Has its moments--but not enough

Rating: 6/10 (2 November 2007)

Film about a town in Alaska which, once a year, has only night for a full month. A bunch of vampires appear from nowhere (it's never made clear but it's suggested they came from overseas) and begin to slaughter the residents. A small bunch escape led by Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett). But the power is cut off, all the sled dogs have been killed, the cell phones destroyed and Oleson and others have to spend a whole month hiding and trying to survive from the vampires.
This movie does have a lot of good things going for it. The basic plot (based on a graphic novel) is not bad. The vampires themselves are impressive--vicious evil creatures who can move VERY fast. Danny Huston chews the scenery as the head vampire and they all speak in an eerie foreign language (the audience gets subtitles). The acting is pretty good with one exception and most of the attack scenes are fast, vicious and VERY gory. Still I didn't like it.
First of all--Hartnett. I've never liked him and this movie does nothing to change my mind--he's a terrible actor. He's the lead so it's a big liability. After the basic plot is set up everything goes by the numbers. You know who's going to live, who's going to die and the horrible predictable "dramatic" dialogue is just dull. Also the opening attack on the town is just so badly done it boggles the mind. It looks like it was edited by someone with extreme ADD! Things are going so fast and quick it's impossible to tell what's going on! The attack sequences that follow are better handled. Things do get a little better during the last half hour, but by then I was bored to tears by the horrible dialogue and cardboard characters. I only stayed in my seat because Huston was so much fun. He's having a great time in the role and it rubs off on the audience. Still, he isn't enough to save the movie. I give it a 6.