30 Days of Night (2007) Review

 

The Town of Barrow, Alaska is the northernmost town in America. Three Hundred miles from its nearest neighbor with roadless wilderness. The only way in and out is by Plane. As the town prepares for a month of perpetual darkness a stranger arrives. A man who spoke the haunting words: “That cold ain't the weather. That's Death approaching” and with those words an attack of the town is brought on by none other than Vampires. 

The vampires in this film aren’t your typical “Twilight” . These monsters are terrifying. Their presence screams through every bone in your body. Causing your mind to go numb with fear and your very essence to tremble. I’ve seen a lot of vampire movies over the years and of them “30 Days of Night” appears to be the most realistic. Not the vampires from the “Underworld” movies or the “Blade” trilogy. Those creatures can’t even hold a candle to “30 days of night”. When I think “Vampire” this is what I think of. Them driven by their basic need to feed. “There is only hunger and pain” as said by one and their actions punctuate that statement well. 

They attack with stealth and speed. Staying in the shadows and attacking slowly at first. They were strategic. Doing everything from killing the town's dogs and shutting down their power. The town was now in a state of darkness. A state even more so frightening than the lack of sunlight. 

But what was equally as terrifying was the way they communicated. With only a few words in English spoken among them they talked in grunts and grumbled words. A language that appeared both ancient and deep. The subtleties between words were hard to pick up from English speaking ears but they were there. Every noun shook you to your very core and every verb instilled a fear in you unlike any other.

Those who were to survive would do so by staying together. But without the sacrifices of a few they would have all perished. The people had to be strong and even though the relationship between some of them were testy and on the rocks ultimately the love they had for each other came out in the end. This is a movie about sacrifice. This is a movie about love and even though it may not all be perfect their love is what won out in the in. Without it, none of them would have survived.

8.5 out of 10