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The vampire genre is where many a promising film career goes to be impaled on an oaken stake, but director David Slade pumps some vigorous life into his tale of undead bloodsuckers who plague a small town in northern Alaska that’s stuck in darkness for a month.
After getting his start with music videos, Slade made his film debut last year with “Hard Candy,” a head-turning indie film about a teen girl who entraps a man in a sexually compromising situation. That film started with a grim and volatile aura that only grew more shudderingly chaotic as it went, twisting into revelations that shifted the dynamic between the characters.
Slade uses a similar template for “30 Days of Night,” with a premise that couldn’t be more different than his first. What could easily be a dumb, gory scream fest – stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George, though talented, aren’t exactly stamps of quality productions – is a dumb, gory armrest-clencher. Slade and his screenwriters make tough choices involving key characters and operate in bittersweet notes and shades of gray. Even though this is a monster flick, the distinction between right and wrong is blurred by a few confounding situations sprinkled throughout.
That’s not to say fans of blood-curdling horror will be left out in the Arctic chill. There are plenty of “gotcha!” moments and more than enough scenes of grotesque vampire slaughter to satisfy the vicarious blood lust of any Fangoria subscriber.
The vampires – skinhead East Europeans – are a rough-hewn bunch rather than prim and proper dainties like Dracula or Lestat. The fanged freaks’ teeth could be used as dentures for great white sharks, and bullets are as threatening as greeting cards. These vamps could use stakes as toothpicks and garlic as garnish on their meals of human flesh. Their only weaknesses are a well-swung ax to the jugular and sunlight. Much like Larry King.
Defeating the vampires isn’t possible, so survival is the only option. It’s up to the husband-and-wife duo of Eben (Hartnett) and Stella (George), both cops, to fend off the assault, using their brains and survival instinct to squeak by until the sun comes to save what’s left of the town. Eben and Stella are separated and not on speaking terms at the beginning of the film, but a marauding supernatural death squad proves to be stronger couple’s therapy than a Dr. Phil pep talk.
After all, the alternative to the characters putting aside their petty differences and working together certainly bites.
