Why see the same old Saw
when you have a chance to see the best and scariest vampires you have
seen in a
long time?
Josh Hartnett stars as Eben
– the small town sheriff of Barrow, Alaska. Every year, Barrow becomes
a ghost town as
many residents evacuate due to a period of time where the sun does not
rise for
thirty days. Of
course, it turns out
there are some who appreciate no sun for thirty days, and they are
about to
make Barrow the most horrifying place on earth (it becomes
a kind of an
anarchistic anti-Disney World, or New York City in the 70's).
Just as the darkness begins,
Eben starts to notice a large number of strange crimes like vandalism
and dogs
being attacked, while electricity and telephone service has been cut
off. We even have a
babbling stranger (Ben Foster)
warning of impending terror (a classic horror movie device). And, just when it is
starting to get creepy
and suspicious, Russian vampires start to attack the residents who
stayed!!!!!
Who will survive? Can anyone stop these
vampires?
Director David Slade does a very
good job mixing traditional scary surprises with the type of gore,
violence and
bloodshed modern horror movie fans appreciate, which makes 30 Days Of
Night
much better than your usual scary movie.
Slade takes the time necessary to ease us into the
horror about to come
as the audience’s curiosity builds with each strange
occurrence, unidentified
noise and quick flash of a figure, even though we know what to expect. It’s the kind of
scary I often opine for as
we in the audience find ourselves on the edge of our seats with
anticipation
and fear at what is in the dark, around the corner or about to pounce
from
above.
In many ways, it is the way
he crafts the vampires into wild animals that makes 30 Days of Night
scary and
impressive (with that accent, they are either Russian or Klingon, so
I’m
guessing the intention is to be Russian).
Slade develops the vampires into super strong,
vicious, bloodthirsty
demons so powerful the audience is left to wonder how the common folk
of Alaska
could ever
overcome the siege (I don’t think kryptonite is going to
work!).
Better yet, Slade gives the
audience this impression before we ever see the vampires. Almost like Spielberg
holding back on our
first sight of Jaws, Slade has made the villains so dastardly that they
would
have to be dressed like Bozo the Clown to be a disappointment.
However, Slade does fall
prey to some of the modern horror movie problems that plague others
these
days. Some of the
attack scenes and
fight scenes are so out of focus and blurry you can’t really
follow what is
happening on the screen. 30 Days of Night also loses steam in the middle as we go from action and suspense
to plotting
the escape and trying to be quiet to avoid becoming Dracula’s
midnight
snack. The ending
is a bit over the top,
but it might have been the writers’ only way to end the movie.
If you want a good scary
movie for the Halloween season, this is it.
2
½
Waffles (Out of 4)
30 Days
Of Night is
rated R for strong terror violence and language.
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
