30 Days of Night (2007) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

U.S. 2007
Director: David Slade
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Ben Foster, Danny Huston, Megan Franich, Manu Bennett
Rating: R
Release Date: October 19th 2007
Running Time: 1 hour 53 minutes

The Movie Review

Vampires are drop-dead scary but they have this majestic charm on them, which it feels like they should belong to the aristocratic class. They know they prey, they don't rush to get it and they do it convincingly. Some of them are even depicted as handsome men with pale faces wearing black capes that are even close to being theatrical at some point. They differ greatly from the Werewolves, the horror clan that are much more vicious and aggressive just like animal. So both have their own horror quality, but combined? Deadly...

A combination of Vampire and Werewolf is implicitly the premise of 30 Days of Night.


30 DAYS Of NIGHT
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This horror movie tells the story of a town in Alaska called Barrow that has to endure night time consecutively for as long as 30 days every year, scientifically because of the earth rotation to the sun. Some of the people who live in Barrow usually have already prepared for this phenomenon by leaving the town earlier and coming back after the long night has ended. Some of them prefer to stay, mainly because of their job just like Sheriff Eben (Josh Harnett) and his soon-to-be-ex-wife Stella (Melissa George).

There isn’t anything unusual about the town's habit, until one day a skinny creepy-looking outsider (Ben Foster) is making a scene in the bar, thus forces Eben to keep him behind the cell. But the stranger convincingly keeps telling that Eben and the rest of the town are going to die. Shortly after, things are getting even darker when all the lights in the town is mysteriously dead as well as all the dogs in the town. What will befall to the town that is already naturally dark for 30 straight days lies in the pale hands of a group of vicious vampire.

Before I start giving compliments, just want to state firsthand that the performances of Josh Harnett, Melissa, Danny Huston (Vicente the vampire leader) and Ben Foster are solid. Notably Foster who is again this time being a supporting cast only but still could give the chill to audience with his creepy-looking trademark. But the biggest strength of this film is the storyline. 30 Days of Night is actually based on a comic book written by Steve Niles in 2002. The premise of locking innocent people in a town that is naturally isolated and naturally dark for 30 straight days is already awesome. You could already smell the terror from a distance. But putting Vampires into the town makes it even scarier. Now Vampires with Werewolves behaviour? Oh my! Totally awesome!

These fang-y creatures chasing the town's people like sheep being chased by wolfs. They do not walk elegantly like the Vampires used to do, they jump and they move fast. And seeing the town covered with heavy snow with the remaining survivors hiding in the house while the Vampires are searching for them is a great improvement to Vampire films.

There are many great horror movies released this year, and 30 Days of Night makes the days of the horror fans just even "brighter".

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com