Some cool scenes and good acting, but still not one of the best vampire movies

Rating: 6/10 (20 October 2007)

Based on the graphic novel, which I haven't read, 30 days of Night has some effective moments, good acting, intense scenes and great visuals, but it still isn't quite up there with the better vampire movies.
Barrow, Alaska, the northern most town in the US, is plunged into 30 days of darkness. Taking advantage of the lack of sunlight for 30 days, a gang of lethal and nasty vampires descend upon the town to feast on the living. It is up to the local sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George) to protect the town's dwindling populace against certain destruction.
There are quite a lot of effective moments in 30 Days of Night. I like the look of the film as well as the look of the vampires. There are quite a few good scenes as well, but one of the best, and many have stated it here already, is the aerial view of the vampires attacking many of the town's folk who try to fight back with weapons that just don't work on vampires.
The acting for a horror movie is also quite good. I actually cared about the good guys. Both Josh Harnett and Melissa George were very effective in their roles, as were the secondary characters. I also have to give the lead villain his due as well. Danny Huston, as the lead vampire Marlow was good. Ben Foster also appears in the movie. He is only known as the Stranger, but he comes to Barrow with a mission as well, which I won't disclose for it may be a minor spoiler.
30 Days of night has a lot of good points, but I felt as if some scenes moved a little to slow, and there were some points in the movie that went nowhere. I think if the film had been shorter it would've been better, but these weren't the points that really bothered me as much as two of the characters that do things that make little sense. I can see why they did what they did, but why do things that make it easier for the vampires to get you. One character does something that was a little crazy, but not as disappointing as that of another character. The latter character does something even more far fetched at the end, which leads to a fight sequence which I found hard to swallow. Yes I've heard that this scene is in the graphic novel. Maybe it works in there, but what always works in a graphic comic doesn't always work in a movie. Still, 30 Days of Night was better then most horror films. At least it wasn't just torture porn like so many other films. I think if you are a horror fan you will enjoy this movie. I will award it a C+.