Very Pleased

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2007)

As a fan of Josh Hartnett, I was a little sad to hear that he chose a vampire movie for his return to cinema. However, once I'd seen the trailer and watched 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails, I had high hopes. I must say I was not disappointed. I'm an avid horror movie fan (my DVDs are shelved according to zombies, vampires, aliens, werewolves, and misc. monsters) but I don't necessarily enjoy gore. I like my movies to have an excellent plot which has the minimum blood and violence needed to support it. Anyone who enjoys only open chest cavities and entrails (like my boyfriend) may not be impressed with 30 Days of Night.
The story is pretty original, although many of the characters are a bit cliché. There's a very predictable love story in the forefront between Eben (Hartnett) and his wife. But the brilliance is in the subtlety of the vampires, who are mostly seen as lurking shadows, and the focus on the human aspect. The plot is in the terror and hopelessness of the town's people. Settings are suffocatingly small, often with no escape route available just like Barrow itself. The reactions of most characters are believable. When the vampires are in full view they're not romanticized, as in most movies of this genre, but shown as animalistic, soulless monsters. They even kill their own rather than help them. As for the ending, I didn't see it coming.
Blood and guts fans will enjoy 30 Days of Night more than Interview with the Vampire. Plot junkies like me will like it more than Fright Night.