A Superb Vampire Movie

Rating: 9/10 (25 October 2009)

Right from the very beginning, this movie sets a gloomy and foreboding tone. A lone man appears wandering through the Arctic wilderness with a mysterious ship off the coast in the background. Then, the setting is established. This is Barrow, Alaska - the northernmost town in the United States, and a 30 day night is about to fall as the sun disappears below the horizon. The mysterious man turns out to be an advance scout of a sort for a truly frightening gang of very bloodthirsty vampires, who have decided to use the completely dark and completely isolated town as a feeding station. Josh Hartnett did a good job as the local sheriff who at first can't figure out what's happening, but then when he does has to try to find a way to help a small group of people survive this nightmare for 30 days without being caught. This is one of the absolute best horror movies I've seen in a long time. The setting is perfect and is an original twist on the vampire legend, the cast does a fantastic job of presenting the fear and sense of hopelessness the townspeople felt in the situation, and those who played the vampires did so perfectly and were totally convincing. These vampires were a bit different from what we're used to. There was no sense of semi-romance or quasi-sexuality that we've often see portrayed with vampires, from the time of Bela Lugosi on. These vampires just want blood - and lots of it, and they're on a killing spree to get it. The ultimate solution that Sheriff Eben Oleson came up with took me totally by surprise. I hadn't thought of it at all even though I, along with the townsfolk, was trying to figure out how to escape this madness all the way through. The movie is very gory, and definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you're a fan of horror movies (and especially vampire movies) this is most definitely a must-see movie. The town's isolation is used to good effect, although it's also the only niggling plot point. When the vampires arrive, one of the first things they do to ensure that Barrow will remain isolated is cut all the phone lines. That makes sense, but it also creates a problem. Surely people inside Barrow can phone out, and people outside Barrow can phone in. Surely someone somewhere in the world would have noticed long before 30 days were up that they can't phone anyone in Barrow? Surely this would have been reported? I know it's dark, but surely somehow the phone company would have managed to get someone up there to investigate? I mean, in the setting, surely phone service (or at least ham radio service) would be essential for medical evacuations, etc. And yet this goes on for 30 days with no one caring that there's no contact at all? That stretches credibility a bit. Still, in my opinion, by the standards of the genre and on the basis of its originality and atmosphere, this deserves a 9/10!