Abandon Your Comfort Zone. (spoilers)

Rating: 9/10 (8 November 2007)

'30 Days of Night' is quite the impressive modern American horror fare, especially when considering that most of that market bulges with bland remakes, sequels and poorly written movies. And while operating on some convention, such as the creepy kid who becomes infected or the excessively gory visual punch (a whole head gradually becomes detached from a body with an ax), '30 Days of 'Night' works well because it loads enough well-timed action, suspense and psychological stir that forces viewers from their comfort zones.
Though, this is an easy accomplishment where the story itself dictates extremely limited mobility of its characters--survivors in a rural Alaskan town desperately try to defend themselves a sudden vampire infestation at a time when the sun disappears for thirty days. They are placed in a situation with such dubious odds of survival against very powerful adversaries who may or may not be susceptible to traditionally held rules about killing vampires ("it doesn't mean that what worked against Bella Legosi will work against these guys")--or even how they should be presented (they speak in their own language). Once bitten, the transition to life as a bloodsucker isn't as swift, but once it occurs, the ruthless vampires are incredibly fast moving and their senses extremely deft compared to townspeople armed with regular artillery and weaknesses against the elements.
The filmmakers don't need periodic gotcha's and typically written characters like foolish teenagers to get the blood pumping, your eyes glued to the screen and your mind guessing what will happen next. Moreover, this film presents a commendable psychological angle, in which morality is questioned among the survivors in ways reminiscent to John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and, in challenging the viewer's own expectations about how tales such as these should end, it is as similarly short on happy endings. '30 Days of Night' is definitely worth seeing.