Serious Timeline Issues

Rating: 4/10 (20 April 2008)

I had some really serious issues with how poorly the timeline was established in this movie. All 30 days just seem to blend into 1. The director/writer had to know that they would face a challenge establishing the change of time when it is supposed to be dark all the time. Thus, they should have planned accordingly and done a better job of establishing the timeline in the film. As it exists, the first night, the time in the diner, the time in the attic, and the time in the factory, all seem like exactly the same night. There is one line that indicates that they were in the attic for awhile, something along the lines of "who knew we would make it this long?", but they only go to the market once before they go to the factory. What are they living off of the rest of the time? Why did the vampires seem to kill almost everyone in the same night and then linger on starving for the rest of the 30 days? How many days were they in the attic? How many days at the factory? This is handled very poorly and because of this the film lacks any sense of desperation and suspense that comes with being trapped somewhere for days. Only the one elderly man hints at that, but he is portrayed as more senile than stir crazy. I honestly was shocked when one of the characters said that the sun was going to come up again the next day. I seriously thought that they have only been dealing with this for like 2 days. Where were the vampires hanging around for the 29 days between when they killed 99% of the town and finally went after the rest? Production should have taken a tip or two from films like Anne Frank, where endless days are passed in one attic, but we feel the days passing in slow agony just as the characters do. The lack of attention to timeline completely ruined this film for me and made it quite amateur. Anyone in the business for any length of time should have been able to better address this. They really should be embarrassed.