Review Rewind: 30 Days Of Night (2007)

(Josh Hartnett after the premier of The Black Dahlia)

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George & Danny Huston

Directed by: David Slade

Screenplay by: Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie & Brian Nelson

Plot:

A small Alaskan town comes under siege from a group of bloodthirsty vampires during a period of 30 days when the town receives no sunlight whatsoever.

Verdict:

Neatly echoing John Carpenters classic horror picture, The Thing, 30 Days Of Night is more than just another blood soaked vampire flick. The bleak white setting of an Alaskan town that succumbs to a month of absolutely no sunlight combined with a brilliantly composed, very creepy score allows 30 Days Of Night to stand out as a genuinely tense horror movie.

But unfortunately letting the side down is the lead performances. Josh Hartnett and Melissa George are pretty solid on their own but as a team they fail to spark any kind of chemistry. This proves particularly problematic come the final scene of the movie that is beautifully conceived but doesn't contain the intended emotional impact.

Elsewhere however, Danny Huston impresses as the leader of the genuinely scary bloodsuckers and when blood is splashed and sprayed, it is done with purpose and style, acting on behalf of the graphic novel on which it is based upon and storyboarded straight from, much like Sin City and 300.

Not quite the excellent film it potentially could have been, 30 Days Of Night is still refreshingly tense and atmospheric compared to a lot of other pictures within the genre.

DDD