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30 Days Of Night Steps Into The Spotlight.
Ahhh the Vampire, that most noble of movie monsters, the suave one, the romantic deviant, the stylish claret hunter, the thinker's creature of the night. Pity the poor Vampire, for never has it seemed such an endangered species. Nowadays with the likes of 'Blade' to contend with, and the peaking popularity of its humble stablemate, the Zombie, is it curtains for the king of monsters?
On it's initial release I read alot of negative articles about '30 Days Of Night' and foolishly let them sway my opinion without even seeing the movie. Now I've finally gotten round to watching it, and despite some hang ups, my viewing experience was in the main a pleasurable one.
The plot here is simple, every winter the remote Alaskan town of Barrow is plunged into darkness for thirty days. A group of particularly vicious vampires decide to exploit this seasonal inconvenience, and use Barrow as a human buffet. What transpires is a cat and mouse game of survival with the remaining inhabitants.
'30 Days' is adapted from a graphic novel, and the first thing you notice about the film is that it looks fantastic. I don't usually like CGI (I loathe it), but here it's used sparingly to enhance scenery, weather conditions, and most strikingly, for an eye popping areal shot of carnage. The vampires are well realized, sporting a contemporary gothic look, that stays the right side of cheesy, whilst complemented by the icy setting. The gory action is also well handled, David Slade going for a pleasing balance of cut aways, wide shots, and Lucio Fulci style lingering gore close ups. Technically '30 Days Of Night' can't be faulted, indeed it's production values are delightfully glossy, but the film still has some glaring detractors.
The most unforgivable of these relates to the '30 Days' portion of the title, and the pacing/credibility issues it throws up. Slade deals with this by sporadicly adding a day number at the bottom of the screen, but all to often up to ten days elapse with no explanation. This saps away any tension, and left me scratching my head in puzzlement. It seemed a huge let down to me that a film revolving around a set time frame, couldn't effectively convey that very premise.
Secondly this is a film that hinges on us believing the heroes can survive for '30 Days' against an overwhelming enemy. Virtually no references however are made to them undertaking survival activities, this seemed very odd to me, as the film is basically a story about just that. Survival elements like them finding food (something focused on to great effect in Zombie movies) are never mentioned. Instead they constantly discuss where the best hiding place is, and how they can get there without becoming vampire brunch. That's all well and good, but when characters get separated only to miraculously appear later, already at a destination, frustration and disbelief come a knockin'.
Lastly and slightly more forgivable (this is a b-movie after all) is the acting and characterisation which never rises above wooden predictability. Unless you're a doe eyed young girl fawning over Josh Hartnett, you certainly won't give two hoots about who lives or dies. Infact the films pleasingly downbeat ending is a highlight, even if it is identical to 'Blade 2'.
I must point out at this juncture, that I liked the film despite its shortcomings. Indeed you could say it's 'mutton dressed as lamb', as underneath all the gloss, this is pretty dumb stuff. In some instances audience intelligence is totally disregarded, as gaping plot holes are left conspicuously unplugged. Strangely it still manages to be likable though, infact I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a cult favourite in years to come.
So there you have it '30 Days Of Night', an interesting if flawed little vampire flick, that's definitely worth a look. It certainly doesn't reach the heights of Kathryn Bigelow's classic 'Near Dark', but it's stylishly entertaining, and should temporarily sate vampire fan cravings.
30 Days Of Night
David Slade 2007
David Slade 2007
30 Days Of Night Steps Into The Spotlight.
Ahhh the Vampire, that most noble of movie monsters, the suave one, the romantic deviant, the stylish claret hunter, the thinker's creature of the night. Pity the poor Vampire, for never has it seemed such an endangered species. Nowadays with the likes of 'Blade' to contend with, and the peaking popularity of its humble stablemate, the Zombie, is it curtains for the king of monsters?
On it's initial release I read alot of negative articles about '30 Days Of Night' and foolishly let them sway my opinion without even seeing the movie. Now I've finally gotten round to watching it, and despite some hang ups, my viewing experience was in the main a pleasurable one.
The plot here is simple, every winter the remote Alaskan town of Barrow is plunged into darkness for thirty days. A group of particularly vicious vampires decide to exploit this seasonal inconvenience, and use Barrow as a human buffet. What transpires is a cat and mouse game of survival with the remaining inhabitants.
'30 Days' is adapted from a graphic novel, and the first thing you notice about the film is that it looks fantastic. I don't usually like CGI (I loathe it), but here it's used sparingly to enhance scenery, weather conditions, and most strikingly, for an eye popping areal shot of carnage. The vampires are well realized, sporting a contemporary gothic look, that stays the right side of cheesy, whilst complemented by the icy setting. The gory action is also well handled, David Slade going for a pleasing balance of cut aways, wide shots, and Lucio Fulci style lingering gore close ups. Technically '30 Days Of Night' can't be faulted, indeed it's production values are delightfully glossy, but the film still has some glaring detractors.
The most unforgivable of these relates to the '30 Days' portion of the title, and the pacing/credibility issues it throws up. Slade deals with this by sporadicly adding a day number at the bottom of the screen, but all to often up to ten days elapse with no explanation. This saps away any tension, and left me scratching my head in puzzlement. It seemed a huge let down to me that a film revolving around a set time frame, couldn't effectively convey that very premise.
Secondly this is a film that hinges on us believing the heroes can survive for '30 Days' against an overwhelming enemy. Virtually no references however are made to them undertaking survival activities, this seemed very odd to me, as the film is basically a story about just that. Survival elements like them finding food (something focused on to great effect in Zombie movies) are never mentioned. Instead they constantly discuss where the best hiding place is, and how they can get there without becoming vampire brunch. That's all well and good, but when characters get separated only to miraculously appear later, already at a destination, frustration and disbelief come a knockin'.
Lastly and slightly more forgivable (this is a b-movie after all) is the acting and characterisation which never rises above wooden predictability. Unless you're a doe eyed young girl fawning over Josh Hartnett, you certainly won't give two hoots about who lives or dies. Infact the films pleasingly downbeat ending is a highlight, even if it is identical to 'Blade 2'.
I must point out at this juncture, that I liked the film despite its shortcomings. Indeed you could say it's 'mutton dressed as lamb', as underneath all the gloss, this is pretty dumb stuff. In some instances audience intelligence is totally disregarded, as gaping plot holes are left conspicuously unplugged. Strangely it still manages to be likable though, infact I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a cult favourite in years to come.
So there you have it '30 Days Of Night', an interesting if flawed little vampire flick, that's definitely worth a look. It certainly doesn't reach the heights of Kathryn Bigelow's classic 'Near Dark', but it's stylishly entertaining, and should temporarily sate vampire fan cravings.