30 Days of Night Review

"30 Days of Night" appears to be following a trend - a violent and blood-soaked adaptation of an accliamed graphic novel. Where "300" has led "30 Days.." dares to follow.

The sleepy town of Barrow, Alaska is only notable for one thing - once every year the sun fails to rise for a month. For a month Barrow is drowned in perpetual night. This is an understandable inconvenience for the town's populace but makes for the perfect getaway for a pack of toothy interlopers with a craving for blood and a terrible alergy to sunlight. Eben, the town's sheriff, played by Josh Hartnett, has a bad day at the office when all manner of things start going wrong as the sun sets for the last time - not least the mutilation of the local weatherman. Eben, along with his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), and a cadre of town's folk soon find themselves up against a savage pack of vampires. Led by Danny Huston's Marlow, these vampires are a new kind of beast - agile, vicious, immortal yet retaining a sense of their own legend. In a refreshing twist, Marlow, in a guttural vampiric language, commands that no one is to be 'turned'. Marlow instead prefers the total annihilation option. For 30 nights Eben and company must find a way to survive against seemingly invincible predators.

When this film was proposed it seemed like a fools errand. The task of building on the mythos so vividly laid out by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith in their graphic novel series was just too much to ask. That "30 Days of Night" succeeds here, and in spades, is largely thanks to director David Slade. The "Hard Candy" helmer sets out an ominous tone right from the start wringing out every last drop of suspense before the vampires arrival. The opening salvo of Ben Foster's Stranger standing atop a hill overlooking the snow covered town is as genuinely frightening as anything in the film. When the action inevitably comes it comes like a sledgehammer to the guts. Slade's vampires are like nothing seen before with a look resembling a pack of sharks and equally savage. An aeiral shot of the town as it is overrun by the vampires is a particular standout ably demonstrating just what these creatures are capable of whilst bringing the horror thundering home.

Despite a rather silly ending (with the best example of a 'sucker-punch' you're ever likely to see) and some clunky exchanges between Hartnett and George, "30 Days of Night" has enough raw energy and invention to leave you stunned. Bloody. Brilliant. And quite easily the best horror film of the year.