Day 12: 30 Days of Night
I've often said the great white north--and the great white south--are brilliant venues for horror. The Terror, Mountains of Madness, The Thing...all of them allow the setting to become an oppressive character, just as eager to kill the humans as whatever supernatural terror lurks. 30 Days of Night is no exception. If you have a moment, check out Barrow, Alaska on Google Earth. There is nothing anywhere near the city. Combine that with the month of darkness, you've got a great setting for a vampire movie.
These are not the debonair, foppish vampires sired by Ann Rice. Not once does a vampire in 30 Days of Night lament his immortality, or make the courageous decision to forsake human blood for love. These vampires reminded me more of Nosferatu, they are all claws and jagged teeth and black eyes. They don't lovingly suck blood from victims necks, like hyenas, they rip the throats out. For most of the picture, these vampires have bloody chins. I like this hearkening back to vampires as a threat, as something to be feared. I'd like to see head vampire Marlow against Edward in a fist fight...
30 Days of Night played up a lot of horror tropes. It's almost something of a joke now to have the disbelieving humans, in the early days of a monster attack say "They must be on PCP--it's the only way they could be so strong!" The sled dogs were all killed. Because dogs are cute, fluffy, and loyal, they're always the first to go. Nothing gets an audience against a killer faster than killing off the dog. 30 Days of Night used a neat, jerky style of cinematography for the vampire attacks which enhanced the impression of super speed. There was a brilliant aerial shot of the town as the vampires tore people apart.
I wasn't wild about the last battle, but the rest of the movie was just great. I was a little pleased to see the ending was more optimistic than the graphic novel (correct me if I am wrong?). Josh Hartnett did a great job portraying a small town sheriff who was all over it when it was minor disturbances, but was in danger of collapse when the threat became vampires. He kind of looked like he was going to cry in most scenes, and I found that humanized him. Too often horror/action heroes don't have emotional reactions.
It blows my mind that director David Slade has done this movie, Hard Candy and...Eclipse? Like Twilight Eclipse. He went from these monsters...to Edward. Fascinating.
These are not the debonair, foppish vampires sired by Ann Rice. Not once does a vampire in 30 Days of Night lament his immortality, or make the courageous decision to forsake human blood for love. These vampires reminded me more of Nosferatu, they are all claws and jagged teeth and black eyes. They don't lovingly suck blood from victims necks, like hyenas, they rip the throats out. For most of the picture, these vampires have bloody chins. I like this hearkening back to vampires as a threat, as something to be feared. I'd like to see head vampire Marlow against Edward in a fist fight...
30 Days of Night played up a lot of horror tropes. It's almost something of a joke now to have the disbelieving humans, in the early days of a monster attack say "They must be on PCP--it's the only way they could be so strong!" The sled dogs were all killed. Because dogs are cute, fluffy, and loyal, they're always the first to go. Nothing gets an audience against a killer faster than killing off the dog. 30 Days of Night used a neat, jerky style of cinematography for the vampire attacks which enhanced the impression of super speed. There was a brilliant aerial shot of the town as the vampires tore people apart.
I wasn't wild about the last battle, but the rest of the movie was just great. I was a little pleased to see the ending was more optimistic than the graphic novel (correct me if I am wrong?). Josh Hartnett did a great job portraying a small town sheriff who was all over it when it was minor disturbances, but was in danger of collapse when the threat became vampires. He kind of looked like he was going to cry in most scenes, and I found that humanized him. Too often horror/action heroes don't have emotional reactions.
It blows my mind that director David Slade has done this movie, Hard Candy and...Eclipse? Like Twilight Eclipse. He went from these monsters...to Edward. Fascinating.