30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night, adapted from a graphic novel by Steve Niles, is a movie about an Alaskan town, Barrow, being attacked by vampires during a period of thirty days that the sun doesn't rise. In total darkness, the town sheriff, Eben, played by Josh Hartnett, attempts to protect the few survivors and get them safely out of town.

I did not get a chance to watch this movie directed by David Slade in the movie theaters. Now that I've had the chance to watch it on DVD, I'm glad I didn't fork up the $9 at the theater. Although I really tried to like this movie, there are just way too many flaws in it.

For one, if this movie's setting is Barrow, Alaska - the top part of the state - there would be more than 30 days of night. According to Alaska.com, Barrow goes through a winter period with two months which the sun doesn't rise. The vampires would have had more time to roam the town and annoy the surviving townspeople with their hideous screeching noises.

I don't like how the movie jumped up from say day three to day eighteen (I'm not using the correct days. These are just examples). The characters appearances, minus a little change in Eben's facial hair, haven't changed through the time period.

In the end of the movie Eben turns himself into a vampire in order to save his estranged wife, Stella, played by Melissa George, who is outside and freezing under a truck with a child she saved. When Eben turns into a vampire he says, "I can smell your blood." Really? Then why is it that the vampires - and there are plenty of them - can't smell the child, who is covered in blood, and Stella?

Furthermore, the director did not make me feel for the characters. The grandma character gets killed off by the vampires and yet as an audience member, I feel absolutely nothing. The same goes for the old man and the son who goes after him. There's no emotional attachment to these characters.

The Stranger, who the film opens with, is the only character that delivers! I wish he would have had more lines to say in that accent.

If it was the stranger's job to help the vampires, instead of destroying all the cell phones in town, why not take destroy the cell tower? This just seems a little far-fetched. The stranger didn't go around ruining all the computers. Somehow the internet and landline phones just stopped working.

I do enjoy the direction the movie took with the vampires (this may be because of the graphic novel, which I know nothing about). 30 Days of Night doesn't give us the seductive Tom Cruise vampire. Okay, maybe Tom Cruise and seductive don't go together. So, this film doesn't give us the seductive Bela Lugosi or even Stuart Townsend vampire. These vampires are monsters. Bloody monsters. I love the line by the head vampire, Marlow, played by Danny Huston, "God?" "No God" in reference to the bait - a girl pleading with the vampires. Their language is interesting, but the screaming, calling, or whatever you call it, gets a little annoying. I can only imagine how loud that must have been in the theaters.

Overall, this vampire movie does not suffice my craving for a good horror flick. Any suggestions?