30 Days Of Night

Barrow, Alaska is about to be hit with 30 days of night. Some of the town's residents flee during this time, and plan on returning when the darkness ends. Others decide to stay behind and tough it out. The only thing that these ones staying behind don't know is there's a different kind of darkness entering the town. Vampires. Vicious vampires that are hungry for flesh. And they have 30 whole days without sunlight to run around the town and feast on the poor townspeople. Welcome to 30 Days Of Night.

I just finished watching the film yesterday and it lived up to all my expectations. It was dark. The darkness the town was in exactly matched the tone of the film. It wasn't slow and drawn out. The sound effects were as chilling as the cold in Alaska. And the vampires? Well let's just say these ones aren't related to Béla Lugosi. Man, they are fierce. All together, they make for one hell of a vampire film.

I have found in the past that the horror films that rely strictly on blood and guts to carry the film usually suck. They lack the psychological aspect that is so desperately needed to carry a good story. Now right up front, I can tell you this movie is gory as hell. But don't let that fool you into thinking it's one of those films. The story is clever and really gets under your skin. Once the vampires arrive and start feeding on the people in the town, they do it so fast that you hardly have time to catch your breath. You'd think the entire population was wiped out in 10 minutes. But, there are a few stragglers that manage to survive. But at the rate these bloodthirsty creatures are moving, it's only a matter of time before they are found. And they need to do something fast to figure out how they will survive. One of those survivors, is the town sherrif Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett). Led by him, the survivors must work together against odds very much against them to survive. But how can you when there's no sun? When there's not many places to hide and the weather is freezing outside? That's exactly what makes it a great film. It brings you to this point of desperation where hope seems unattainable. But, then again, that's when sacrifice and bravery must come out to help make it through. It's when the worst type of fear like this has to be faced if anything can be done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The effects were believeable, the story was pretty original for a vampire film, and it showed a group of characters who, despite being faced with their own personal hell, stood up and faced it.

30 Days of Night comes out February 26th on DVD. And along with the film, the extra features offer valuable info such as how the special effects were done, and how they actually succeeded in creating the town of Barrow, Alaska. One place I'm glad I will never get to see.