’30 Days of Night’ Review
B+
Last year when ‘The Descent’ snuck its way onto the big screen, many people had no clue what it was, other than just another cheap budget horror film, but word of mouth, and a surprising perfect four-star rating from Roger Ebert provided heavy assistance as it went on to be the most satisfying horror film of 2006. First-time director David Slade’s crafty adaptation of Steve Niles’ graphic horror novel doesn’t provide hardly anything we have yet to see already, but ‘30 Days of Night’ actually does manage to ice a few cakes with its middle-of-the-road special effects, and a decent amount of jumpy shrieks.
Not a whole lot goes on in the sleepy little town of Barrow, Alaska, but when the winter sun sets and doesn’t rise again for thirty consecutive days and nights, a pack of blood-thirsty vampires will rise from the darkness and bring terror on Barrow’s residents; and their only hope for survival rests within a cop (Josh Hartnett) and his wife (Melissa George).
Being the avid comic book reader that I am, I have to admit, when I read it years ago, ‘30 Days of Night’ never really struck me as the type of story that would come to the big screen. I usually get really upset when I see a comic book adaptation that completely changes the plot of the story (if the story in the comic is good enough, then why change it in front of the camera?), but in this case, some minor alterations were completely necessary.
As much as people like to see torture and violence these days, Hollywood still, sometimes, just drowns its projects in way too much gore. ‘30 Days of Night’ is certainly no exception to the “bloodbath” genre, but David Slade manages to do much more than just wet our pants here. Aside from plenty of shrieking jump outs and bloody attacks, ‘30 Days of Night’ complements its continuous terror by creating a dark and grotesque atmosphere for the audience; an atmosphere which is accentuated to the point where we are coldly shaking in anticipation for the next victim to get killed…… or in this case, bitten.
When I found out that Josh Hartnett was the lead star of this film, I could only assume he was desperate for a job, because after the cult success of ‘Lucky Number Slevin,’ Hartnett’s run for superstardom seemed complete. His performances are always believable, and certainly to their fullest, but to see him placed back into a genre he hasn’t tested since 1998 (‘The Faculty’) still felt like a serious underrating for this young star. Ben Foster’s support as the creep held in captivity doesn’t really brighten his fame either, but after his lunatic performance in ‘Alpha Dog,’ I think we can all accept Foster for just about anything; even if it means he can hear death approaching through a dark silence.
I knew that when I walked out of the theater, I probably wouldn’t purchase ‘30 Days of Night’ later on down the road, but I must admit, I was more satisfied than I had expected to be. The critics have totally panned it for unoriginality and crappiness, but at some point, I think they’re going to just have to let horror flicks go on that stipulation. I mean seriously, how much more is left? And who can’t predict what a thirsty vampire is going to do when it captures human prey? And as far as I’m concerned……… at least it’s not a remake!
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 18 2007. Filed under Features.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
