30 Days of Night

I'd been looking forward to 30 Days of Night since I first saw the trailer. The world was in desperate need of a good vampire movie and this looked like this could satisfy it. Of course, given my anticipation for its release, it was only fair that I ended up having no one to see it with until it came out on DVD.

Let's start with what works in 30 Days of Night. The atmosphere is terrific. The filmmakers really give you a sense that the inhabitants are alone and completely cut off from everyone. They also capture the claustrophobia and paranoia which ensues very well. The relationships between the characters are very good, with a few exceptions (Josh Hartnett's and Melissa George's characters' relationship is fairly stereotypical and boring). The vampires themselves are also really well done, with great acting and makeup.

OK, now for why I'm not a huge fan of 30 Days of Night. There's really no explanation for where the vampires come from or why they're doing what they're doing. They just kind of show up and say "god damn humans, let's kill them in the most conspicuous way possible while cursing each other that we're not killing inconspicuously." And the third act. Simply put, it pales in comparison to the rest of the film. There's no sufficient explanation given for Hartnett's final actions in the film, and one of the final scenes was so completely ridiculous I was laughing (and a comedy film this ain't). It's as if the writers forgot they were in a serious, dark graphic novel and thought they were in some cheesy superhero comic. Well, I've got a comic panel for the writers detailing my disappointment in the ending:


'Nuff said.

Three stars out of five.