THEY’RE COMING!
Every year when the small town of Barrow, Alaska loses sunlight for a month, most of its inhabitants leave, but this year an influx of murderous vampires changes things. Don’t look for surprises in this dark, gruesome thriller; these vampires don’t bring anything new to this clichéd genre. However, that’s about the only real complaint I have. The filmmakers have created a kind of Western/horror hybrid set in a highly fictional but stylish Alaska (the town is real, but the film wasn’t shot there). It is mostly well paced, has good performances and plenty of really nasty thrills.
2007-U.S.-New Zealand. 113 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by David Slade. Screenplay: Steve Niles, Stuart Bettie, Brian Nelson. Graphic Novel: Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith. Cast: Josh Hartnett (Eben Oleson), Melissa George (Stella Oleson), Danny Huston (Marlow), Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall.
Trivia: Sam Raimi was allegedly first slated to direct the film; now he’s a co-producer. Followed by a direct-to-DVD sequel, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010).
