DVD Reviews

DVD Review: 30 Days of Night

By Jeff Swindoll Feb 25, 2008, 15:19 GMT

You may have to beware the night and the creatures in it, but what happens when you’re in a place that offers thirty days of darkness?

The small town of Barrow, Alaska is prepping for the time that they’ll be enveloped by darkness as the sun disappears for thirty days in the winter months. Those that can’t stand the darkness are flying out to stay where the sun does shine.

A stranger (Ben Foster) shows up in town and soon and begins to dismantle the town’s ties with the outside world. The town’s sheriff, Ben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) is alerted to the various break-ins and destruction, but he also learns that his wife Stella (Melissa George), who has left him, wasn’t able to catch the last plane out. So now he’s stuck investigating a string of destructive crimes and now has to deal with his soon-to-be ex-wife. They capture the stranger and the man looks like a homeless vagrant but he warns that death is coming to the small town. About the same time, death attacks the power supply station and plunges the town into either further darkness. Death comes in the form of a pack of feral vampires who have come to Barrow because it’s the perfect vacation spot for them with its thirty days of night and abundant food supply. Sheriff Oleson, Melissa, and a ragtag group of survivors must avoid the bloodthirsty visitors until the times comes that the sun rises once again. 30 Days of Night is based on a popular graphic novel. This film differs somewhat from your run of the mill vampire film. You’ll find no people dressed as headwaiters wearing capes. These vampires are really “creatures” of the night. They’re barely human, if they ever were, and are more like rabid animals with the most base of desires on their mind – their unending hunger. They swoop down upon the town like so many birds of prey and gobble up all that they see. Those that succumb in the initial attack might be the lucky ones since the survivors have to hide themselves until the sun comes up.

This is rather harrowing, but it does seem somewhat abbreviated in the course of the film. There are also some last minute decisions by one of the characters that might seem a bit much as well as being near the time of sunrise. It seems to be done so that we can have a bit of a melancholy ending, but I do suppose that the character did have to make the sacrifice in order to defeat evil. Even with a few minor plot annoyances and it feeling like time zoomed by a bit fast, I thought that the film was a rousing entertainment and a grand horror film. 30 Days of Night is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary with actors Josh Hartnett and Melissa George and producer Rob Tapert. There are also 50 minute of featurettes covering the making of the film. The 20 minute first episode of the anime Blood + is also included but more on that around March 3rd since that series is on the review desk. Finally there are previews for other Sony DVDs. 30 Days of Night is different than your average pining vampires and presents them as the monsters of the night that they probably are (if any are reading that I’m only joking, don’t come and tell me about it). Even though some of the plot gives the film problems, it still manages to be quite the armchair grabber.

30 Days of Night is now available at Amazon. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an April 14th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.

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