Best vampires I've ever seen!

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2013)

I've really had low expectations, if any, when I set out to watch this film. I've had no information about the original comic strip, or the cast, or anything save for the short synopsis. Surprisingly, 30 Days of Night turned out to be the best film of the Monsters/Vampires sub-genre I've seen in a while, if not ever.
The story and build up are great, and really suitable for a vampires flick. An Alaskan town going through a full month with no sunlight, what grounds could be more fertile for a vampires attack? The perfect combination of supernatural with fitting realistic set-up. The exposition is carried out through the uncovering of the preparations for the attack, and continues to show the way the few survivors struggle to survive, giving us some aspects of post-apocalyptic and zombies films. The plot is pretty straight forward, simple and lacking in any challenging complexity or twists, but then again the plot is not the "main feature" of this film, not by far.
The entire cast has done a great job in my opinion, and I for one have been most impressed by Mark Rendall in the role of Jake, the main protagonist's kid brother. Script and cinematography have also been done just right. However, the best part of the film and the one that truly made it shine above all others which resemble it - has definitely been the vampires themselves. I'm not sure who deserves the credit for the amazing and almost perfect way in which the vampires have been designed and portrayed - but I've never seen better. These vampires weren't Victorian nobles like in Interview With the Vampire, not elitist pseudo- Goths like in the Blade trilogy. They were far from human despite having humanoid skeleton, limbs and such exterior organs. Their eyes, jaws, teeth and movement were savage and feral like beasts. Their banshee-like shrieks of communication and their authentic language topped it off, and really made them more alien-beast than human. I salute those in charge of creating these nightmarish creatures.
This has been the second time I've seen this film, this time as a preparation for the much anticipated sequel. I really hope it lives up to this film's standards. While lacking any real twists in the not that complicated plot - 30 Days of Nights just might be the best vampires film I've ever seen. Very, very highly recommended!