30 Days Of Night
In the Alaskan town of Barrow, the northernmost city in America, the hardy residents persevere each winter through a period of darkness that lasts for 30 days. It's up to sheriff Eben Oleson (Hartnett) to keep the peace, but as the sun is making its final descent, a series of strange incidents sets off alarm bells that trouble is imminent. A cache of destroyed mobile phones is found in the snow, all of the sled dogs are slaughtered, and the communications lines go down as the town is systematically cut off from the outside world. All of this coincides with the arrival of a mysterious stranger (Foster), who insinuates that something terrible is coming.
Also stuck in Barrow for the duration is Eben's estranged wife, Stella (George), who misses the last flight out of town due to an accident on the way to the airport. The two are forced to put aside their differences and stick together as the town becomes increasingly vulnerable and reports of missing people and violent attacks start coming in. It soon becomes apparent that the town has been infiltrated by a group of monstrous creatures who attack indiscriminately and feed on the living.
Eben and Stella take charge of a group of survivors and find a temporary place to hide, but these vampires are as smart as they are patient. They keep their existence a secret, hiding behind the romanticized myths of vampires and staging their attacks in isolated places where accidents go relatively unnoticed. The only advantages the humans have is their familiarity with Barrow and experience with the harsh weather. If they can remain strong and work together, they might have a chance of surviving the long, dark night.
Based on the graphic novel written by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, 30 Days of Night takes a simple premise—so obvious it's amazing it wasn't done years ago, and by the Russians—and makes it even better, with interesting characters and terrifying imagery that feels original. Which is especially admirable given that this story centers around vampires, one of the oldest horror tropes in film and literature. What's different about these monsters, however, is that they're not interested in seduction or looking cool or any of the trappings of humanity. They're out to hunt, kill, feed and survive. Period.
Director David Slade (Hard Candy) has done an admirable job of translating Templesmith's splattered, stylized drawings to the big screen while still keeping it tethered to the real world. The color palette is carefully controlled to match the artist's characteristic gray-black tones, punctuated by splashes of red blood for maximum visceral impact. The film begins all in white, with a long tracking shot across the snow. Like the characters in the film, the audience is given a chance to revel in the last few moments of light before the darkness, both literal and thematic, descends.
Danny Huston gives a chilling performance as the lead vampire, Marlow. All of the vampires, but Marlow especially, have an alien look about them that was achieved using a mixture of prosthetics and CGI, but it's hard to tell where the makeup ends and the technology begins. They have their own language, too, which was developed specifically for the film. Huston sinks his sharklike teeth into the role, relishing the opportunity to inform one poor victim that there is "no God" to come and save her. Equally good is Foster, as the disturbingly unhinged stranger who serves as the story's Renfield. The two character actors nearly outshine the leads, Hartnett and George, who don't quite achieve the emotional center that the film seems to be longing for.
30 Days of Night feels like an old-fashioned film, reminiscent of classics like Treasure of the Sierra Madre and John Carpenter's The Thing. The horror here is psychological as well as physical. Much of it comes just from the idea of being trapped in a desolate environment and hunted by a brutal, inhuman enemy. It proves that true terror can be achieved without resorting to the shock value of cheap gore and jump-out-at-you moments. Oh, there's plenty of gore in the film, to be sure, but it's there to reinforce the threat, not to be cheered or glorified.
- by Cindy White
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