30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)

yY6E5ONWhile I did really enjoy the original vampire film from David Slade based on the award winning graphic novel from Steve Niles, it wasn’t a masterpiece. Though everything about it was very tight and sharp, the film just didn’t end up being the groundbreaking game changer it promised. Not surprising, it spawned an inevitable sequel and thanks to the uselessness of vampires who are menacing monsters (Thank you Stephanie Meyer), this sequel entitled “Dark Days” is Direct to DVD fodder that is about as routine as you’d expect for a sequel to a major horror film that came and went before anyone knew who Steve Niles was.

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30 Days of Night (2007) (DVD)

I guess it’s just a cardinal rule from now on, but regardless of who you are, some comic books just can’t be movies. Because while “30 Days of Night” is a very good vampire film, it just isn’t the best I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t tingling, I wasn’t beaming, and I simply wasn’t connecting to these fanged fucks from beginning to the end. Granted, “30 Days of Night” is a great chaotic vampire film that puts the bite back into these demonic beings, but watching it a second time grants a better sense of clarity, and it’s just not a masterpiece. Watching it again also made me appreciate what I may have ignored the first time. David Slade has a great grasp on the concept and narrative presented here giving his vampires an utter sense of terror. They’re mindless, but they’re also calculating and clever without being homoerotic and mopey theater patrons. “30 Days of Night” is a valiant success at completely rethinking the vampire concept, and it works for what it promises.

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30 Days of Night (2007)

2007-30_days_of_night-2Vampires. I’ve suffered for many years of sheer abysmal vampire sub-genre crap thanks to the likes of different “twists” that was dead in the water. From suffering through the frilly angst ridden vamps thanks to Anne Rice that bred a thousand MySpace emo teens, to the Matrix carbon copy leather clad models a la Len Wiseman, it’s nice to see vampires be horrifying creatures (on film) once again. Thanks to David Slade, and Steve Niles, “30 Days of Night” makes a great transition from the page to the screen. David Slade who made his debut with the masterpiece “Hard Candy” shifts tones and completely amps his energy with what is one of the better horror movies to come around in years.

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