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30
Days of Night
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| VAMPIRES |
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Barrow
Alaska sits on top of the world as the northern most point on
the globe. Every year, for thirty days, Barrow is covered in complete
darkness. This year there will be something else in the blackness.
For thirty days, they will hunt, for thirty days they will feed,
for thirty days they will kill and for thirty days the people
of Barrow will try and live through the longest nightmare of their
lives. This is 30 Days of Night.
Based
on the groundbreaking comic 30
Days of Night by Steve Niles, 30 Days of Night
has been ripped off of the page and plastered on the screen in
violent swipes of bloody red. Is the film as good as the book?
Read on.
There
is a lot of good and bad in 30 Days of Night, but in the
end, the good outweighs the bad and makes for a pretty damn fine
horror movie. If you have never read the comic, then the film
will kick ass, if you have read the comic, some of the changes
may really upset you.
First
off let's get to the good, the vampires are simply amazing, end
of story. The look and appearance of the vampires is at times
spot on from the comics, and it's extremely impressive. The second
is the amount of blood and gore in this one is incredible. There
are a lot of great scenes but the two that are stand alone outstanding
have to be one of the most brutal decapitations I have ever seen
and a great overhead camera pan when the vampires first invade
Barrow.
Setting
the story in a winter wonderland only makes the blood spray and
splatter that much more impressive. When this comes out on DVD
unrated, the case will probably be dripping blood. The isolation
factor is also well done and you do get the feeling that the town
and it's residents are completely shut off and helpless, something
that I have not seen as well done since John
Carpenter's The Thing.
The
effects, the blood and the villains are top notch, so where does
the ball get dropped? Is it the cast? No not really, they could
have had a stronger lead, I normally don't like Josh Harnett's
work, but he does a fair job in this one. Is it the pacing? Nope,
things go very well the entire run of the film, so what does that
leave....hmmmmm, the story? Yup, and that's really sad as the
screen play was written by the writer of the comic Steven Niles.
The
only reason I find this a major fault is because I really liked
the comic and the opening twenty minutes were really useless and
some of the events are either skipped or blurred together. My
biggest complaint was the fact that the film completely removes
the interaction between the younger vampires who invade Barrow
and the older vampires that show up to severely discipline the
younger breed for doing something so blatant to jeopardize the
ancient kindred masquerade. Why in the hell was this left out?
It made such a great impact in the comic. They also alter the
Sheriff and his wife's relationship, which was also completely
unnecessary. I did like the renfield-ish character they added
and Ben Foster does a great job playing him, but it really wasn't
needed.
In
the end though, 30 Days of Night is pretty impressive,
I still didn't like the ending, I didn't like it in the comic
either, and some of the plot tweaks were kind of unneeded, but
the film is still solid and I think many of you will really enjoy
it.
7
of 10
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30
Days of Night
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| VAMPIRES |
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This
movie is raw! Not raw like sushi or even raw like hamburger, there's
nothing in a butcher shop this raw, I'm talking raw like roadkill
dripping off your front bumper. Hardcore.
Before
this film, I think the only scary vampire film ever was Fright
Night. I loved the movie and there were several times when
I was honestly afraid of Jerry Dandridge. Other than that, I always
rooted for the vampires, or thought they were kinda silly. Cool
or silly, but not scary. 30 Days of Night makes other vampire
flicks look like a giggly romp through a patch of dandilions.
Very
little in the way of effects, the vampires were magnificent just
based on a little makeup and a whole lot of acting, and the casting
was perfect. Who knew being less than pretty would be so effective
in a vamp flick? The main vampire was incredibly fearsome, and
making the group so Russian and practical rather than flamboyant
and pretty was really the element that made this story what it
is. Horror that made me scared of vampires again.
I'd
also like to point out that Prime's complaints about Josh Hartnett
are based solely on hating his hairdo when he was in H2O
and The Faculty. Let it go,
man. Forgiveness is divine.
It
is true that I'd like to have seen a little more of what was going
on in the downtime, the days passed really quickly and a little
more info on what that was like would have been welcomed. I have
a feeling the uncut director's version of this will be quite impressive.
9
out of 10 best vampire movies ever
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30
Days of Night
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| VAMPIRES |
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Went
into this flick having never read the comics. As Jareprime said
this somewhat made the flick better, having no high expectations
walking in.
The
vampires were pretty badass and weren't the typical "I vant
to suck vour blood." Also I did enjoy seeing Ben Foster in
the movie as I am a fan of his work. His part was interesting
as a explanation of how it would be set up that the people of
Barrow would be completely cut off for the month.
The
parts that I felt fell short was the pacing. Its day one then
all of a sudden day 7 then 18 and so on. The time passes so fast
and it felt akward.
Also
I feel that the hiding the fact that it was vampires from society
was not touched upon well and could have benn missed for someone
not fully into the movie.
All
in all a worthwile flick for the price of admission, and something
I probably wouldnt buy when it came out to DVD but at the least
check out again and rent.
7.5
out of 10 decapitations that were the best I've seen in a while.
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30
Days of Night
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| VAMPIRES |
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Sam
Raimi continues his horror comeback in one of the most brutal
films in a while. Gory, tense, and (mostly) intelligent, 30
Days of Night recalls some of the best moments of the genre's
greatest films.
The
idea of vampires infesting an Alaskan town that surrenders to
a month of darkness borders on brilliance, and is a logical idea
if you think about it. That kind of logic doesn't exist throughout
however: Why the bloodsuckers stay beyond the first week when
most of the town is decimated already is left unexplained (and
the whole the humans can't know about us thing is
weak at best). I'd be on my way to Fairbanks after the initial
feast was over. I'm freaking undead! Why shouldn't I actually
act like I'm at the top of the food chain if I really am?
The
aforementioned food I mean the humans also acts
stupidly at times, shushing people for talking above a whisper,
then slamming a door without a second's thought or consequence.
And why the hell can't they sit still? They bounce around from
one house to the next like Prime jumps around the net looking
for shirtless Patrick Swayze pics. Sit the fuck down and wait
until daylight! Of course, that'd make for a pretty boring movie
and if there's one thing 30 Days of Night isn't, it's boring.
Limbs
and heads fly, the snowy ground slowly turns from white to red
with gore, and no one, from senile seniors to innocent children,
is safe. This kind of brutality is refreshing. A friend and I
had a conversation today about PG13-rated horror. I argued that
I thought the trend of sanitized, family-friendly horror flicks
was over, and 30 Days of Night proves it.
Creepy,
creative, very, very dark (and damned depressing at times), this
is a film I will be proud to recommend, and even more proud to
own once the DVD is released. Don't miss it on the big screen
though; this one will be best watched in the dark and larger than
life.
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30
Days of Night
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| VAMPIRES |
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A
rock solid addition to a genre I have no real taste for, 30 days
of Night captivates the audience from the opening moments and
doesn't let up until the end credits scroll.
I
can't really add much to these comemnts that wouldn't simply repeat
what the other Horrorwatchers have said about the acting and the
effectiveness of the vampires in this flick, suffice to say that
-as is the case with the Horrorist - Fright Night was really
the only vampire film to ever get under my skin - until now.
Evoking
at times the same mastery of atmosphere which made Carpenter's
take on The Thing so memorable,
this film sets up the impending nightmare so effectively that
by the time the action starts, we are already afraid. This without
a drop of human blood having been spilled.
And
speaking of spilling blood, these are not gothic, "bite marks
in the neck" bloodsuckers. The creatures in this movie don't
merely drink blood, they gorge themselves on it.
So intense are some of the attacks that there are entire sequences
where the camera simply pulls back wide and allows the viewer
to witness the rampant carange turning the snow red throughout
the town.
Which
brings to mind another point: I'd like to tip my hat to the cinematographer
of this flick. This is, without question , the best looking vampire
film I've ever seen. The vast wasteland of the surrounding Tundra
is captured in all its desolate glory as the monsters lay seige
to Barrow, Alaska.
Then
there's the last shot in the film. I wouldn't dare give it away,
but I will say this: This story ends on a note that is so powerful
I never would have dreamed I'd find it serving as the conclusion
to a modern vampire flick.
Filled
with terrifying monsters, solid performances all around, lots
of blood and genuine scares, 30 Days of Night has my highest recommendation
to any horror fan. I'm going full tilt boogie with this one and
giving it:
Ten
out of Ten punches which result in a splitting headache.
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(2007)
David Slade, Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie
Josh
Hartnett ... Eben Oleson
Melissa George ... Stella Oleson
Danny Huston ... Marlow
Ben Foster ... The Stranger
Mark Boone Junior ... Beau Brower
Mark Rendall ... Jake Oleson
Amber Sainsbury ... Denise
Manu Bennett ... Billy Kitka
Megan Franich ... Iris
Joel Tobeck ... Doug Hertz
Elizabeth Hawthorne ... Lucy Ikos
Nathaniel Lees ... Carter Davies
Craig Hall ... Wilson Bulosan
Chic Littlewood ... Issac Bulosan
Peter Feeney ... John Riis
Also
known as: Thirty Days of Night
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