Genres

Visitors Review

zofos 2013-05-20 16:11:03

And Soon The Darkness…

This film has a similar central idea to "Pitch Black." Both movies dealwith monsters that can only come out at night being suddenly given anextra opportunity to attack as often as they wish due to thedisappearance of the sun (in "Pitch Black" it was because of aneclipse, in "30 Days of Night" it's due to Barrow's extreme northerlyposition in the winter). It also has a remote Alaskan setting like"Insomnia," but that film dealt with the 24-hour daylight Alaska has inthe summertime.Josh Hartnett plays the Sheriff of a small Alaskan town that, for onemonth every year, goes into complete darkness. This coincides with thearrival in the town of a pack of blood-thirsty vampires (from Russiaperhaps? Alaska isn't too far away from Russia and the vampires do havean odd, clicking, Eastern-European-sounding dialect).Hartnett arrests a man in a diner for demanding raw meat with menaces.He brings him to the jail in the Sheriff's station where the prisoner'sdemented ramblings seem to be portents of impending doom (He is a lotlike the Renfield character in "Dracula," with his mad ravings, unusualeating habits and his apparent connection with the vampires).The film seems to be heavily influenced by the work of John Carpenter,particularly "Assault on Precinct 13", "The Fog" and especially "TheThing." There is also a nod to "Salem's Lot" when a vampire crashes inthrough a kitchen window at astonishing speed and then slowly rises tohis feet. After that, the film becomes a sort of horror version of "TheDiary of Anne Frank" with the survivors of the vampire exterminationholed up in an attic and jumping at every noise outside.Melissa George is the heroine and she looks gorgeous as always. She'srapidly becoming a scream queen for the YouTube generation with herappearances in "The Amityville Horror" remake, "Paradise Lost" and now"30 Days of Night." Josh Hartnett makes a welcome return to the genrehe started out in with "Halloween H20" and "The Faculty." For somereason, he only seems to make an effort in horror or sci-fi flicks. Inmovies like "The Black Dahlia" and "Hollywood Homicide" he wassleepwalking and didn't seem interested at all. Here he does seemcommitted to the part and it's good to see him giving his all again.The vampires are a little anonymous. We don't know anything about anyof them. Where do they come from? What language are they speaking? Howold are they? Nothing. They are just a bunch of bloodsuckers and that'sit (John Carpenter always says he prefers to have characters with noback-story in his films, so there's another Carpenter touch for you).We do learn in this film that you can kill vampires with an axe (that'sa new one on me!) There are no stakes, garlic, crucifixes or holy waterin this movie! The ending stretches credibility and doesn't really satisfy, but upuntil then, this is a good, solid vampire movie. Be warned though, it'svery gory and if you're at all squeamish, steer clear.

Mark Heiliger 2013-05-19 22:02:29

Well-made horror movie!

I remember hearing the premise of this comic book/movie several yearsago and thinking, 'Why didn't somebody think of this earlier?' It's setin Alaska just after the sun has set for 30 days - like Insomnia inreverse. But, as if that wasn't depressing enough, vampires have cometo feast on the isolated town. No sun = vampire smörgåsbord! There havebeen some wickedly bad story pitches that actually got made into movies(bank robbery during a flood, Die Hard on a boat), so 30 Days of Nightis a welcome reminder that there are still some smart twists on thegenre(s) out there.While quick cuts, loud noises, and things jumping out of dark cornersare relied on too much, a tactile sense of dread is draped over themovie. The speed with which the vamps gut nearly the whole town isimpressive and paints them as truly unstoppable. Before the victims caneven react to their predators, they're dead. A few manage to stay inhiding through the attacks and it's those few the movie is about. Theytry to wait out the vampires until the sun rises again, moving fromsafe house to safe house, their numbers dwindling by the day. It's likea Holocaust movie where the Nazis are fanged monsters instead of justmonstrous. Any bit of sound might alert them to the humans' location,so mum's the word. That being said, those people do make an awful lotof noise. And how come all the buildings look totally abandoned anddark from the outside, but when they go inside it looks like a suburbanhouse on any other day, with lights on and all? Okay, so the directorwasn't very careful about keeping the actors "in" the movie. It's agood thing there's more going on under the horrific gore (and there'squite a lot of that).When the characters have to dispatch their foes, they do it like aperson who's never killed before. Gunshots don't do much to thecreatures. Their heads have to come off, at least, to put them down andkeep them there. And even though the heroes must do it, they reallydon't want to. Sympathy goes out to the guy who had to chop the littlegirl's head off. It's brutal and present, much harder than just pullinga trigger. So what do they do when one of survivors gets bitten? Thissort of immediacy drives the tension, just like it does in 28 DaysLater. Wait, 28 Days… 30 Days… Hmm… Recommended for the horror fanwho's tired of the modern standard of torture porn and in the mood forsomething a little more classical. And if you want to see some gnarlybeheadings.http://www.movieswithmark.com

David Fear 2013-05-14 01:05:43

Despite the clever twist of fighting vampires with an ultraviolet lamp (good thing grandma grew pot), this horror-flick fondue settles into an extended cat-and-mouse sequence dotted with the occasional dollop of gore.

2013-05-13 16:04:22

A breath of fresh air

Leaving tired cliche` in the dust, 30 Days of Night has revitalised the vampire genre. For the most part, vampire stories are contrived bits of drivel, not worth the film they were printed upon. However this film creates a tense and moody atmosphere. By making the vampires more animalistic and feral the film makers created a far more terrifying enemy. Not to mention the addition of the drifter to set the stage for the seige, instilling a sense of menace to an otherwise peaceful town. The monsters actually use tactics to kill, hunting in packs using scouts and spotters, leaving some of the town's-folk alive to use as bait for the hero group. Add in the fact that these are not beautiful or romantic incarnations of human desire, but monsters intent on human flesh and you get a film that isn't following any rules. The producers have done away with ancient symbols and maxims regarding vampirism, refining the killing methods to the universally agreed upon steps: sunlight and destruction of head or heart. If you are a fan of well made movies, be they horror or otherwise, then check out "30 Days of Night."

Jim McCormick 2013-04-29 01:28:58

The Long Dark Cold Night!

Highly entertaining vampire film with a great premise, there's no whereto run! "30 Days of Night" in a way is a vampire version of "TheThing," at least in it's setting, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska,where many of the residents are packing up & leaving for the winter. Aship becomes ice locked in the Arctic Ocean & a colony of vampiresconverge on the towns remaining residents. What ensues is a game of cat& mouse, as the vampires feed off of one resident after another, untilonly a few remain.The cold bleak isolated setting definitely puts a chill to this film, &you'd actually think it was filmed in Alaska, but was filmed in NewZeeland! No matter, the setting is perfect for blood thirsty vampiresfeasting through the long night, 30 days of it, until the sun rises, &then the nomadic vampires move on. The vampires their selves are welldone, & their Slavic Eastern European accents along with their brutalalmost pack like behavior, only serves to make them more menacing, butthe remaining few of the towns residents are not going to give upwithout a fight, & fight they do! To say much more would be giving to much of the story away. If you likeample amounts of dread, suspense, & survival of the fittest, all set inone of the most dismal places you could hope to survive, then "30 Daysof Nights" is your sleigh ride to cold blooded horror.

2013-04-28 12:21:52

sucka dogs listen up

all right! looky her twerps. This movie is bad azz. im a lover of many didfferent vampire movies. from the lush visual beauty of bram stoker's dracula to the 80's classic fright night. i went into this movie thinking it would suck and it blew me away. its original, is suspenseful ( i could imagine being stalked by the vampires), and its gorey as hell. what more could you want. yes , they are mysterious. thy look like germans from the 1940's and they have the rage of a conservation camp ss soldier. they speak some germanesque language. if you love gore and good original suspense than you will like this. their killings are brutal. they are not sucking.....cough.... like tom cruise in interview. these dudes will tear the crap out of you like a true killer. word!!!

Ozzy2000 2013-04-15 16:43:33

Pathetic

Your standard run of the mill Vampire film. A bunch of vampires seizethe opportunity of the prolonged night of an Alaskan small town winter.You would have thought they would have started this practice in thenorthern Nordic countries of Europe closer to Transylvania thetraditional home of origin for Vamps.The scene a young girl feasting and blood sucking on her victim wasbreaking new ground I guess. However watching Melissa George attemptingto be an actress is getting a bit tedious. You might enjoy this movieas a free weekly DVD rental and that's about it. Vampires the worldover will be insulted by this trash.

nick-1458 2013-04-15 06:48:24

Great film. Seriously!

I went to see this film on Saturday 10th November and was expecting tobe disappointed by another lame vampire film, but damn this film wasgood. It had great performances from Josh Harnett, Melissa George andthe vampires. Josh Harnett's character was superb acting as the townsmain hope and the fact that he was not a Steven Segal hero, but aregular, scared guy trying to help the surviving people. The film was arather gory but who cares? Most of the films scenes were spectacularbecause of the realistic violence and the fact that you didn't know howthe next victim would die! I am not sure why I liked this film so muchbecause I'm not usually a big fan of violent films but this film was sobelievable and I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end! I would recommendthis film to anyone except children under 10 and elderly pensioners.Great film, go and see it. Seriously!

2013-03-31 08:27:30

(2.5 STARS) Actually, Not Very Original

In "30 Days of Night" a horror film co-produced by Sam Raimi, people living in the remote town of Barrow, Alaska are attacked by a group of blood-thirty vampires. The time is winter, when the sun doesn't rise for thirty days, and any communication with the world outside is virtually impossible (the nearest town is 80 miles away).Except for the unique premise, however, "30 Days of Night" is mostly a reworking of old vampire/zombie films. There is more violence, and gores too, and it is much to the credit that the film's photography (by Jo Willems) captures the gloomy atmosphere of the isolated town where the sun doesn't shine. But when it comes to the storytelling skills, the film (directed by David Slade, "Hard Candy") is at best average. Things are predictable. Characters act exactly the way you think they will. What you have seen in other films you will see again.This is not to say that everything in "30 Days of Night" is cliché. The "vampire" leader (Danny Huston in special make-up), who looks like Max Schreck in black coat, actually speaks, well, not in English, though, unlike Lance Henriksen in "Near Dark." Josh Hartnett's hero acts like a real hero in the climax in an unusual way. The film tries to spice things up by offering some nice twists, which, however, are not developed enough. With generic actions and scares that lack imagination, "30 Days of Night" gives off a big "been here, done that" type of feeling instead.

2013-03-30 13:42:48

Sharpen your axes, folks! Munch a Bunch 'o Alaskans

This movie wasn't even scary. These crappy vampire movies are so predictable and poorly acted that they all seem alike. The vamps are always much smarter than we are. People doing really stupid things, like not really defending themselves against these "undefendables." Ya' know, these people had a lot of guns; shoot for the head and disintegrate the mothers. Yes, you've got an axe! Keep chopping! Don't just stand their waiting to see what happens. Hint: LIGHTS! Shotgun! Action! The vampires were really stupid characters. Why were they even talking? Especially when their victims couldn't understand what they were saying? The funny thing was, I kept thinking back at the population numbers on the board in front of the town; decreasing every time someone got "munched on. As a matter of fact, I was enjoying a juicy steak; medium rare, while watching all the gore. "Welcome to Barrow, Top of the World."For a lighthearted look at your favorite vampires, I suggest: "From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money"

Gary Thompson 2013-03-30 04:01:24

You may not believe there's any more blood to suck from the shriveled corpse of the vampire movie, but you'd be wrong.

scyker 2013-03-29 13:12:09

Oh my God! It's the same old crap. With a new title.

It's official! The horror movie genre has fallen into an annoyingcliché hole from which it will never emerge. This movie was just thelatest in a long line of disappointing horror crap. It takes the bestideas from other more famous (better) horror films and throws them intoa pot and says "There, I'm being creative. Right? Anybody? Hello?"Don't believe me? Fine. 1. Dark ashy color: Brought into horror vogueby The Ring. 2. Jerky fight scenes: Brought into horror movie vogue by28 Days Later. 3. General poor camera work: Blair Witch. They werecreative and were rewarded as such. So why not steal it? 4. WAAAAAAAY(I really cannot possibly show my rage with that word) too much gore:Gore amount has been building for a long time but do we really need it?Yes, we all bleed but this just shows WAY too much of it with nopurpose other than "I think it makes it scarier." 5. Loud bangs: Oldcliché. But still, I want to be SCARED. As in frighten me, creep meout, disturb me. MY REFLEXES ARE FINE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN, NOWSTOP IT. Just because I jump doesn't mean I'm scared. May I ask whatthe Hell is wrong with Hollywood now? Every genre now has a crutch andlacks creativity. This movie sucked because its components sucked. Howcan you have such a good plot idea and then perform it so blowfully? Ican't believe that Hollywood will never produce another good movieagain. This bites. I would have been proud to have been a part of afilm like The Silence of the Lambs or The Shining or Scream or The Ringeven if it meant doing a crappy job like janitor or best boy. Veryproud. I wouldn't have signed onto this movie as the lead actor for acontract worth 50 million. Mainly because I would never work again if Idid. But also because I have higher respect for myself than that. Andif you have even the slightest amount of self respect you won't seethis movie. You are paying to see a showcase of the same old crap.

2013-03-17 06:38:38

A true horror movie

Many people will dislike this movie based on the modern conception of a vampire. They're either suave, Prince Charming-like men with two long teeth (I've actually, hand to God, known women who say they want to be bitten by a vampire so they can "belong to him forever") or they're the utterly pathetic/absurd version mentioned in the Twilight films. This movie takes all that away.In this film, vampires are just plain bad. They're the evil threatening humanity. They're not trying to win anyone over or avoid a leftover piece of garlic bread, they're just straight-up killers.Many horror movies these days have gotten rid of plot value in favor of shock value. Anyone who's passed 4th grade English can write a screenplay that has audience members jumping because of some random noise on screen. It takes a true master to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Steve Niles and David Slade did it here.The plots and sub-plots are outstanding. The movie as a whole is captivating the whole way. In true defiance of modern horror movies, you simply have no idea what's coming next. Most horror movies these days have become more predictable than the weather, with 5 staions' worth of input. You just have no idea what's happening here. Just hit play, hang onto your seat, and watch the whole idea of a "vampire" become a lot less sexy.

Uriah43 2013-03-16 23:30:01

A Good, Action-Packed Horror Movie

There are several good things about this film that differentiates itfrom the average vampire story line. The idea of using a small, Arctictown like Barrow, Alaska, creates all kinds of unique opportunitiesthat most movies of this genre don't have available to them. Forexample, because of its geographic location it has "30 days of night"which gives the vampires a totally new lethal capability as they nowhave 24 hours in a day to wreck havoc. And they take maximum advantageof this new opportunity. Additionally, the extreme winter environmentand the geographic isolation provide a new set of difficulties for thehumans in their desperate attempt to stay alive. Another difference isthe ugliness of these vampires and their behavior which is much moresavage than most "typical" vampires presented in films today. Theyenjoy tormenting their prey. As far as the film is concerned, it wasnominated in 2008 for a Saturn Award for "Best Horror Film" along with"Best Makeup". It boasts plenty of action but this detracts a bit fromthe overall acting performances. While both Josh Hartnett (playing thelead character of Sheriff "Eben Oleson") and Melissa George (playinghis estranged wife "Stella Oleson") performed adequately, the rest ofthe characters weren't well-developed and it showed. All in all though,this was a good, action-packed horror movie that makes good use of thedark ambiance and original concepts.

2013-03-16 10:47:34

A daily comment from Midget Emma: 30 Days of Night (2007)

A decent vampire movie that starts strong, loses it in the middle andcomes back strong in the last 30 minutes.There's nothing wrong with the plot. Alaska in total darkness for onemonth every winter. So a gang of vampires decide to go feast on thetown without being disturbed by that mean sun for 30 days. Sounds coolright? Well it was kind of. What we see is intense scenes turned intoHollywood mush. There were some intense scenes but not as much as thefilm needed.The ending was ruined. What was meant to be a emotional and sadconclusion leaves us feeling no emotions at all. It might have been theactors or something but we could of had an sad and intense ending.Truly was a shame.The thing that makes a movie like this is the monsters. In this caseits vampires. They didn't feel intense enough. Sure they looked scarybut thats it. Let me give you a sneak peek of them. Stop,look,screamand bite. They really don't feel as bad as they should. Except for thelittle girl. You'll know what i am talking about when you see it.Oh yes there is blood and lots of it. We have blood,gore,decapitationsand mutilations. They really don't hold back in this one.The acting was nothing special. Sadly the actors and actresses were sostale. That might have been what ruined some scenes but it will do.Now to some of the annoying things. This movie shows the time line inday form(like Day 2 etc)but nothing is explained about what happen inbetween days. We don't get told what happens in the things that wedon't see. Can get annoying. The last thing is something that happensin a lot of horror films is stupidity. Its like "oh look a vampire i'lljust knock something over so it will hear me". If this is somethingthat really annoys you(it does for me)then i would reconsider thisfilm. It doesn't ruin the whole film but it is really annoying.I do recommend this if you like vampire films or have glanced at thegraphic novel. It wasn't really anything special. It should be remadein 10-20 years.6/10

2013-03-15 22:16:50

Don't Expect Anne Rice's Kind Of Vampires In This Movie

Two words that mostly go with this movie bloody and gory extremely satisfying to those who are getting a little tired of the PG rated violent movies that Hollywood is putting out recently. The short version of the storyline is that you have a small town in Alaska that is facing a month of night time when a few miles away you have a derelict ship crewed by vampires that are on their way to the town. The first thing you will see is that these vampires act more like wolves than the vampires you usually see in the movies like Dracula or read an books like Interview With The Vampire. Along through the movie when the vampires start attacking is when the blood really starts to flow. Again unlike most of the other movies of vampires the scenes in the movie have them basically goring and almost tearing apart their victims. While this movie won't have any nudity some viewers might be looking for the violence and carnage will definitely make up for it. The one thing I also loved about this blu-ray dvd was the picture quality and audio and while I didn't get the standard dvd to compare this one with I still am amazed at the quality of this dvd. So to anyone who's looking for their dose of vampires and bloody carnage I say this one is worth it...

moviewizguy 2013-02-11 06:31:26

Good Concept, Decent Storytelling

This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged intodarkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. Asthe last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirstygang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only thesmall town's husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivorsand certain destruction.No, I'm not a fan of the comic book(s) and yes, I'm a fan of DavidSlade's previous movie, "Hard Candy". So was this a film as good as"Hard Candy"? Certainly not. But this film is better than most movieswith this genre (AKA vampire movies).What I think might disappoint fans is the slow beginning.Like usualhorror movies, there always come a bloody prologue resulting to killsand gore. Well, this one does not. Instead, literally nothing happensin about 40 minutes, if you exclude the random scenes of animal andhuman kills.I like the set up and the slow beginning obviously wants you to get toknow the characters but what you get is no less than other horrormovies that start off the violence right away. So yes, I think thatmight disappoint horror fans out there.What's after that is your usual bloody kills, chases with the shakycam, and some decent plot themes. What I like most from the movie isthe cinematography and the look/effects of the film. This film looksbeautiful. It makes Alaska look beautiful.What I also like are the scenes that had some tension. There are littlebut that's better than most horror movies I've seen because I seem tonever get scared of anything. The performances by the actors/actressesare decent but nothing special.What I find annoying is that the movie takes place over 30 days, ornights. So if you're watching the film and when 40 minutes passed with"Day 7" on the bottom of the screen, it will mostly cause you to make ahuge sigh. When another 30 minutes pass and says "Day 17" on the bottomscreen, you might look at your watch. Yes, these things annoy mebecause it makes the movie feel slow. Just to remind you, this is abouttwo hours long. Maybe they should've gone with "12 Hours of Night"?Yes, there is lots of blood. Yes, the violence is relentless (somekills are off screen, though). And yes, the ending is so similar to oneother vampire movie that I will not say, which is encouraging anddepressing, I suppose. Horror fans might be disappointed with the slowbeginning but will love the remaining parts of the movie. I justthought it was your above-average vampire movie, which doesn't meanthat much.

David Christianson 2013-02-10 21:26:49

Good ol' vampires

I rated this excellent because it represents vampires the way I likethem; unrelenting and evil. These are not your Twilight (yech)vampires, these are brutal killers who lust for blood and care not forany killing. The plot is not deep, but I don't want to "get to know thevampires" when I watch them in movies. I like good versus evil. Thereis enough strange goings on in the plot to make you wonder "what'sgoing to happen next". The star characters are also not deep, but theyare relivable enough to grow a certain 'home town' affection. Justnormal folks living their lives in a little out-of-the-way (okay, wayout of the way) town where they do their thing. Then along comes terrorin the worst possible way. It is spooky, creepy, and probably one ofthe most bloody movies, vampire or not, I've ever seen. There's plentyof blood, nasty flesh-tearing, and some of the most gruesome deathsthis side of 'Wrong Way II' (remember the meat grinder??) The vampiresare very creepy and evil looking. The movie-makers adjusted them justenough to give them a new, more violent and fearsome look. I loved it.There's no light-hearted jokes, or subtle humor, it's straight up goreand terror, which gives it a more realistic feel.

Frank Swietek 2013-02-07 04:15:19

Certainly bloody, but not bloody good...doesn't go the tongue-in-cheek route, but by the close it's pretty risible.

scout19d 2013-02-06 19:09:13

30 days is a fresh view on an old theme

After reading many of the reviews, both good and bad, well I took timeout from my schedule, no Sunday night football, to go to the movies. Mywife is not into horror films and my kids are just too young for thisgenre. I am not going to go into the storyline, just a quick reviewfrom a 30 something. Not a classic. It is a movie with some questionsto be answered, but it has an overall good horror gauge. The Descentwas probably one of the best suspense horrors in the last ten years andit did not leave a ton of questionable antics. The great thing aboutthis movie is that is done with a serious tone, none of those cheesyone liners and the actors do a good job of looking scared out of theirmind. The villains in this movie are convincing. We do not get to knowa lot about them, but one thing we know for sure they are brutal. Irecently watched 28 weeks later and compared to the first one, the 2ndone had some silly crap in it and was overall a big disappointment.This movie was a good movie for a matinée price. I don't think it wasworth the $8 i paid, but overall I was not disappointed.