30 Days Of Night

                                                                                 

Date Of Release: 19th October 2007

Director: David Slade

Producer: Sam Raimi, Ted Adams, Rob Tapert

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Mark Boone Junior, Ben Foster

Running Time: 109 minutes

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Review

As most of you will have guessed by now, I am a bit of a comic book freak. I especially love comics that were considered very "underground" at the time. 30 days of night is no exception. I collected the graphic novels as soon as they came out and immediatley fell in love with not only the amazing artwork but the whole concept. It is easy in this day and age to dismiss another vampire movie. Goodness knows that the genre has almost been done to the death, so when I heard that the comic novel was being adapted into a movie, my heart really did sink a little. After watching it however, I was certainly eating my words.

This really is not just another vampire movie. It is based on an Alaskan town, who has just entered into a 30 day long polar night, for those of you that don't know what that means, the town is basically night time for the next 30 days. This gives way to the town being over run with vampires. Seems boring but it really is not. For starters, the movie has some how managed to keep its comic book feel without going over the top, which, for a bit of a comic geek, is very refreshing. What I love most is that they have kept the gore in the movie (which if you have read the novels, you will understand what I am talking about). They really don't mess around with the blood. Put it this way, if you have a weak stomach, then I am afraid that this movie is really not for you!

The look of the vampires is the next thing you will point out. They are ment to be almost ancient, even having their own language, but somehow still come across as quite modern. Rather than your basic set of fangs, they have a rather sharp set of needle like teeth. I can't say that I am a massive fan of Josh Hartnett and he wouldn't have been my first choice for this movie but I actually think he done the character a bit of justice. If I had to pick a favourite scene then it would have to be when Eben sacrifices himself to save the others. I don't want to give too much away but it was quite clever.

The story may seem like a simple one but if you don't like it then all I can say is please don't fob off the franchise as the novels are amazing! I was very suprised by this film. I had really set a low bar for it, as I am pretty sure most people do when it comes to remakes or adaptions, but you will really love it. There is nothing out there like it and that is what we like at the end of the day, a bit of originality!

Rating: 9/10 - I can think of 30 ways the might get you for not buying this!