Monday, March 15, 2010

"30 Days of Night" and 90 Minutes Down the Drain




David Slade's "30 Days of Night" is a vampire flick with a terrific premise — why wouldn't vampires enjoy spending a month in Barrow, Alaska, at that time in the year when the sun does not rise for a solid month?

Kinda like snowbirds heading to Florida after Thanksgiving, and almost as sinister.

The movie's not bad for the first half — Slade sets the tone, the vampires (who speak some kind of ancient vampire language that sounds like retching) are dominant, and a small band of intrepid survivors has to go into hiding and wait out the month.

They about pull it off, too.

But there is way too much plot getting in the way of the story.

Finally Sheriff Eben injects himself with some leftover vampire blood so he can get the drop on the chief. Unhappily for Eben, the sun also rises, and he turns into a giant scab.

Some glop, maybe a bucket or two. Fun with giant drills and garbage compacting equipment. Some of the worst dentistry ever seen on screen. No nekkidity. Ultimately seems like it was based on a horror comic — oh, wait, it is.

Two coils.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Saw the movie about a year ago about 11pm at my parent's farm in Northeast Texas. Dad came through the den at about midnight, stopped and watched for about 5 minutes and said, " If this is the best thing on, we're wasting electricity."

Tony Ventresca said...

Self-sacrificing local law enforcement officer? Is that some kind of reverse-stereotype? Paid for by a police union as viral promotions?

And no nudity? Harumph.

Kurt F. Weist said...

I agree. Really cool concept. But ... even the comic book seemed over-extended, and it just plain peters out when the dumb claven of Alaska-Vamps gets too much time and ink. Yawn.