30 Days of Night

Introduction

Based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles, who co-wrote the screenplay, this takes place in Barrow, a remote Alaskan town where the sun sets almost entirely for a month every year and most of the inhabitants leave, with only the essential or crazy remaining. As dark approaches, something is very definitely amiss as the town sheriff Eban Oleson (Josh Hartnett) finds that the town's cell phones have been stolen and burned, the sled dogs killed and, bit by bit, the infrastructure taken down by a stranger (Ben Foster).

Eban's estranged wife Stella (Melissa George) is in town in her capacity as a fire marshal, trying to avoid her husband whilst checking the equipment before catching the last flight out of Barrow but events conspire against her and she is too late.

The stranger orders a raw hamburger and alcohol and, when his requests are denied, he threatens the owner and is arrested. In his cell he makes veiled threats saying that 'they' are coming without embellishing on who 'they' may be. 'They' turn out to be a group of vampires whose leader (Danny Huston) has targeted the town for a month long feeding frenzy. Eban, Stella and a group of other survivors must band together to survive and wait for the sunrise.

Video

The vampire design here is very different from the norm, with them more like dogs or sharks than the traditional aristocrat with pointed canines and the ancient dialect and chilling screams identifies them as very old and very scary. The editing and direction helps with quick cuts in the attacks and a wonderful overhead tracking shot of the town - built entirely in a field in New Zealand - following the attack as the snow increasingly turns red.

The picture is excellent with deep blacks and a muted colour palette emphasising only the black of the night, the white of the snow and blood red. Some scenes have been lifted entirely from the novel and look like a frame from the graphic novel.

*The pictures contained in this review are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the image quality of the disc.*

Audio

Aside from a more than adequate Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a spectacular DTS-HD Master Audio which, with the higher bitrate, is clearer with more bass and makes use of the extra channels to create an extremely effective soundtrack. The tension, suspense and jumps are well done and the discordant score by Brian Reitzell helps enormously.

Extra Features

The commentary, with Hartnett, George and producer Rob Tapert, is better than I expected though there is more dead air than I'd have liked but they go through the shooting process with a few interesting revelations.

There are eight featurettes that can be played together as one 50 minute making of. These are well worth watching, thanks in no small part to David Slade's sarcastic comments. I particularly liked the impact that shooting at night had on everyone, with them practically living on coffee for that part of the shoot.

The 30 Images of Night feature contains images from the graphic novel and comparable shots from the film and you are able to toggle between them, with one as a PiP in the top corner and the other dominating the screen.

Conclusion

I really like 30 Days of Night, both the film and graphic novel, with David Slade not letting down Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith. As the bonus material shows, Slade is a horror fan, with posters for the Evil Dead films around his office, and his handling of the material is excellent. With Hard Candy he showed that he could crank up the tension and keep it high and does the same here, with a much bigger budget and scope.

I've rarely been as impressed by Hartnett as in this and, with now genre staple, Melissa George giving great support as his estranged wife, a departure from the novel which has them as a loving couple, they both improve their standing in my eyes. There are a host of fine character actors in supporting roles such as Mark Boone Junior and Nathaniel Lees and the stunt people playing the vampires are excellent.

There are knowing nods to vampire films, with lines like "Just because something stopped Bela Lugosi doesn't mean it can stop these things." ensuring that the audience knows the characters are aware of vampire lore. This is the most enjoyable vampire flick in a while, the last being Blade II (2002), though the decade before had several, such as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Interview with a Vampire (1994) - it's no coincidence that all of these are adaptations of books, both graphic and 'standard' literature.

This is a fine film with a good Blu-ray package and one worthy of your attention - it's worth checking out the graphic novel as well.