new and fresh horror thriller, good acting and good plot...

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2008)

I read the reviews here and kind of went into the movie with lower expectations that everyone has been praising it, but to put it in a objective way... this movie is a good horror thriller. I gave it a 7 out of 10 for fulfilling 3 very strong areas that make the movie. There however a couple weak points, as I've seen others who reviewed the movie reflected on.
1. The acting is good, well crafted and characters are believable, but there are moments that seem to help take the suspense out of some of the moments. (such as when they arrest The Stranger (another nice performance by Ben Foster) from the beginning of the movie at the diner where Melissa George and Josh Hartnett have an absurd moment that just seemed odd and out of place for the situation).
2. Original plot and story. The setting is very original, the story line and plot devices are nice and original. This is even more enforced by the acting and pretty suspenseful story telling. (such as when you hear Ellen's voice screaming over the radio, after their first encounter with the vampires).
3. Action and effects are well done. Lots of good blood and effects, as well as real action. Some are short and sweet but enough to keep things interesting and are important to keeping the story and plot moving forward.
The weak points of the movie are pretty minor because the humans are really what the movie is about, I say this because of the vampires characters were pretty bland and not very interesting. They were more like zombies and vampires mixed together. A little played out already.