Mark Hensch reviews: "30 Days of Night"
Mark Hensch
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Arts
"30 Days of Night" touts itself as a reinvention of the vampire movie, but sadly, the movie is nothing but hyperbole.
Broadcasting an aura of vague familiarity and boring cliché, this movie adds nothing to the horror movie arena.
An interesting premise kicks things off, but this initial steam quickly evaporates. The town of Barrow, Alaska, is located so far north that every year the isolated town experiences 30 days of perpetual night.
Eighty miles from any other town and smack dab in the middle of the wilderness, the stage is quickly set for a struggle for survival.
In what is perhaps the only saving grace in "30 Days of Night," this struggle explodes onto the screen immediately. It is soon revealed that a clan of vampires has coerced a terrified outsider into sabotaging the town's infrastructure.
The vampires hope the prolonged night will allow them plenty of uninterrupted feeding, and soon the defense of the town falls on a handful of particularly industrious natives.
This is where things go awry. Protagonist and town sheriff Eben Oleson is unconvincingly played by Josh Hartnett.
Hartnett's portrayal of Barrow's gun-toting savior isn't very convincing - more of the film has Hartnett's character crying and whining instead of slaying the undead and taking names.
That isn't the film's only flaw. The intriguing premise of a prolonged tundra war between man and vampire is largely ignored, as the film skips huge periods of time and inexplicably arrives at the month's end.
The monsters themselves quickly grow aggravating. When they're not dominating the humans or emitting ear-splitting shrieks, the vampires spout empty, quasi-nihilist dialogue that offers no real motive or revelation.
Lead vampire Marlowe (played by an obviously bored Danny Huston) is neither scary nor intimidating.
The other critters, in contrast, do little besides splatter blood and provide fodder for shotguns.
None of this would matter so much if the film at least attempted to be an action-packed popcorn flick.
Instead, "30 Days of Night" ignores any explosive momentum it has for typically irrelevant character development or bone-headed plot twists.
The ending exemplifies this trend, with a wicked fight scene that ends pathetically, and the film trails off into realms of the implausible.
"30 Days of Night" is surely no classic. This is one vampire movie that deserves a stake right through its tepid heart.
Broadcasting an aura of vague familiarity and boring cliché, this movie adds nothing to the horror movie arena.
An interesting premise kicks things off, but this initial steam quickly evaporates. The town of Barrow, Alaska, is located so far north that every year the isolated town experiences 30 days of perpetual night.
Eighty miles from any other town and smack dab in the middle of the wilderness, the stage is quickly set for a struggle for survival.
In what is perhaps the only saving grace in "30 Days of Night," this struggle explodes onto the screen immediately. It is soon revealed that a clan of vampires has coerced a terrified outsider into sabotaging the town's infrastructure.
The vampires hope the prolonged night will allow them plenty of uninterrupted feeding, and soon the defense of the town falls on a handful of particularly industrious natives.
This is where things go awry. Protagonist and town sheriff Eben Oleson is unconvincingly played by Josh Hartnett.
Hartnett's portrayal of Barrow's gun-toting savior isn't very convincing - more of the film has Hartnett's character crying and whining instead of slaying the undead and taking names.
That isn't the film's only flaw. The intriguing premise of a prolonged tundra war between man and vampire is largely ignored, as the film skips huge periods of time and inexplicably arrives at the month's end.
The monsters themselves quickly grow aggravating. When they're not dominating the humans or emitting ear-splitting shrieks, the vampires spout empty, quasi-nihilist dialogue that offers no real motive or revelation.
Lead vampire Marlowe (played by an obviously bored Danny Huston) is neither scary nor intimidating.
The other critters, in contrast, do little besides splatter blood and provide fodder for shotguns.
None of this would matter so much if the film at least attempted to be an action-packed popcorn flick.
Instead, "30 Days of Night" ignores any explosive momentum it has for typically irrelevant character development or bone-headed plot twists.
The ending exemplifies this trend, with a wicked fight scene that ends pathetically, and the film trails off into realms of the implausible.
"30 Days of Night" is surely no classic. This is one vampire movie that deserves a stake right through its tepid heart.
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