Vampires return for another feast

“30 Days of Night” brings back the Vampire trend

By Justin Thurmond, staff writer
Posted on October 25, 2007

Based on the famous graphic novel by Steve Niles, “30 Days of Night” brings vampires back onto the big screen.  This movie appeals to people looking for a scare close to Halloween.

The movie starts off in an Alaskan town where there are thirty days of darkness during this time of year.  Shortly after the sun goes down on that first night the vampires come out to play.  The town’s people soon realize the invasion and plan to fight back until the sun returns.

The story revolves around Sheriff Evan Oleson (played by Josh Hartnett, “Black Hawk Down”) and his estranged wife Stella Oleson (played by Melissa George, “Alias”).  They lead a rebellion against the newly arrived vampires.  Using snowmobiles, flares and an ax they successfully fight off the Dracula wannabes. 

After the audience gets past the novel idea of a month of darkness instead of a night, the movie fails to keep audience interest and becomes a standard vampire horror flick. Over the last 10 years the vampire story trend has been revamped, rewritten and redone countless times. Although it has had a couple of fresh starts like the action based “Blade” series or the fan favorite series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the vampire genre is just about bone dry.

However, just because it lacks originality it doesn’t mean it lacks all merit. For example, the vampires in this movie don’t want to “turn” their victims; they just want to kill them.  The vampires also have their own language in which they communicate with one another.This makes sense because the vampires seem to come from an unworldly place.

One of the main flaws in this movie is the number of unanswered questions it leaves the audience with. Where do the vampires come from? Why did they go to Alaska? Where are they going when they leave, because even they don’t seem to know?

Fans of the vampire genre will love it, but anyone looking for something new will be disappointed. So those who love the fanged ones go out and support them.

2 out of 4 stars