Genres

Visitors Review

Matt_Layden 2012-05-20 01:17:56

Loses The Creepy Atmosphere & Horror For Action.

I'm not a huge fan of the original film, but I thought it did have agreat atmospheric tone to it. The vampires looked great and it waspretty violent. This is the direct to DVD sequel, with a differentactress in the role of Stella. For me it's always hard to connect to acharacter who is played by someone else in a sequel, the one notableexception for me is of course James Bond. In this sequel, Stella has left Barrow for LA, where she has a book andtries to expose the truth. Vampires follow her and she soon discoversthere is a leader, Lilith. Kill her and the rest will crumble. Joininga rag tag team of vampire hunters, they set out to kill her and endtheir nightmares. This film plays more along the lines of Blade Trinity than 30 days ofnight. The vampire hunters are 3 people who have zero intelligence andno character development. In one particular scene they raid a vampiresnest. They claim to have done this dozens of times. So what do they do?They walk in to the nest with a few guns, no exit strategy and no realplan what so ever. It was almost as if this was their very first timedoing anything. We are then treated to the classic, "I can't kill myfriend even though he is a vampire and will likely attack and kill me"scenario. Kiele Sanchez is in the lead role, taking over for Melissa George.Those who have seen the first film will know she is a survivor. In thisfilm she goes commando and is all of a sudden a weapons expert,explosives expert and machete expert. When did she become Alice fromthe Resident Evil series? She has nightmares of vampires attacking herand constant guilt over the death of her loved one from the first film.That's about as far as we go with any sort of character developmenthere.The vampires aren't as scary this time around. Mia Kirshner is not asfearsome as Danny Huston and the vampires themselves loose their'danger' aspect. It doesn't help that the setting change to LA was notan improvement. I hear that most of what happens in this installment istrue to the second book. I blame the source material then, because thisfilm is not scary and entertaining. I don't want to get into the ridiculousness that is the ending,something out of character (yes it happens in the book, I know) andcheats the viewer. We are treated to a wonderful scene near the endthat if a dead vampire has blood poured into their mouth, they canregenerate and come back. First of all, that is stupid, second ofall...you know where I'm going with this regarding the ending.30 days of night wasn't a great film, but it had a creepy atmospherethat helped set it apart from other vampire films. This sequel justfalls into the bunch of forgettable vampire films.

JoeB131 2012-05-19 12:46:12

Sad, really,

The original "30 Days of Night" was kind of a good vampire movie thatmade vampires scary again when movies like "Twilight" and "TheVampire's Assistant" and the awful Anne Rice books were turning theminto imaginary gay boyfriends for wannabe Goth Girls.This movie, ahhhh, not so good. Stella, who survived the first moviebut is now being played by a less talented actress, has teamed up witha team of vampire hunters after her attempts to sell a book go nowhere.They raid the vampire's nest, where the Expendable Black Guy (TM) getskilled, and they find out the vampires are going back to Alaska forseconds. (Now, if we can only get some vampires to attack the Palinfamily, that would be progress.) The balance of the movie takes place on the ship, and has an endingthat makes not a lick of sense, really.

dragosgrigs 2012-05-17 05:10:30

Beyond bad

If you saw the first "30 Days of Night" movie , well, this is nothinglike it. The acting is so far beyond bad you feel embarrassed andwhoever wrote the script must have been lobotomized. The vamps in thismovies are a bunch of wussies that run around looking mean and doingnothing. At some point in the movie the so called "Vampire Hunters" goin the sewers to hunt Lilith (Queen of all vampires) armed with guns (when they know they're useless) and one big knife. At that point in themovie whatever hope I had that this will somehow get better was gone. Iwatched the rest of the movie just out of curiosity and in awe thatsomeone actually invested time and money in something like this. Wordof advice , don't waste your time unless you watch it with a bunch offriends and you do voice overs transforming it in some silly comedy.

compton147 2012-05-16 21:13:18

Entertaining Watch

The biggest let down is that the vampires are not cold and calculatedlike the original ones. They seem to be very cartoonish. I was actuallykind of disgusted with the acts of the 2007 version, which is fairlyhard to say when I watch films.This film sheds to much light on the vampires' whereabouts and does notleave the uncertainty that brings so much fear to the viewer. The socalled vampire hunters are complete idiots and weak. I highly doubtthat they would track the vampires that were in 30 Days of Night(2007).Entertaining watch if anything.

Hellmant 2012-05-13 14:37:29

Just what you'd expect from a direct to video sequel.

'30 DAYS OF NIGHT: DARK DAYS': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)Sequel to the 2007 vampire hit '30 DAYS OF NIGHT' directed by DavidSlade. Both films are based on the popular comic series of the samename and adapted by it's author Steve Niles. Ben Ketai co-adapts thescreenplay as well as directs this second installment. He alsoperformed both duties on the 2008 TV mini-series '30 DAYS OF NIGHT:DUST TO DUST' as well as co-wrote it's predecessor 'BLOOD TRAILS'.Actress Kiele Sanchez (best known as Nikki on 'LOST') takes over thelead role of Stella from Melissa George who had scheduling conflictsthis time around. Actors Rhys Coiro (of '24' fame), Diora Baird andHarold Perrineau (Michael from 'LOST') co-star.The movie opens with Stella traveling around the world attempting toeducate the world of the existence of vampires. It seems the governmenthas covered up the events that took place a year earlier in her hometown of Barrow, Alaska (the events of the first film) when vampiresslaughtered and fed off the town's population during it's month longsunset. She is approached by three vampire hunters (Coiro, Baird andPerrineau) looking to enlist her help in assassinating the queenvampire Lilith (Mia Kirshner). Reluctantly she takes their offer andteams up with them for the deadly mission.The film is about what you'd expect from a direct to video sequel,nothing more and nothing less. The production values are decent and thewriting and directing is adequate. The acting is decent as well and Ilike the casting of Sanchez who's just as good at playing the role asGeorge and much better looking. Coiro and Perrineau are nice additionsto the cast as well. It's pretty much just what I expected from adirect to video sequel. A theatrical release would have been betterthough.Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-KU7aWFnDI

2012-05-13 00:28:24

Please read before renting

This review is from: 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (Amazon Instant Video) Please don't waste your money. This movie was awful. The original TDON did not fully live up to expectations, but it did have decent acting and a plot. This movie on the other hand has neither. I rented the movie because I had a nagging desire for closure (meaning that I wanted to see what happened after the incident in Barrow). I should have let my imagination fill the gaps. When none of the actors from the previous movie show up for the sequel, that's usually a bad sign. I should have heeded the warning. The characters in this movie become hunters. Their choice of weapons is conventional firearms and machetes...against ruthless vampires. They actually enter the vampire lairs armed with nothing but guns and machetes. Did I mention that there are only four people in these raiding parties? Continuity is also a problem. One second someone has no blood on them and in the next scene, they have blood. I am willing to make allowances, but when you have a bad plot, poor acting, bad special effects, and a horrible premise, it kind of makes it hard. This movie is not worth the $3.99 rental fee. It might be worth a .99 cents rental fee, but that still might be pushing it a bit.

rick20033 2012-05-10 13:07:04

So awful that I registered with IMDb just to say so

Even though I've checked the spoilers box, I won't reveal anythingabout the ending of the movie. This movie is so bad that I registeredwith IMDb just so I could say so. It abandons everything about thefirst movie that made that movie great. The vampires are the standardHollywood type and are not remotely intimidating. There isn't acharacter in the whole film that I cared about or was concerned woulddie, and when someone did die I didn't care. The setting of the movieis LA, not Alaska (so, there is no "30 days of night in the film").There is a completely out-of-nowhere PG-level sex scene (and no,fanboys, it doesn't involve Diora Baird. You will not see her naked inthis movie, so that's a professional victory for her, at least). Themain character makes a decision that is so unbelievable and so idioticthat it is impossible to believe she would make it, and especiallyimpossible to believe the same character from the FIRST movie wouldmake it.I've liked Kiele Sanchez since "The Perfect Getaway", and HaroldPerrineau since being introduced to him on "Lost." And I think DioraBaird can probably act, too, if given the chance. They all need toavoid movies like this.The first movie had me on the edge of my seat, in awe of theshark-like, cruel monsters that swept into a remote Alaskan town. Thismovie had me shaking my head in disbelief that whoever made it didn'tunderstand the first movie at all. "Blair Witch 2" was a masterpiececompared to this. "Alien 3" was less of a betrayal of "Aliens" thanthis movie is to its predecessor. For those people who loved "30 Daysof Night", avoid this movie.

vampyyri13 2012-05-10 03:23:22

Sheer mediocrity

I had read the graphic novels and I was badly surprised of how from agood story they managed to turn up with this. . .I mean come on . . . the graphic novel have a very good atmosphere andstory, make sense and it's surprising you when you do not expect it.But this version is having nothing in common with the original otherthat Stella's crusade to expose the vampires and Eben biting Stella atthe end. The movie is so absurd and the sheer stupidity of the heroeswannabe is so annoying that I found myself wishing that they will diefaster.A complete disappointment . . . should have stuck with the originalplot like the first movie.

mdarmocida 2012-05-03 01:52:09

Made me sleep for 30 days

The first movie was sooo good that I figured the sequel had to at leastbe decent - boy was I wrong. The production values are OK but the onlything this had in common with the first movie was the lead character.The vampires were almost like different creatures compared to those inthe first movie and the story itself was so boring that I couldn't takeit anymore and stopped watching three quarters of the way through. LikeI said the production values and acting was OK, and usually I onlyreserve one star for those really cheap movies that look like they wereshot in someones basement; so normally a movie like this would rate atleast two stars from me. But any movie that's so boring that I can'tsit through it only gets a star.

registered-24 2012-05-02 13:48:26

Straight to DVD and then straight to the garbage...

Oh the pain... I am such a fan of movies...and of vampire movies as agenre. This movie offends me as a movie fan AND as a vampire movie fan!30 Days of Night (the original) was a very fun watch. I was excited tosee that a sequel was made. Less excited to see that it was straight toDVD, and even less excited to see none of the original actors. I wouldcompare it to the first movie, but that would be an injustice. Plus,the first movie had a relatively tight script, great to decent acting,a PLOT that made sense and dialogue reminiscent of actual human speech.Also, one of my favorite things to find in movies: characters that actwithin the realm of the suspension of disbelief!This sequel (groan) has none of the above. HERE BE SPOILERS!!! From theridiculous vampire hunters that hunt AT NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES??? toStella and her weird attempt to bring out vampires with her meetingsand then sleeping soundly in a motel, to taking on vampires with acouple guns knowing "they only slow them down" in TEE SHIRTS???.What???? And why NO ONE USES THE UV lights as weapons en masse...Idon't know. I could go on...but there's way too much and it will belight soon. if you are hungry for recent vampire movies that don't make sense, thisis perfect. Otherwise, I'd go rewatch a classic vamp movie...even blade2 or 3 again with the time this movie will waste.I really wish I could see what the positive reviewers got out of this"movie"....the acting and script still make me gasp!Please please Hollywood...watch before you print and release! btw, Igave a "2" because there were some good camera angles and lightingefforts.sorry,Looking for my Near Dark DVD

Jason Oldakowski 2012-05-01 13:54:48

Hey Hollywood! I've got an idea for a vampire movie... sequel!

Please keep in mind that I gave the original 30 Days of Night 7 out of10. I really enjoyed it, but wouldn't exactly call it ground-breaking.I loved the atmosphere of it. I also appreciated the fact that theydidn't rely too heavily on CGI, like the cartoon vamps that were over-used in I Am Legend (released at roughly the same time).IMDb have already supplied a synopsis, so I'm just giving my review.Sadly Melissa George is not involved. If she was, Dark Days might havereceived a theatrical release and I might have given it an extra star.Nevertheless, this flick certainly has its moments. You just have toaccept Kiele Sanchez in Melissa's role. She does an adequate job.Obviously Josh Hartnett isn't in it, but his character is still verymuch present in essence and there are still some other familiar actorsamongst the cast. I'm a big fan of Mia Kirshner who plays a demonic,Bathory-like queen of the damned and Harold Perrineau (Matrix 2 & 3, 28Weeks Later, TV's LOST & OZ) who has a rather interesting part to play.I don't want to spoil it. The blood and gore factor is pretty muchequal to it's predecessor. There are some very creative methods ofliquidizing a vampires skull to ensure that it's really dead. Onceagain they don't over-rely on CGI. You'll be pleased to know that the creators of the original comic bookseries are involved with this straight-to-DVD sequel. I'm not familiarwith the comics, but I know enough to guarantee you a 30 Days of NightTrilogy. This isn't just a sequel for the sake of it. Furtherinstallments were always inevitable. See also "Blood Trails" and "Dustto Dust". Essentially, this a worthy follow-up. It's got enough cool bits to keepyour attention for 90 mins. All you have to do is accept that Melissawas either too busy filming "The Triangle" or simply felt that theproject was beneath her. Then again, it's probably best to save it forTight-Arse Tuesday or to round out your package deal. I'm predictingthat Dark Days will be more popular than the impending Lost Boys 3. Iknow that's not saying much.

kosmasp 2012-05-01 00:10:35

Lost its way

I love Kiele Sanchez, so I am bit biased I guess. But even with her init (and another "Lostie") this does not live up to the first movie. AndI didn't even really like the first one. If you look for gore andaction, this does deliver, but unfortunately it does not deliver as afeature length movie.The director might have done a successful mini-TV series (I haven'tseen the episodes if that), but he has some way to go, to stretch thatout in length. It looks good and the effects are decent, but there isnot that much meat to it (no pun intended). While the Blood flows, thecharacters wash away too. Nothing to hold onto

2012-04-29 11:22:33

Continuing story of 30 days of night

This review is from: 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (Amazon Instant Video) I enjoyed watching this video as it continues where the first 30 days of night leaves you hanging. It has the gore of the first movie, but still leaves you at the end with no conclusions.

Scarecrow-88 2012-04-28 15:11:14

30 Days of Night:Dark Days

Kiele Sanchez assumes Melissa George's role in this sequel where wefind Stella Oleson moving on from Alaska to Los Angeles as the vampiresreturn to rip apart more humans at night in the dark. Stella tries towarn people, and, of course, is considered crazy, until one particularmeeting when sunlights she has rigged reveal vampires among a crowdedauditorium of citizens, burning alive right before their very eyes,resulting in a frightened stampede. Stella, however, gains allies whohave lost loved ones to the vampires and the four of them decide to goa hunting. There is a "queen" of the vampires named Lilith(MiaKirshner, born to play a head vampiress) who has built a nest intunnels underneath LA. A vampire named Dane(Ben Cotton), who hassomehow retained his humanity, will help them find and hopefullydestroy Lilith so that her network of bloodsuckers will fall apartending their threat to the human race. Stella is obviously reluctant tofollow the orchestrated plan of a vampire, and she has little faith insuch a small group walking into the lair of Lilith to destroy her. But,with no home to go back to, without anyone believing her story aboutthe deaths of those in Barrow, Alaska, Stella will join forces withthese three and the four of them will head into the tunnels afterLilith, prepared with enough weaponry for a war. When this backfiresand one among their group is killed, the remaining three will have toreorganize, finding out through the information of a vampire theytorture that Lilith plans another night siege on Barrow. The eventualplan becomes simple, find the ship which will carry a whole gaggle ofvampires, and destroy it before Lilith can leave.Harold Perrineau(OZ)has a small part as one of the trio who wishes forStella to join his group. Rhys Coiro(as Paul)and Diora Baird(asAmber)are the other two who have lost and now hunt the undead savages.Katharine Isabelle(GINGER SNAPS)has a very small part as a tragicvictim of Agent Norris(Troy Ruptash), a dying human desperately wantingLilith to turn him. Somewhat effective direct-to-DVD sequel has itsmoments, although the climax(a decision Stella makes in regards to deadhusband Eben)is preposterous, not to mention the vampires are a bitdifferent than those in the previous film. Kirshner, with those blackeyes and mouth full of sharp teeth, is quite stunning as the vampleader, although her final showdown with Stella is a bit disappointing.The ultra-violence does the trick, you get neck ripping, bloodletting,bodies torn asunder by machine guns, vampires disintegrating bysunlight in gruesome fashion, beheadings, and a face is bashed in witha cinder block. Pretty steamy sex scene between Sanchez and Coiro,although its executed without nudity. My main beef is that the wholepoint of "30 Days of Night" is the Alaskan setting and the idea ofhaving no escape through sunlight to help you. I would've seriously dugthis film a lot more if the filmmakers had decided to follow the heroesinto the tunnels a little longer..alas, this is not the case. And, forsome reason, the vampires just aren't as scary or ferocious as in theoriginal movie.

James Kwan 2012-04-25 06:10:32

Tripe

30 Days of Night was a fun action-horror film with literary value. Theinferior sequel attempts to be just fun action-horror, in the spirit ofBlade, and fails even at that.Reminiscent of The Hills Have Eyes 2 (sequel to the remake) and Buffythe Vampire Slayer (the TV series), this insipid snore fest had meguffawing every couple of minutes. I haven't rooted for the deaths ofdumb characters like this since the kids in Jurassic Park.Where the first film surprised at every turn, the sequel seems to setupclever reversals but never follows through--the writers seem to taketheir dumb first idea every time, totally predictable and implausible.Apart from the most unromantic, awkward, borderline-inappropriate lovescene I can recall, there were no highlights worth mentioning. Avoidthis tripe at all cost.

jackie meovff 2012-04-24 23:40:48

About as original as a STOP sign

I can see the next movie in the trilogy, 100,000 screaming and furiouspeople chasing down the director and producer of this turd to get theirmoney back.More seriously, as a fan of the first film, I was as disappointed asI've ever been by any movie after watching this. During the first film,I actually felt emotion while watching. I felt the sudden jolts ofshock and fear of course, but I felt more than that. I felt thehopelessness and despair of the characters trapped in their terribleand inescapable nightmare. I actually FELT their desperation. It wasfantastic. As far as I'm concerned the original 30 Days of Night is theonly vampire HORROR film ever made.This Dark Days is a Frankenstein creation of hacked up and reassembledmodern day vampire movies (that weren't very good in the first place)This could as easily be Blade 5 or Underworld 4 or Vampires 3 , I washalf waiting for everyone to start kung-fu fighting.This was as much a horror as a pie in the face is comedy. I'm sorry. Iwanted to like this, and there were so many possibilities to take thisafter the original, obviously whoever owned it just wanted to try andmake some money by releasing something with the 30 Days of Night nameattached to it. There is zero writing. The ending sucked. Not becauseit was predictable, it just sucked like the entire film. And yesanother female character undergoes the Ripley / Sarah Connortransformation.Does anyone ever have an original thought? To all writers, I'm over it.Pick a new theme for every single sequel. Get a new formula, whatever.It's done - like a Thanksgiving turkey. OK? In short the original blewme away, and this just blew. Hope this saves you some money. Jackie

Fishman1966 2012-04-24 05:20:19

Good movie, but not a sequel

I have trouble with this sequel, as I do with most sequels, because theinconsistencies (in plot) are just too great. It took about a third ofthe first movie for me to get used to the vampires basically rippingtheir victims apart, more zombie-like than vampire. Then, in thesequel, Lilith (obvious reference to the Queen Mother of all demonsfrom Hebrew folklore) is in charge and bathes in blood, making it evenless likely that the other vampires would waste that much blood. Iknow, I'm just too picky. And while Stella was doing voice-overs, shecould have explained how the other survivors dealt with the aftermath,thereby filling in the gap,especially with her stepson. It would havetaken two or three sentences, there were only like 3 or 4. One lastthing, the ending was WAY TOO PREDICTABLE and silly.

Farb_Tech 2012-04-23 18:41:00

It could have been great but turned rancid awful. And not the funny way either.

The movie started with a strong female lead taking it to the vamps.Then a veteran crew of monster hunters shows up and 'cranks it toeleven'. It establishes this premise that it's going to be like Aliens(1986) but with vampires, and that is just awesome.And then, after all that hype, you get a really crap film. Thecharacters backgrounds sound great but are apparently completelyirreverent to their level of skills. So you end up watching these verynicely set up characters bumble their way into the jaws of death likelevel 1 npcs. This could have been an amazing film that just degenerates into a highschool movie project.

Joe Kucharski 2012-04-21 22:25:50

Leftover Bites

30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007), a stylish vampire film based off the graphicnovel by the same name, put some bite back into a genre that was – andreally still is – becoming long-in-the-tooth. A clever pitch,honest-to-goodness scary creatures, claustrophobic setting and a scriptby Steve Niles, the original comicbook writer, aligned into anenjoyable and memorable horror film.30 DAYS OF NIGHT: DARK DAYS tries to build on that accomplishment butfalls prey to general sequel-itis as well as the subterranean domain ofdirect-to-video.The film starts off, as does the comic, with a tired and angry StellaOlemaun, now played by LOST's and A PERFECT GETAWAY's Kiele Sanchez,trying to get people to believe in the vampire threat. After teamingwith another group of survivors, oh heck, let's just call them vampirehunters, the movie quickly turns from the original comic script andbecomes just another horror cliché.Be Astonished... as the hunters walk around LA, guns out in open andarmed for war! Gasp... at the ludicrous post-Wachowski Goth wear thevamps garb themselves in! Cringe... at the forced dialoguedirect-to-video actors spurt! Scream... at the low-budget CG F/X addedto make the mess even bloodier! Laugh... at the trapped old womanuttering the well-used line, "Kill... me..." DARK DAYS misses all thecharm and thrills of its well-produced predecessor. It's sharpbeginning and pseudo-twist ending unfortunately could not save a storythat desperately needed a stake in the heart.

Jan Strydom 2012-04-21 08:26:55

An okay film but lousy ending.

Our favorite people at Stage 6 films have brought us another DTV sequelthis time to 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and it wasn't half bad though but it hasa lousy ending, to tell you the truth the film has a great concept, theexecution is actually good but not great, the acting is above par andthe direction is also above average, the major turn off to this film isthe twist right at the end, it was actually stupid when I reallythought about it because even though it made sense and you understoodthe lead character's motivations the direction in which the story goesat that point is just random.Overall, the film has reasonable production value and a good script butas for the ending I think I would've just preferred something differentand this film is not really better than the first but not a weak entryeither.