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Vampires shine through ‘30 days of night’
Actors sucked on screen
By Rose Davis
The film is extremely gory; the vampires not only drink the blood of their victims, but violently rip out their throats as well. Their squinty black eyes and pale skin are nothing to fear compared to the jagged, pointed teeth that line their mouths
“30 Days of Night,” which is based on the horror comic miniseries written by Steve Niles, puts a different spin on your typical vampire movie.
It begins in a small Alaskan town where the sun is setting on the last day before 30 consecutive days of darkness. A series of vandalisms begin the trouble, and as darkness falls the worst is yet to come. A group of vampires attack the town and only a small group of survivors, led by Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett), are left to fend for themselves and try to survive until daylight comes again.
This is not your typical vampire movie. Instead of only having several hours of night to come out and feed, these vampires have 30 days of complete blackness to wreak havoc.
The film is extremely gory; the vampires not only drink the blood of their victims, but violently rip out their throats as well. Their squinty black eyes and pale skin are nothing to fear compared to the jagged, pointed teeth that line their mouths. They speak in a language which sounds like a mix between a scream and hiss. Although viewers never find out exactly why the vampires targeted this small Alaskan town – perhaps they were just hungry? – these were the characters in the film with the most depth and intrigue.
As far as the rest of the characters, they were almost impossible to relate to. Director David Slade hardly develops them, so it is hard to feel any connection. Eben and his wife, from whom he is separated for unknown reasons, have a strange relationship throughout the film. Since their situation is never explained it’s hard to have any feelings for them as a couple. But of course, a horror flick isn’t complete without a love story, right? The rest of the survivors are even less developed than Eben and his wife, so the audience feels little emotion over whether they live or die.
As a horror film, this movie did not live up to my standards. It was scary in that jump-out-of-your-seat kind of way, but not the kind of scary where you’re afraid to be alone in the dark when you get home from the theater. Like a lot of current horror films, this “30 Days” tries to substitute gore for fear, and it just doesn’t work.
At first I really had hope for this film. The plot is something new and different, and it seemed like it could have gone somewhere. However, this turned out not to be the case and the ending left many questions unanswered.
I give “30 Days of Night” a C+. It will make you jump, but since ending is so unsatisfying, your fear will be left in the theater. The idea of vampires jumping out of the darkness to feed on their victims has been done before; I want something new to give me nightmares.
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