They stake vampires, don't they?
After a week of letting my brain meats marinate, I feel that 30 Days of Night deserves a proper review and analysis. Any movie that had me and my father embroiled in an hour-long discussion about the state of modern horror deserves it, but 30 Days has a special place in my dark heart. I haven't read the graphic novel, but from the moment I saw the preview for the film, I knew that I would be watching it as soon as possible.
After recently re-watching Interview with the Vampire, I realize that a horror movie isn't meant to just scare us these days. Yep, something will jump out and cause you to momentarily levitate, but for the most part, the scares are secondary to the philosophy. Some "monsters" are sympathetic or alluring, while others symbolize primal elements of our personality that require something, say a virus, for a trigger. It's hard to find horror that is intended to do little more than scare and entertain you in an old-fashioned way. 30 Days of Night does not ask you to identify with or envy the vampires who rampage; it does not ask you to consider heroes in shades of grey. There are good guys, there are bad guys, and this is one damn scary flick.
The conceit is simple: vampires come to an Alaskan town on the eve of...ta da!...30 days of night. There is a bit of exposition, but the scares start right away. Josh Harnett puts on his finest flannel to play the hero, a sheriff named Eben. We are spared too much development of the backstory between him and his estranged wife, yet I actually cared about what happened to him. It didn't hurt that he was kinda cute.
There isn't a whole lot to the plot, and thus I can't properly spoil it for you. There are some notable highlights worth mentioning here: for example, the gore is plentiful, as these aren't your parlor-entertainin' vampires. The carnage is presented as being the work of animals, and there doesn't seem to be much fun or philosophy in being a vampire. On the other hand, Danny Huston still plays Marlow, the leader of the vampires, as a dandy worthy of Ray Davies' praise; he still manages to look elegant in a suit covered with blood. No, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I was not disappointed.
And I'm afraid this film will have to develop a cult following when it really deserves to have the general public embrace it.
After recently re-watching Interview with the Vampire, I realize that a horror movie isn't meant to just scare us these days. Yep, something will jump out and cause you to momentarily levitate, but for the most part, the scares are secondary to the philosophy. Some "monsters" are sympathetic or alluring, while others symbolize primal elements of our personality that require something, say a virus, for a trigger. It's hard to find horror that is intended to do little more than scare and entertain you in an old-fashioned way. 30 Days of Night does not ask you to identify with or envy the vampires who rampage; it does not ask you to consider heroes in shades of grey. There are good guys, there are bad guys, and this is one damn scary flick.
The conceit is simple: vampires come to an Alaskan town on the eve of...ta da!...30 days of night. There is a bit of exposition, but the scares start right away. Josh Harnett puts on his finest flannel to play the hero, a sheriff named Eben. We are spared too much development of the backstory between him and his estranged wife, yet I actually cared about what happened to him. It didn't hurt that he was kinda cute.
There isn't a whole lot to the plot, and thus I can't properly spoil it for you. There are some notable highlights worth mentioning here: for example, the gore is plentiful, as these aren't your parlor-entertainin' vampires. The carnage is presented as being the work of animals, and there doesn't seem to be much fun or philosophy in being a vampire. On the other hand, Danny Huston still plays Marlow, the leader of the vampires, as a dandy worthy of Ray Davies' praise; he still manages to look elegant in a suit covered with blood. No, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I was not disappointed.
And I'm afraid this film will have to develop a cult following when it really deserves to have the general public embrace it.