http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/30-DAYS-OF-NIGHT-A-Fresh-Take-On-An-Old.aspx At this point vampire films are kind of like fruitcake at Christmas: every year we seem to get another one, and rarely do we like what is being offered. Along the wide spectrum of vampire flicks, I would place 30 DAYS OF NIGHT somewhere in the middle. The film offers a unique and creative premise is wonderfully put together, the acting is acceptable, yet there are definitely some glaring plot holes which drag it down to B-movie level. Based on the groundbreaking 2002 comic book miniseries of the same name, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT is set in the small Alaskan town of Barrow, “the northernmost city in the known U.S.” Every year the sun sets on Barrow for thirty days, pitting residents against the dark, the cold and the tedious strain of isolation. It also makes the town the perfect buffet for a clan of ravenous vampires, who descended on Barrow the moment the sun sinks beneath the horizon, massacring the townspeople and feeding on their blood. Surviving the initial wave of slaughter, town sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), manage to keep their wits long enough to gather what surviving town members they can, taking refuge in an abandoned attic to await the return of sunlight. Of course panic and stupidity soon take over and members of the group start getting picked off, often in brutal ways, as the merciless vampires try to weed them out of hiding. Technically speaking, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT looks like a highly polished version of its B-movie subject matter. Director David Slade peppers the film with some of the more artistic shots and striking imagery that distinguished the comics, without trying to transfer that medium to the screen frame by frame—a wise choice. Screenwriters Stuart Beattie, Brian Nelson and Steve Niles, (one of the co-writers of the comics,) anchor the script in the tone of the source material’s bleak, hanging-by-a-thread sense of desperation. The vampires play their parts accordingly, mixing their roles with equal parts feral menace, kid-in-a-candy-store glee, and shocking moments of ferocity when dispatching their victims. There is nothing romanticized about these monsters: they are superior predators, stalking prey on the ideal killing ground. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/30-DAYS-OF-NIGHT-A-Fresh-Take-On-An-Old.aspx 77 60 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/30-DAYS-OF-NIGHT-A-Fresh-Take-On-An-Old.aspx#1861 this movie looks great:) tinkluvspan http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/30-DAYS-OF-NIGHT-A-Fresh-Take-On-An-Old.aspx#1861 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:46:25 GMT http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/30-DAYS-OF-NIGHT-A-Fresh-Take-On-An-Old.aspx#1862 i am right with you. this is my kind of movie. brokun1 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/30-DAYS-OF-NIGHT-A-Fresh-Take-On-An-Old.aspx#1862 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:03:42 GMT