30 Days of Night (2007)

Rating: 9/10 (3 March 2009)

Rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Horror, Vampires, Comic Book
Director: David Slade
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall, Amber Sainsbury, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich, Joel Tobeck
Synopsis: "30 Days of Night" is an adaptation of the 2002 Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith comic book series about Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is as about far north as a town can get and as a result during the winter the town spends thirty days in complete darkness. The remaining townsfolk must fend for their lives when the town comes under the attack of a band of nasty vampires looking to drain the town dry. Will the Sheriff (Hartnett) help the survivors who are cut off from the rest of the world by paying the ultimate price?
Thoughts: Director David Slade (fresh off the popular "Hard Candy") creates a nicely stylized adaptation of the popular graphic novel. The grimy, disgusting vampires make for a wonderfully tense time as the darkness and setting make for some quick and fun gruesomeness. I'm not the biggest Hartnett fan but he and the rest of the cast do a fine job conveying the terror and the lead vampire is particularly nasty to behold.
In Conclusion: "30 Days of Night" is a wonderfully welcomed change of pace to the tired vampire genre. It has plenty of excellent technical design should give vampire fans something to sink their teeth into and the comic fans to be happy about.