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David Slade, 30 Days Of Night

by Glenn Fullington
10/19/2007

Silver bullets? Nope. Wood stakes? Definitely not. Blonde cheerleaders? Thank God, no. Axe decapitations? Yeah, some of those.

To call 30 Days of Night a violent vampire flick would be an understatement. The film is quite possibly the most gory representation of vampirism I’ve ever seen, and it is awesome in a very disturbing, I-can’t-look-at-raw-meat for a while kind of way.

The small town of Barrow, Alaska, the most northern town in North America, is shut off from the sun for 30 days every year. To the citizens it is more of a nuisance than anything, but to the troupe of bloodthirsty vampires, the month long darkness makes the town an enticing buffet.

There is a subplot involving Eben (Josh Hartnett), the sheriff of the town, and his separated wife Stella (Melissa George) who is stuck in Barrow after missing her plane, but I assure you the sappiness is left on hold to make more room for blood spattered snow and heads on poles.

These vampires are vicious. They don’t so much bite their victims as much as they chomp on them. With vigor, I must add.

Eben delivers the majority of vampire slaughters with an axe, and he doesn’t tiptoe around the matter. Apparently these vampires can only be killed by dismantling their cranium or by ultraviolet light. A marijuana grow lamp comes in handy for the latter method (Who knew?).

Another commendable scene involves a tractor with some hellish ditch digging death saw attached to the front. Vampires are no match for death saws.

The final showdown between Eben and Marlow (Danny Huston) leaves little to be desired. There is thrashing and slashing and punching through skulls.

The film is based on a graphic fiction work written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. I cannot attest to the book, as I have not read it, but a source described the book with one word: “Gross.” Take it or leave it. There are many subsequent stories in the horror comic series, and if Hollywood is the beast I know it to be, movie adaptations will be wrung from them until there is nothing left but pulp.

There is a bright side to the story: the sun does come out again.

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