30 Days Of Night (8/10)
posted in Movie Reviews |
A well made vampire film. Nothing startlingly new for the genre, but definitely an interesting setting and angle for the story.
Writing: Not particularly breaking a lot of new ground, the script sticks to a low key version of vampire mythology and keeps a straight forward, aggressive approach to the material. The primary twist on the usual vampire story is the setting, particularly how isolated it is from the rest of the world. And obviously, one of the few places on Earth during an extended period of time where they don’t have to worry about sunlight (and still have a food supply). The yearly tradition of a majority of the town evacuating during said time period also gives the film an interesting setup.
Production: This is the strongest aspect to the film. Location, set and cinematography to a fantastic job at dropping the story into this remote, frozen wasteland made habitable against all odds by the few hundred citizens that make it work. One sequence in the film is particularly chilling - an overhead shot of violence and mayhem on the streets as all manner of chaos breaks out. The other major highlight of the production is the creepy make-up work on the vampires.
Cast: Casting is pretty strong. Josh Hartnett does a nice job in the lead role. His initially estranged ex is played by the under appreciated Melissa George. Danny Huston is a nice addition to the cast. And Ben Foster gets to play yet another raving lunatic. He’s so darn good at that kind of role it’s still creepy to see him play it (see his performances in films like 3:10 To Yuma and Hostage for other examples).
Music: Brian Reitzell turns in a very dark and edgy score that really works well with the film. It’s hardly much of a thematic work, but it’s got a definite style and grit to it. Great use of bleak electronic overtones. It’s funny, his previous score was the warm, bouncy and engaging score to the wonderful film Stranger Than Fiction. Guess he’s got some skill at variety.
