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30 Days of Night (2007)

Director: David Slade

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8 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out New York

David Slade’s graphic-novel adaptation displays so much promise in its first 20 minutes that you can sense aficionados anticipating serious B-movie bliss. The premise is ingenious: A remote Alaskan town suffers four weeks of nonstop darkness, which makes it the perfect vacation spot for those who hate sunshine but like helpless populations bursting with type O. As locals prepare for their long month’s journey into night, the sheriff (Hartnett) keeps running across unexplained oddities: incinerated cell phones, a kennel full of canine corpses, that mysterious stranger (Foster) with a knack for making apocalyptic pronunciations and chewing scenery. The more Slade (Hard Candy) leads up to the inevitable, the greater the feeling that he has studied John Carpenter movies and learned how to use atmospherics to his advantage.

Then come the bloodsuckers, led by ham-for-all-seasons Danny Huston—along with a reliance on the cliché stuttercam effect that action films are apparently now legally bound to include—and the spell is broken. Despite the clever twist of fighting vampires with an ultraviolet lamp (good thing grandma grew pot), this horror-flick fondue settles into an extended cat-and-mouse sequence dotted with the occasional dollop of gore. Day 30 can’t come soon enough.

Author: David Fear

Time Out New York Issue 629: October 18-24, 2007

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User reviews of this film

Dave said...

Posted on Jan 01 2008 10:49 I'd long since given up on vampires and so went to watch 30 Days of Night with dragging feet (and there wasn't anything else worth watching). But I was pleasantly surprised. Ok the human characters aren't up to much but they only really have to get eaten or run and hide. But I thought the vampires were more interesting than the tired old romantic Counts and other boring cliches such as Anne Rice keeps pedaling out. They were brutal, blood soaked and murderous in a way that recalled the atrocious deeds of WW2 Nazis. Danny Huston put in a stellar performance as the leader. A creature of few words but when he spoke you damn well paid attention. If I have one quibble it's that it really didn't feel like 30 nights. I doubt anyone could have survived such bad baddies for that length of time but then it's a horror film not a sprint.

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andyfoz said...

Posted on Nov 14 2007 08:12 it was very bad i wanted to leave half way through. The plot was good but it dragged on and the ending was shocking i cant see there being a 2nd movie but stranger things have happend like wrong turn 2

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Rebbi said...

Posted on Nov 02 2007 16:02 Went to see this movie last night. I loved it.....lots of blood, guts & gore which, when it comes down to it that is why we love horror isn't it??? The acting I thought wasn't that bad & let's face it Josh Hartnett.....you are a hottie........loved it great horror flick.

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samgeee said...

Posted on Oct 21 2007 18:41 HUH?!! Guys.. SERIOUSLY... The movie may have looked good, and was edited in an interesting way, and had a FANTASTIC trailer, however... Let us call a spade a spade. The movie SUCKED. Josh Harnett can NOT act. The screenplay was downright awful. Ben Foster I am sure, will go down in the annals of giving the hammiest performance in a horror movie this century. The movie was WAY TOO long. Visually entertaining, yes. Brilliant editing yes. Was it one of the most "original horror films to come out in recents yearspprobably since the original 'Saw'" NO WAY.

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The Lizard said...

Posted on Oct 19 2007 13:26 BTW, the film BLADE already featured an ultraviolet lamp used as a weapon against vampire.

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cruzaroni said...

Posted on Oct 18 2007 10:40 Awe Trent, just because you don't agree doesn't mean a reviewer is a "hack." After all, you logged in to read his review. 30DON is okay. I had hoped for something new and different, but it's essentially the same clowns, different circus. Scary, but not totally fresh.

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lowrid3rZ_07 said...

Posted on Oct 17 2007 23:32 I agree. It was an amazing film, both in the look and tone, and those vamps were scary as hell. Go see it, and enjoy it for what it is... A really good horror film!

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Trent2203 said...

Posted on Oct 17 2007 23:29 It amazes me how critics (or hacks like David Fear) comment on films, in which it's painfully obvious, they have no idea about. I don't think this guy would know what a good film was, even if it bit him on his scrawny neck. Although not perfect, 30 Dys of Night was one of the most intense and entertaining (and original) horror films to come out in recent years - probably since the orginal SAW.

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