Finally! REAL (in my opinion, anyway) vampires

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2010)

I was first seduced into vampire movies by the old Hammer ones of the 60s and early 70s. Of course, those creatures were depicted as basically Dracula clones (if not the Count himself). These vampires were usually extremely vile with no redeeming qualities, whatsoever.
Come the late 70s, starting with Frank Langella's depiction of Count Dracula, the viewing public was presented with a more romantic version of Bram Stoker's creation. Of course, there was the occasional foray into the old-style vampire in movies such as "Nosferatu" and "Near Dark". But, in the 80s, with "Bram Stoker's Dracula", we were faced once again with a somewhat sympathetic and definitely romantic Dracula. In the 90s, for the most part, vampires are creatures to be pitied (as they can't even handle werewolves) and are constantly falling for human females and seem to spend their time lamenting the fact.
In "30 Days of Night", you find a return to the very nasty creatures... not to mention, totally unromantic and well organised. In what I believe was an nod to the novel "Dracula", they arrive near Barrow, Alaska on a ship (something like the Count's arrival in England on the ship, the Demeter. The Stranger even acts the part of Renfield, sabotaging the town, preparing for the creatures' arrival.
The vampires seem to be a family group, led by an elder. The language they speak seems Slavic, which fits them right into the Dracula mythos. There is less than a dozen of them but they are able to kill almost everybody in the town. The sheriff, played by Josh Hartnett, works tirelessly to help the survivors last through the month. These vampires are very difficult to kill and the sheriff has to resort to using an axe on several occasions because beheading them seems to be the only sure way. Some of the survivors are killed, usually when they are heroically trying to help others but sometimes when the group is moving to safer places to hide.
Hartnett's character sacrifices himself by injecting tainted blood into his veins, as he sees the vampires are burning down the town to hide their crimes. He is able to kill the elder vampire in his half-vampire state, causing the rest of the monsters to leave. He and his wife then watch the sunrise and he turns to ash, paying for the safety of his fellow survivors with his life.
I know that this has been more of a synopsis but I did it this way to tell you why I liked the film so much. The homage to the one of the better vampire novels, the real terror of what seems like an endless night and the minimalist, but effective, use of make up, and the excellence of the writing and acting was why I rated this film so high.
I believe I will add this film to my DVD collection and I suggest anyone having a chance to see it: do so. You won't be disappointed.