Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8630 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-14
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Formats: Limited Edition, PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The problem with vampires is that, usually, they can't go out in daylight. That means that, however menacing they might be after sunset, when morning rolls around again, the heroes can just dig 'em up and stick a stake in them. 30 Days of Night sidesteps the whole daylight problem by setting its story in Barrow, Alaska, a town which is so far north that during the winter, the sun doesn't rise for a month at a stretch. It's such a perfect setting for vampires that it's almost shocking no-one's thought of it before now.

30 Days of Night has another trick up its sleeve, too. Its vampires aren't gothic hedonists who enjoy their claret out of jewelled goblets. Nope, these are vicious, nasty, brutal creatures who'd snap your neck as soon as look at you. They look terrifying, all misshapen foreheads and far too many teeth, and the creepy shrieking noise they make only makes it worse; they seem entirely inhuman. Barrow's isolated, blizzard-stricken location makes for a literally chilling atmosphere even before the monsters show up.

The plot loses its way towards the end, and the inevitable triumph of the heroes stretches logic to its limits, but the setting is original enough to make up for that. 30 Days of Night isn't a film you'll forget in a hurry. --Catherine Haskins

Synopsis
Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's graphic novel claws its way onto the screen with this terrifying thriller. HARD CANDY helmer David Slade directs Josh Hartnett and Melissa George who play residents of an Alaskan town that is being overtaken by vampires. Sam Raimi (SPIDER-MAN) goes back to his horror movie roots to produce this film.

Customer Reviews

My favourite vampire film ever
'30 Days of Night' is the movie based on the best selling graphic novel by Steve Niles. The story begins when a group of vampires flock to Barrow, Alaska where the sun sets for 30 days, allowing them to feed without the burden of sleep to avoid lethal sunlight. Because of the cold, the vampires' senses are weakened and a few of the town's residents are able to hide. One resident is Sheriff Eben Olemaun (Josh Hartnett), who attempts to save the town and the lives of the few remaining townspeople, including his wife Stella (Melissa George).

This was probably the film that I was most looking forward to in 2007 and when I finally got to see it, I wasn't disappointed at all. At the time when I first watched this film I hadn't read any of the comics, so the story was new to me, but I enjoyed it all the same. I've read the comic since seeing this and the film version has a lot more added to it, which I feel was definitely necessary as only the beginning and the end are featured in the original. There's plenty of gore, a great storyline, good characters, lots of scares and some excellent camerawork. The setting of Barrow feels very isolated and creepy and very, very atmospheric. The vampires have twisted, ugly faces and make eerie, high pitched wails to each other and speak in their own language, taking the sexy, seductive image away from the over-used and tired character.

Overall this is without a doubt one the best films of 2007 and is definitely the best vampire film I have ever seen. If you like horror movies and want something different, this is a film for you. Having the original graphic novel free with the R2 release is also a fantastic bonus as it is also a good read to accompany this brilliant film. I just hope that they decide to make a Return to Barrow movie now as this is by far the best of the comic series. Highly recommended.

3.5--This takes the tired, done to death vampire story and puts an unmarked spin to it
Gone are the vampires who are so completely wimpy that Blade can kill with a single swing of his manly sword. The lead vampire in particular Danny Huston who is an identifiable character saturated in menace at the same time peering at his victims with soulless black eyes. These vamps are, in every sense, nasty unlikable, disgusting, weird and utterly scary, just like a vampire should be.

So they come by boat to feed of the population of Barrow, an Alaskan small town, a place where no person ever seems to joke or smile. They're forced to live, once a year, in perpetual darkness during the winter. Director David Slade knows how to create tension and horror without showing you much, and that happens to be a plus point with its extremely patient build up, and the heightening of suspense. You have to tip your hat at him for crafting a very quiet movie at crucial scenes, so much so that the audience lend their "Ssshhhhs" not to tell fellow audience to keep quiet, but aimed at the characters themselves to remain like little mice lest they get detected. '30 Days of Night' is a very grey movie in mood, tone and the weather.

The humans here though behave like typical vampire movie fodder. The bigger the ensemble, the more victims it can provide, not counting anonymous folks seen being victims from afar. Josh Hartnett's Sheriff Eben plays hero as he leads his bewildered town kinsman to survive through this 30 days of mayhem before the sun shines again, while trying to work out his estranged relationship with wife Stella (a very pouty Melissa George from Turistas (Unrated Edition), and I still say she's a dead ringer for Estella Warren!). As usual, you have a team of misfits feeding off each other's strength in a quest for survival, and a theme such as Sacrifice is never too far away from movies like these.

The real interesting take on the vampires is that they have their own language and move like starved, rabid animals. They don't seem to have a master plan for world domination or being part of a conspiracy, they're just there and the way they look will scare most people. Their facial feature is like something out of a David Lynch nightmare.

I like that this is a mystery, not an action movie and the only other scary vampire movie in modern times is Shadow of the Vampire, a movie almost as scary. But I can hear my vampire-loving friends bring this down, since the vamps didn't play spinette, spoke with eastern European accents and moaned like the best sex they've ever had every time they sink their teeth into flesh. They don't even seem to be enjoying themselves. There is one more movie that comes to mind and that The Addiction, where vampirism also seem to be more of a decease like alcoholism or bulimia. It does contain some pretty violent scenes like the massacre on the dogs, the gunplay and decapitations that look almost too realistic.

But what I felt was a let down to its build up, was the unsatisfying ending, which left a bitter aftertaste with its abruptness and inability to resolve anything substantial. It also didn't allow for any sympathy for the victims as you would sometimes find yourself rooting for another kill just to satisfy your blood lust, also because little time is given for you to get to know those characters. As the humans learn that guns do zilch to their targets, there goes all hope, and try as they could to get creative in turning the tables, it boiled down to keeping it simple. Thumbs up for the vampires but as for the whole film in general it could have been a lot more, but unfortunately left some bits to be desired.

30 days of tedium
Vampires in movies tend to be portrayed one of two ways -- as sexy pretty people, or barely-controlled beasts who only think about neck-gnaws.

Well, Sam Raimi claimed that "30 Days of Night" was a different kind of vampire film, and would avoid falling into cliched traps. Too bad he and David Slade couldn't deliver on that -- it's a mishmash of bad cliches, illogical script, and a plot that is subzero on the "scary" scale.

Seriously. Any movie with lines like "That cold ain't the weather, that's death approachin'" simply can't be taken seriously. (And yes, it IS the weather -- Alaska in winter?)

Barrow, Alaska is about to have its polar night, in which the sun isn't seen for a month. Most of the people (the smart ones) leave right away, but a mysterious Stranger (Ben Foster) arrives and traps the few remaining people there. Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his ex-wife Stella (Melissa George) capture him, but the damage is done. They'll have to stay there all month.

Of course, something horrible happens right away -- a pack of bloodthirsty vampires invade the place, intent on sucking the humans dry before sunrise, and they've got all month to do it. Now Eben and Stella, as well as a small band of survivors, must try to avoid becoming vampire food -- or worse, one of the vampires themselves.

"30 Days of Night" actually had some promise at the beginning -- it's based on a cult comic book, and it has an intriguing premise. The idea of being trapped in a frigid, dark, isolated town for a whole month is freaking creepy, even without supernatural threats. The pale, chilly look of the place is pretty creepy.

But then the vampires appear, and the whole thing becomes a simplistic game of hide'n'seek. That's "30 Days of Night's" besetting sin -- it has few twists to compensate for its lack of good script, outside of the predictable UV lamp. Just lots of gore, whining, snow, and the occasional gesture to remind us that vampires are really, REALLY evil.

Moreover, the anemic scripting doesn't make us care much about Barrow or its inhabitants, and is saddled with clunky dialogue ("The things you'll do to save your own." "We were like that once, weren't we?"). And it's riddled with plenty of plot holes, usually about the food and ammo (wouldn't Alaskans have lots of both?), characters' actions, and even the action scenes -- precisely why can a five-minute-old vampire kill a big bad old powerful one?

And the vampires? Well, they're not scary, and the writers deliberately squirm out of telling us anything about them -- where they come from, what they are, what they hope to achieve, and what the heck they're doing in ALASKA rather than, say, New York or Los Angeles. Marlow is a generic bad guy, and the others are screeching deformed creatures who are pretty inept at finding our heroes.

And Josh Harnett tries to act. He really does. But he's painfully wooden as the experienced small-town sheriff with a Sad Marriage behind him. Most of the other characters are "types" instead of people -- plucky little brother, ex-wife whom he still loves, token sacrificial people, et cetera. You're given no real reason to care about them.

"30 Days of Night" reminded me of "Night of the Living Dead," but with a leaden script, boring acting, a "night" a month long, and annoying screeching vampires instead of freaky zombies. Give it a miss.