Thirty days of night

Horror films are not usually my thing, but I do like a good vampire flick. "Interview with a Vampire" comes to mind, "Lost Boys" anyone and I even got some cheap fun from "Underworld". So the preview for 30 Days of Night caught my attention on genre alone, well that and a little cinematography. Convincing Crystal was another matter though. She does not share my vampire fascination and she is completely against horror films (they keep her up at night). So Friday night after dinner at Panera, I won an epic game of rock, paper, scissors to secure my movie pick.

Not knowing about the films comic book origins until afterward, I was not tied to any expectation. So I was pleasantly surprised when the film turned out to be more than just a cheap thrills horror film or an action packed vampire movie. Oh it had elements of both, but the film took itself very seriously and had some great drama too. There were plenty of opportunities for the film to trip over itself and disappoint, but it always held true to the themes established early on.

Most action based movies that I have seen in recent years suffer from the same common issue. I love special effects as much as the next guy, but if I don't care what happens to the characters it is all for nothing. Thirty days did not have this problem, Josh Hartnett and Melissa George put on great performances that are down to earth in such a fantasy based setting. The violence in this film was very similar, while it was ever present, but it did not exist for its own sake.

It looks like this film will create a lot of backwards sales for the graphic novel it was based on and I can assure you I will be one of them.