DNfromMN Movie Review -- 30 Days Of Night

30 Days of Night

It starts out with a man wandering the frozen tundra alone, in the sun.It's a stunning image. And without having read the graphic novel, I can guarantee you, it was in there.

Much like "Sin City", another graphic novel turned b-movie, there are shots that are pandering to the fans of the source material. They do make great shots, but they do add to the nearly 2 hours of the film.This is a much smoother film and easier on the eyes than Sin City was(and not nearly as campy).

The first half hour is devoted to back-story and set-up: Melissa George is the fire marshall separated from town sheriff Josh Hartnett. Barrow, Alaska is cut off from the world by winter weather and the titular 30days of night due to being above the arctic circle. The other characters: chum for the vampires. Ben Foster gets to play creepy again(see 3:10 to Yuma for him playing essentially the same character), as the Renfield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renfield) disabling the town on the last day of sun.

After sunset, the town is quickly decimated by vampires led by Danny Huston (who you will recognize, but probably not be able to identify how you know him). The attack is so quick, that you'll wonder what the hell is going to happen for the rest of the movie.

When it's over, you do wonder what happened: it moves pretty quickly for a standard wait for people to get picked off one by one horror movie.

Melissa George continues her C+/B- list career with another horror b-movie (and her Aussie accent slips in a few times). Josh Hartnett is passable, it's a role anyone could have played well. At least he's a Minnesotan and knew how to play the winter.

This was my beef with the movie: The CGI snow is not anywhere near as good as the CGI fire. It's winter, it's -10 degrees, and people are sitting outside surviving for more than a day. People are running and pressing themselves against corrugated metal in -10 weather. No one was wearing gloves. The survivor(s) after 30 days no one had frostbite.This is what happens when Californians produce winter movies.

It's suspenseful, and you'll get your money's worth if you spend $7.50 and that's what you're looking for. There are gory parts, and it's rated R so don't bring the kiddies.