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

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

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.

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.

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.