosty utopia gives 30 Days of Night its rough-and-tumble appeal and his masticating menaces a unique style in which to take a calculating bite out of their walking cold-blooded prey.

Incidentally, 30 Days of Night is based upon a series of successful comic book entries courtesy of writer Steve Niles and artist Beth Templesmith. Slade and co-writer Brian Nelson distinctively captures the haunting visual essence of Niles's/Templesmith's creepy creation where the vampires aren't only terrifyingly tenacious but surprisingly astute in how they carry out their cold-hearted carnage. True, the blood-and-guts factor is at a premium high. In fact, Night may recall such dastardly ditties as From Dusk Till Dawn but the film stays true to its call for gory gumption. Unfortunately, the fang-induced fable is a bit erratic at times and the slight characterizations are hardly realized in the thickness of this hostile horror show. Still, Slade diligently executes a nerve-racking nocturnal narrative that skillfully promotes its skin-crawling vibes.

The setting for Night takes place in a quaint icy hamlet known as Barrow, Alaska. The tiny Alaskan town is known for its propensity for sinking into deep darkness during the month of a selected year. As a result, most of the 500-plus population departs during this daunting period where night deprives the arrival of sunlight. It is this nature-based revelation that prompts new residents heading to Barrow and take advantage of the dank and dark deep-freezing accommodations. These newly visitors aren't what they seem to the remaining Barrow occupants%u2014they are opportunistic vampires settling in a region where the prolonged numbing night is something that can play into their blood-sucking agenda.

And so the story unfolds as the sinister neck-loving nemesis looks to feed on the lingering Barrow denizens roaming about the refrigerated roadways. Standing in the way of the munching monsters is Barrow Sheriff Eben Olson (Josh Hartnett). Undertaking a crucial role as a vampire deterrent is Eben's estranged wife in state fire marshal Stella (Melissa George). In the aftermath of their deteriorating marriage, Eben and Stella must foil any blood-soaked intentions that the vamps may have in continuing to victimize their fellow exposed neighbors.

It's bad enough that Eben and Stella have to deal with the strange goings-on that plague their sub-zero surroundings at the hands of their fiendish blood bank benefactors. They have to also tangle with an oddball referred to as The Stranger (Ben Foster), an instigating and rot-infested troublemaker that may have trashed the community in his peculiar support for the ominous blood-thirsty beasts. The Stranger feels obligated to connect with the vampires' rampage because he's feeling personally ostracized as the shady cretin that he is in theory.

In the meanwhile, the raging blood-craving rascals--led by raucous ringleader Danny Huston--are on a tremendous tear as they kill at will (and turn some of their targets into honorary blood-gushing vermin). Hastily Eben, Stella and a band of desperate survivors must duck, dodge and destroy the carnivorous creeps the best way they see fit. Shooting at the vampires proves to be a futile gesture but Eben and gang finally figure out the ferocious foes' hidden weaknesses for axes as the feared weapons of choice. Can the Barrow bunch outfox the vampires before they become more forceful in their devastation? How will the chilly nightly atmosphere hinder the heroes but assist the vampires in the constant tug-of-war to make the bitter cold Barrow a feeding ground for the dubious plasma-pleasing pests?

The suspense presents a legitimate jittery sensation that permeates throughout the shocking showcase. Slade reinforces a frantic frightfest that incorporates all the spellbinding elements working in full circle--grungy Nosferatu-inspired vampires, the unpredictability of the still darkness, the arresting Alaskan frost-bitten climate and a pesky outsider (Foster's The Stranger) that contributes to the unsettling circumstances. The viciousness is transcended marvelously in some instances but the movie also has the tendency to drag in spurts (all right...BLOOD spurts). Some can make an argument that 30 Days of Night doesn't necessarily distinguish itself from the overwrought vampire fare that we've endured countless times before. One should, however, admire the spunky salaciousness and stylized freakiness in which Slade strokes with his demented, boisterous brush.

Although guilty of being another glossy, over-extended B-movie bloodbath, 30 Days of Night is an intoxicating hell-ride that reigns supreme in spite of its momentary shortcomings. Bleak, bombastic and belligerent, Slade's blood-busting bohemians will indeed take a caustic chunk out of your imaginative horrifying souls.

Frank Ochieng
@ World Voice News (2007)