Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Rendall Directed By: David Slade Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 99 Release Date: February 26, 2008 Running Time: 113 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Product Description: Josh Harnett (Black Dahlia, Pearl Harbor) crosses over to the dark side in this bone-chilling adaptation of the cult-hit graphic novel, brought to the screen in all its demonic glory. In a small Alaskan town, thirty days of night is a natural phenomenon. Very few outsiders visit, until a band of bloodthirsty, deathly pale vampires mark their arrival by savagely attacking sled dogs. But soon they find there are much more satisfying thirst-quenchers about: human beings. One by one, the townspeople succumb to a living nightmare, but a small group survives - at least for now. The vampires use the dark to their advantage, and surviving this cold hell is a game of cat and mouse - and screams.
Amazon.com: David (Hard Candy) Slade directs this nerve-jangling adaptation of the popular graphic novel series about a mob of vampires that overruns a remote Alaskan town in the grip of 30 Days of Night. Josh Hartnett and Melissa George are the film's de facto heroes (he's the stoic town sheriff and she's his estranged fire-marshal wife) but the picture's real MVP is Slade's camera (along with cinematographer Jo Willems), which careens across the town's snowy landscape to detail the vampires' horrific assault on its inhabitants, which are quickly pared down to a hardy few. The script, co-written by the source material's creator, Steve Niles, along with Pirates of the Caribbean's Stuart Beattie and Hard Candy's Brian Nelson), proudly wears its influences on its crimson-stained sleeve (Bram Stoker's Dracula, natch, but also Salem's Lot, Night of the Living Dead, and John Carpenter's version of The Thing) and boils down the graphic novels to a series of tense and extremely bloody standoffs between Harnett and George's band of survivors and the vaguely Slavic and ferocious bloodsuckers led by Marlow (a feral and frightening Danny Huston). And if the characters seem stock and the finale begs suspension of disbelief, the set pieces leading up to it are sufficiently supercharged with suspense and violence to please most horror fans. Standouts in the supporting cast are Ben Foster as the film's Renfield figure and Mark Boone Junior; the disturbing score by Brian Reitzell also merits a mention. --Paul Gaita
retarded vamps? this movie sucks so bad esp if ur a fan of vamps the vamps speak in some never heard of language why? who knows also they look like they all have down syndrom the ending was stupid really stupid theres only one good gore scene
Gory, atmospheric movie, but lacks class This has some fantastic scenes in it, which work brilliantly, but overall it doesn't work as well as it could have. This is a pity, as what does work is superb, but too much lets it down.
Don't get me wrong, this is worth seeing, but could have been so much more.
Salem's Lot in Cicely, Alaska I don't believe vampires really exist (although I'd like to think that if one dark night, I ran into someone with glowing red eyes and fangs, I wouldn't stupidly say "that can't be" until I got my throat ripped out). But if they did exist, I have a feeling that they'd be a lot more like the horrific, bestial creatures in "Thirty Days of Night" and "Salem's Lot" than the prettified vampires that Hollywood most often produces for us.
Thirty Days of Night really is an excellent horror movie. The monsters are truly frightening (but not conjurations of special effects). The setting, a small Alaskan town plunged into a natural darkness that is made unnatural by the presence of the vampires, and the frenetic pace of the action scenes really do work together. The actors who play the heroic sheriff and the lead vampire give outstanding performances, making the most of relatively thin characters. My favorite single scene is when a soon to be killed survivor pleads for God's help when she is about to be attacked by the vampires only to be told by their leader that divine intervention is not forthcoming.
I only have two criticisms. First, this movie probably would have done better as a mini-series given the fact that it transpires over thirty days. Second, it is hard to believe that an Alaskan town, even one as remote as Barrow could fall completely off the grid the way it does in the movie without anyone taking notice in the outside world and coming in to help (perhaps parachuting chaplains from the 82nd Airborne Division in to help).
But those are minor criticisms. See it on Halloween, but don't answer the door if the lights go out.
ps. This is ABSOLUTELY not a movie that a child or a teenager who is easily troubled should see because it is extremely bloody.
Best Creepy Vampire flick, and original too! I am not a Vampire fan. I am more of a Zombie fan. This is like watching a really good Zombie film. The idea of the film is great, with darkness falling for days. A premiss for a great Vampire movie. To me it worked great. The Vampire Zombie Peeps are really creepy, and just because Josh is in the movie doesn't mean it's going to be a Feel-good Vampire movie. He was actually really good in this. If Keaneu Reeves had done it, it would have been a dreadful pile of steaming crap... You must see this movie if you like Vampire/Zombie horror. It's what a Vampire movie should be like. Not like all the pop-culture crap out there these days.
Great Eerie Atmosphere Throughout This is one of my favorites. I'm getting a little tired of the zombie/vampire genre, but this one is a standout. Like a good horror movie, the atmosphere is eerie throughout with good mood music, camera work, etc. The sets are great, and this is particularly fantastic in Blu Ray. Good acting, good story, and generally well entertaining.
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