30 Days Of Night (DVD)

A small town in Alaska becomes the larder for a group of vampires taking advantage of the midwinter lack of sunlight. Josh Hartnett stars, Sam Raimi produces
Some critics have said that 30 Days Of Night revamps the vampire movie in the same way that 28 Days Later reinvigorated the zombie flick, but that's misleading. Certainly, the source comic-book by US writer Steve Niles and Australian artist Ben Templesmith gave the vampire back some teeth, steering away from the suave urban stereotype towards a feral predator, but the film adaptation isn't quite in the same league as 28 Days Later.

It's a slick film, directed by David Slade (Hard Candy), but it lacks the street-level guerrilla intensity and depth of Boyle's influential film. Instead, it plays out more like a semi-successful homage to John Carpenter's claustrophobic under-siege classics The Thing and Assault On Precinct 13.

The action takes place in Barrow, Alaska (actually recreated with an almost inconceivable amount of fake snow in New Zealand), a place 80 miles from the nearest small town. During one month in the winter, the sun never gets above the horizon, and the town's population drops from 563 to 152, as many can't face the psychological rigors of life without light. This year, however, the people who stayed on face a worse worry than Seasonal Adjustment Disorder. Yep, vampires are coming to town. First, however, a stranger (Foster) arrives.

The cops, lead by Sheriff Eben Oleson (Hartnett), find a pile of incinerated mobile phones. Then a helicopter is put out of action. And all the town's sled dogs are slaughtered. Eben thinks he's got to the bottom of these crimes when he arrests the stranger, but as he starts babbling "They're coming," the lights start to go out. "No way out of town, no one to come help. You can feel it. That cold ain't the weather, that's death approaching." He's right. A kiss (the collective noun, supposedly) of vampires arrives and starts feeding.

They're lead by Marlow, played by Danny Huston, who's the most prestigious actor here and lends some gravitas to proceedings as he mutters subtitled orders and utterances in the vampires' guttural tongue: "There is no escape. No hope. Only hunger and pain."

Huston, like the rest of the vampires, doesn't have much to do apart from make animal noises, stand around looking for prey and then jump on people. With their eyes twisted by CGI, wearing black contact lenses and dental prosthesis, the vampires resemble a freaky-looking bunch of blood-splattered goths. One shot stands out and brings home the hideousness of the situation - the camera floats over the town from 50 metres up, presenting the carnage, blood-stained snow, corpses and desperate shot-gun blasts ("keep shootin' 'em and they just keep comin'").

Verdict
A refreshing variation on the vampire movie formula, with a strong premise and a fair bit of splatter, but insufficient verve to last out its nearly two hour running time.

The film started with alot of promise but sadly did not deliver. A boring and very predictable film spoiled what could of been a great film.

If I were you I would give it a miss.

thsi is an excellent gory horror film,the "creatures" in this film are a cross between a zombie/vampire/human, great film to watch with your other half on a saturday night with a bottle of wine,gives you an excuse to cuddle up.
stunning film,i just love horror lol.

Good movie, not the best vampire movie in decades though, slight exageration there by Empire. Also they are selling this movie 2 disc special edition in woolworths for £6.00

I love vampire films, and this had got a good rating, But this is the worst vampire film i have ever seen, you don't really know where they've come from, it's more like a zombie film, than a vampire film, just lots of gore and no story line.

I liked the idea to this film, the idea of an isolated Alaskan town being taken over by vampires who strike when the town is cast into thirty days of night, moving from town to town, wiping out the community and covering their tracks by ensuring no one escapes and then burning down the town to make it all look like an unfortunate accident, after all who's going to suspect the people of the night?
This film is a welcome addition to my dvd collection and one I would advise to a friend, there's plenty of gore which is essential for a film of this type and despite other people claiming some of the acting is a bit wooden I thought the film was well cast and well acted.

This isn't a great film, but it is good.

I don't like to go into plot too much in a review - why bother watching the film if you know everything that's going to happen? - but briefly; a group of vampires turn up in the small Alaskan town of Barrow where, for 30 days (& nights), the sun doesn't rise. Perfect for the vamps, not quite so pleasant for the remaining residents who are all now on the menu. Usual horror rules apply here... most of the residents are dispatched quickly leaving the main characters to figure out how to survive until sunrise.

As a horror film it doesn't offer anything really different to what's been seen before but what it does do is give a new & refreshing take on the vampire genre & that's it's saving grace.

The vamps in this film are de-humanised beyond the norm seen in other films - i was reminded a bit of Boris Karloff in the old b/w Nosferatu film! They communicate in a different 'language' & there's certainly nothing sexy or glam about them! You can forget about the romantic 'suck on the neck' too - when these guys pounce they do so with about as much grace & elegance as a car crash!

There's a lot of gore, a couple of 'make you jump' moments but i didn't find it had much suspense. I was disappointed with the ending - i thought it was quite lame.

I categorise every film i watch into 3 groups: couldn't take my eyes off the screen, couldn't hold my full attention & couldn't care less. This film couldn't hold my full attention.

It's definately worth watching but it's not a film that i'll be keeping in my collection.

The best vampire movie to come out in years. The acting is good and the vampires look great. Very atmospheric and stunning visuals.
On blu-ray some of the shots are VERY impressive but in others a bit grany (something ive noticed in ALOT of blu-ray films)

Worth buying if- A you like vampire films
B Want a brilliant film in your blu-ray collection

I would imagine the book this film is based on is a good read. The basic idea for the film is a good one, although the setting does not lend itself to very interesting visuals. I would have liked to say I liked this film. Thankfully, it isnt along the lines of the more romantic version of a vampire flick!. You certainly wouldnt want to jump into bed with these characters, expecially the lead vamp who to me remainded me of the chap from the Petshop boys!!! or maybe whatever floats your boat. I actually found the film lacking in suspense and rather fragmented- made me think some key areas ended up on the cutting room floor. That said, the end was good.

I wanted this film to deliver so much more... as a vampire genre fan, I have to say that I was a little disappointed.

Although it was well shot, with great special effects, make-up and a well played lead role by Josh Hartnett. I was left feeling a little disappointed by the great looking vampires... but then maybe I prefer a more likeable villain in my films.

I'm rating 3-4/5 for this one.

i like horrors but it was not as good as the clips but it was find i would not be watching it alot i found i think the reason it was not that good for was the picture was to dark

Slade's movie actually improves on the cinema release with the blu-ray format. The visuals are beautifully drawn so that we are in a living, breathing, graphic novel. This adds to the urelenting grip of sheer terror Slade conjures up when the vampires finally descend on the unsuspecting population of Barrow.
There truly is no hope, no escape, and no reasoning when they attack. In fact 30 Days of Night is more akin to Schindlers List or The Pianist than to other horror films-and all the more frightening for it. The lead vampire even invokes some of the language of the Final Solution when he refers to humanity as a "plague" before brutally killing another victim. The overhead tracking shot peering down on the slaughter is reminiscent of the clearing of the ghetto in Schindlers List, the hiding in the attic evokes Anne Frank evading the S.S.
The vampires are so lethal, so uncompromising, that Slade has upped the game for any vampire film that comes after 30 Days. There isn't much humour and no character is safe from their evil. They could even be the dead souls of S.S. extermination squads; their language seems faintly Germanic and they make use of human traitors to undermine their victims. Whatever they are they will stay in your memory for some time to come.

Good solid film. Classic vampire thriller not reliant on special effects or gore to keep the viewer interested. A refreshing change.

Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's graphic novel claws its way onto the screen with this terrifying thriller. HARD CANDY helmer David Slade directs Josh Hartnett and Melissa George who play residents of an Alaskan town that is being overtaken by vampires. Sam Raimi (SPIDER-MAN) goes back to his horror movie roots to produce this film.

I like this film because of its use of traditional makeup and Special effects(no CGI) that I couold see.The characters are believable and down to earth and not pretencious, the acting is fluid and continuous with an element of the good guys losing slightly.

everything the special effects the ending the extras complete with an art comic and it was all well presented especially as a vampire film is usually no good now as most of wot could be done with them has been done

This film i feel is underated, it does not particularly stand out in any top 10 run down of Horror films but i feel it deserves to be rated at top 5.

So there are a lot of Vampire style horror films available, but this one is dark, slick and stylish for a start it has the fabulous Josh Harnett as lead Actor. There is not a huge amount of special effects as such, but it does keep you watching and wanting more.

The plot seems simple and it is...a group of vampires travelling incognito from place to place in this case under the cover of darkness until they hit a small town in the wilds of Alaska, the majority of the town have travelled to the mainland leaving just a few locals to look after the village for 1 month (30 days) whilst under the cover of darkness, and so the carnage begins.

Not a typical ending, great film.

cheers
suzie

I saw this film just before Christmas and after watching it decided i had to buy it definitely as such a good film. Best modern day vampire film i have ever seen.

Having seen many vampire films over the years I know a little about the vampire makeup and methods used to defeat them and some of the interest for me in a film is watching this being worked out and analysed, this film however did not address that aspect enough, other than a couple of scenes. This film was good but a bit too much blood and guts and not enough of the planning to defeat them aspect for me but still a good film and one to watch if you are a horror film fan !

Excellent movie, Josh Hartnett is gorgeous and sexy! would watch more then once. Also good thriller, gives you chills. Great 30 days of night comic included in box set for free, good read and watch for a thriller night.

CONTAINS SPOILERS!

I'm not a fan of horror movies, i'm scared really easily. This movie was on tv in the afternoon and I decided to watch it.
The overall vibe of the movie and decor is really dark and gloomy, which is good for a vampire movie.
This movie is different from most vampire movies, because these vampires have different abilities such as amazing speed that is not common in other vampire movies. The ending is a bit dissappointing because you don't know where the vampires are going next (there's no way in or out the town?) and if they are going to kill the remaining 2 victims (the rest is killed?)..

Great item just as described by the seller cheap price won it cheap shop selling price for this one over £15 so grabed a good bargain price for it. Top sell first time i brought from them but it arives in good nick and plays well ;-) Hope to deal with again Thankyou.

Saw this at the cinema and it scared the b'jeebies out of me!
A couple of times I found it hard to look at the screen lol...

That said, I just bought a copy :o