A good graphic novel visual adaptation to the big screen (6.5/10)

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 2007)

First of all I like to say that I gave it a seven because 6.5 is not available, but I rather not take the rating down.
Visually the filmmakers did a great job giving it a dark graphic novel look. The story itself was very interesting and pretty original for choosing Alaska and its month long night to make the situations more desperate than it usually is in vampire films for the humans. The rest I'm afraid is not as well planned. The scary parts are sometimes bogged down by choppiness and too much of reliance on the vampire make ups, teeth-showing and silly repeated hisses by the bloodsucking gang.
The little scary suspense in these scenes is spoiled when their language is subtitled for us so god forbid we use our imagination or be expected to have some patience to see what they will do after.
I was also present at the Q & A with the writers and found out a couple of nifty things were omitted from the "Future Director's Cut Version".
For example: Minor SPOILER ALERT****
The little infected girl about to be beheaded turns human for a moment beg them not to kill her, and that is when her head gets chopped off. There was also a scene that explains better that the vampires came on that frozen ship we see in the beginning. There is also supposed to be scene where it shows they have killed all the other passengers of the ship and their blood flowing through specially designed water ways to the outside of the ship, gathering all of it towards a single exit point.
End of SPOILER****
In short, if you've seen a lot of scary, action-packed and well-done similar movies of the genre (vampires, Zombies,), this won't be nearly as original or frightening. As for the rest of the audience it is a stylish entry in the genre with a decent twist in the rules existing in vampire movies (remember they don't need to worry about sunlight for a whole month!) It should generally be an enjoyable viewing for most.