One of the better recent vampire films.

Rating: 6/10 (3 November 2007)

30 Days of Night was overall a good film. The overall atmosphere of its setting in Alaska gave the film that extra edge. This is emphasised in opening scene where you see Ben Forster's character emerge from the cruise liner, which had to be one of the best screen shots throughout the whole film.
Ben Forster as "The Stranger" is one of his best acting performances to date, he pulled it off very convincingly and built up the suspense and tension very well.
The suspense remains partially strong throughout the emergence of the vampires as darkness falls. This remains strong as some of the first victims are targeted and reaches a climatic moment when you see the whole town fall into complete havoc as the vampires unleash their hunger upon the locals. This scene remains truly memorable as the camera pans out above the town where you see victims being targeted, as well as vampires being shot at.
It is up to the emergence of the vampires that the tension goes, they do not seem a threat to look at. The only thing they possess are jagged teeth, widened pupils, long sharp fingernails, some have hooked noses and to make themselves look more surreal they do not bother wiping their mouths. Throughout the film you realise they dress in a goth-like fashion, other than Danny Huston's character who looks like a middle-aged business man. They also think they are a threat as they constantly shriek, believe me it was more annoying than scary. The worst vampire had to be the little girl in the convenience store, who mutters a line very similar to most evil doing children like all horror films.
The overall time scale was not emphasised, as it seemed like the circumstances only took place over a period of a day than 30 days.
Unlike most horror films, a lot of the characters were truly effected by the deaths. Josh Hartnett, unlike most heroic characters, sheds the odd tear for some of the victim's, to the death of character's he was probably very close to. Manu Bennett's acting was incredible, he remained utterly heartbroken when he killed his wife and daughters that had been transformed.
As the film draws to an end though, it goes slightly off the rails. Due to Josh Hartnett purposely transforming himself into a vampire to save his wife, who looked like she was safe enough. The death of Danny Huston's character was also sudden and unexpected, a bit of a let down there.
The film ends well though with the Hartnett and George watching the sunset together only for Hartnett to burn to dust.
Overall, a fairly enjoyable film, it is more suitable for persons though that are more interested in the genre though.