Daybreakers

An ambitious premise about a future world ruled by corporate vampires is explored with some intelligence, sly humour and blood-splattering brio by the Spierig brothers – but the skin-deep political satire and gory action are let down badly by some sluggish pacing and cheap production values. Appalled by sleek-suited Sam Neill’s cynical control of the market in farmed human blood, renegade haematologist Ethan Hawke joins forces with the human resistance headed by the Elvis-quoting, crossbow-wielding Willem Dafoe.

There’s an emotional angle too: Neill’s estranged daughter has gone Awol after refusing to be ‘turned’, while Hawke’s boneheaded brother is a gung-ho hunter of humans. The resistance are seeking a cure for vampirism, but the avaricious Neill is more interested in developing a lucrative, synthetic blood substitute. Sadly, like the sun-fearing vampires, the film’s characters don’t get out much: for long stretches, they’re trapped in over-designed interiors spouting dull expository dialogue. ‘Daybreakers’ is a marked improvement on the Spierigs’ 2003 debut ‘Undead’, but its pulse is decidedly erratic.