30 Days of Night (2007)

In the sleepy town of Barrow, Alaska, 70% of the town’s population leave the town as those who choose to stay must endure 30 nights with no sunlight. Those who choose to stay have adapted well to the harsh conditions that the area faces, but the next 30 nights will be like no other.

In the days leading up to the last day of sunlight, a familiar has been recruited by a gang of ruthless vampires who are on a mission to make the townspeople lambs to the slaughter, taking full advantage of their vulnerability in the dark. Removing all types of communication and protection from them (mobile phones, dogs), those who are left have an agonising month in which they must wait for sunlight to return, and stay alive.

Vampire films, like zombie films, have appeared a number of times in our cinemas over the past decade. With films such as the Underworld franchise, the Blade trilogy and everybody’s favourite, the Twilight Saga, it seems cinema, and it’s fans has become enthralled by this type of fantasy genre but 30 Days of Night luckily, is not like all of the films listed above.

One of the main problems that occurs with vampire films when it is humans vs. Vampires, is that often, the humans are left as sitting ducks, they’re portrayed as vulnerable and in the cases where there are female characters present, screaming, whinging, snot covered drama queens who you desperately want to see kill as soon as is possible. The beginning of 30 Days of Night I felt was a bit slow and as the main lead, Eben, played by Josh Hartnett, drove around the town, helping the townspeople (as the Sheriff) and avoiding his estranged wife Stella (played by Melissa George). For a few moments it got a little lost as you tried to grasp who was who, who was staying, what had been damaged and what it’s purpose was. Throw in Eben’s annoying brother Jake (who kind of replaces the snot covered crying girl in my opinion), and you’re left wondering when it’s all gonna kick off.

Added to the mix is The Stranger, brilliantly played by Ben Foster who is just the right level of creepiness, letting you as the viewer know that something sure isn’t right in this ol’ town. He shows up, warning Eben that he is soon to be a dead man and it becomes apparent he knows more than he’s letting on. My only quibble is that he isn’t in the film for longer but I suppose he serves his purpose well enough in the short space of time that he’s on screen.

As the first victim is slain, the terror and fight for survival begins. These vampires are similar to those you may have seen in previous vampire films but new to me, they have adopted an odd, banshee scream as a way in which to communicate with one another. For around 2 weeks, Eben, Stella and the other survivors manage to stay safe and out of sight in the comfort of a neighbour’s attic and you wonder just how they’ve managed to stay alive for so long. We also get to learn more about the relationship of Eben and Stella but as holes in the story go, get no further than he didn’t want a family. In terms of where she lives now, how long she’s been gone, etc, well, you’ll have to make that part of the story up for yourself.

As you would expect from a film of this calibre, as we near the end, more of the group are killed, leaving the primary characters and a few tag-alongs who haven’t really been too pivotal in the story remaining. During this time there is a harrowing scene where we discover Eben’s friend, Billy, has slaughtered his entire family, fearing they would turn into vampires (none of them had been bit). Luckily, we feel better later on in the film when he gets his comeuppance and is actually bitten by a vampire. Moving to the generator which will not only give them a good view of the town but also add additional security, the group is separated and after finding a young boy who’s been used as bait, Stella takes refuge under an abandoned car, unaware that the gang of vampires will soon have her surrounded.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

In a bid to force the remaining survivors out of hiding, the vampires break the town’s oil pipe, setting the town on fire. Realising Stella has two choices: burn to death or risk being killed by the vampires by attempting an escape, Eben takes drastic action. Knowing he can only destroy the lead Vampire if he possesses the same abilities, Eben injects himself with the blood of Billy (who is now dead after having his head hacked off by an axe). After the obligatory fight scene where Eben gets his ass kicked, there is an awesome ‘YEAH!’ moment when Eben punches right through the back of the vampires head, killing him instantly as the rest of the vampire gang flee the town before the sun rises.

After saving Stella and realising his fate, Eben chooses to see his last moments with Stella, watching the sun rise and ultimately, killing himself. It’s a touching moment as watching the film, this is the last ending I would have expected but as he burns to death in the sun a strange look in Stella’s eye left me wondering if maybe she was a bit vampirish...

30 Days of Night is a great example of a survival film and luckily, there was little focus on the strategy, history etc of the vampires themselves and more focus on the survival of the townspeople and their relationships. The lack of the survivors suddenly adopting the skills of an action hero was also welcoming, as this is a trait often included in films which just makes them laughable. There are a few jump in your seat moments but the majority of the terror that’s felt when watching this film comes from the dark imagery that’s used, along with the creepy edition of some of the vampire victims, including a little girl vampire who the group slaughter with an axe...shame. I was also disappointed that Jake (the younger brother) survived but hey ho!

If you like vampire films this is definitely worth a watch but if you’re looking for Kate Beckinsale in leather kicking ass with guns...well, you better watch that instead.

*** 3 out of 5