Review of 30 Days of Night (2007) by Cameron J — 12 Oct 2012

Forget "Hard Candy", David Slade has moved away from a sweet tooth and into the wonderful world of vampires, whose teeth are anything but sweet, especially when we're dealing with these kind of vampires. Okay, now, I'm cool with them making zombies crazy, feral, humanoid animals, rather can boring slow-motion power walkers, but I don't know if I'm entirely okay with them making vampires crazy monsters as well, because vampires are supposed to be cool in a smooth count fashion rather than a black-leather wearing, smooth-talking monster fashion. Granted, this neo-vampire interpretation is still pretty cool, and certainly cooler than the shiny melodramatic ones that, as irony would have it, David Slade went on to work with (and even then, "Eclipse" was the relative coolest, and I strongly emphasize "relative"), but still, I'm gonna miss the slick and handsome vampires who were kind enough to ask you if it's okay for them to enter your home and gnaw your throat out, like a true gentleman. Hey, I know of plenty of vampires who go on and on about, "Good evening", but I can't think of one who says, "Good night", so, I don't know, maybe these are like werewolf vampires, which of course finally puts an effective end to the age-old question on who would win in a fight between werewolves or vampires, because both monsters infect their victims, and I don't see any vampire-like werewolves floating around. Shoot, with all this talk of werewolf-like vampires who look as though they just got back from Hot Topic, maybe David Slade really was as good choice to direct a "Twilight" film, even though these vampires are a whole lot meaner than Edward and his wimpering pale self. Well, I suppose this was bound to happen eventually, what with the much more brutal modern horror sensibilities, Nosferatu looking so freaky and, of course, the fact that Dracula was actually partially based off of Vlad the Impaler, who was indeed "bat" insane (I'm trying to be relatively family-friendly in a review of a gory horror film; the irony is palpable), so I guess we may as well shut up and enjoy the show, which shouldn't be too hard, seeing as how this is actually a pretty good show. That being said, this film doesn't quite "sink its fangs" quite as deeply into you as it should, because it's turning vampires into feral beasts is certainly leaps and bounds away from this film's biggest problem.

It's not too terribly weak, or at least not too consistently faulty, but Stuart Beattie's, Brian Nelson's and original comic co-writer Steve Niles' screenplay hits its share of missteps, whether it be in its farfetched, too-much portrayal of extended periods of isolation without nourishment (There's a ten day jump at one point for goodness' sake), or in its establishing predictability through telegraphed moments, or simply in its hitting the occasional piece of dialogue that's weak, if not just plain bad. There's not too much graceful subtlety to this screenplay, yet that's not the only area of this film whose subtlety lapses, as certain scares get to be manipulative, whether they be jump scares - of which, there are too many - or gory distrubrances that get to be much too gory for the emotional impact's own good. There is a decapitation scene that certainly brings about the effective death of a pretty major character at around the 90-something-minute mark that is the talk of the town because of the effects, which is understandable, because the effect is great, though perhaps too much so, to where the image undercuts the emotional resonance of the sequence, and it's moments like those that go too far and makes things more gratuitously disturbing than genuinely disturbing. The film's resonance gets to be faulty, as the subtlety of execution gets to be faulty, though if anything can be said about this film's going a bit too far with all of its thrills, at least they liven things up, because even though this film strikes much more often than it misses, it has its limp moments, especially early on, as the first act of this film is nothing short of bland, dragging on and on in a limp fashion, made more glaring by many rather off-putting focal shifts and too much exposition, sometimes upon aspects that never come up again, and often upon aspects whose being destined to return is all too overbearingly obvious. Certainly after that, the film picks up quite a bit, and just enough for the final product to, as a whole, go saved from underwhelmingess, yet the film will still hit its share of dry spells, even after pick-up, and while such slow spots are limited, they remain prevalent enough to slow down momentum all too often, yet still not entirely prevalent enough for the pacing to not feel more along the lines of uneven. The consensus is correct, this film is erratic, with uneven pacing and many an overbearing moment, and such unsteadiness pulls back promising punches. However, I'm going to have to agree with the consensus' statement that the punch is pulled too far back, for although the doesn't quite bite too deepy, it's sharp enough to sustain your attention, paricularly if you've a taste for style.

Generally fast-pace, slickly-concieved and gritty, this film is nothing if not heavily stylish, and much more often than not, it knows very well how to back that style up, whether it be through Brian Reitzell's strikingly trippy, if not creepy, uniquely lively and dynamically nifty score work, or through Jo Willems' fittingly darkly grimy, handsomely cold cinematography, which both catches your eye and effectively breathes life into this film's harshly gritty tone. All of this goes into the establishment of quite the striking style, which is at its particularly sharp during the action sequences, which are intensely frenetic with thumping sound design and snappy editing to further liven up dizzying and dazzling set piece staging that keeps your heart racing, while many of the gore effects, though a bit too much on many occasions, are believable enough and, here and there, actually effective enough to establish reasonable consequence and pull you to the edge of your seat, tense. Of course, even after all of the blood, meat and neck cuttery has finally died down, you're likely still hanging at the edge of that seat, and for this, credit is due to director David Slade, who establishes a very effective and gritty atmosphere that may not always be quite as subtle as it probably should be, but generally runs pretty deep, and just enough to sustain your attention, even when the film is at its slowest, as well as your investment, even when the film is at its most emotionally faulty. Of course, with all of my complaints about this film going too far with its disturbance to the point of restraining emotional impact, while this film's resonance stands to pierce more deeply, it still cuts pretty darn deeply at times, and enough times for you to land a generally firm grip on conflict and depth, whether when we're facing the dark depths of the antagonists or human depths of the characters. There is a memorable sequence in which a woman, before he death, prays to God, to which Danny Huston's Marlow character, the primary vampire antagonist, responds with a simply stare upward and, "No God", and moments such as those are hauntingly dark and effective in their establishing consequence, while sequences in which our characters emotionally reflect upon the horrors faced establish enough humanity within this story for you to lock in on the characters, maybe not firmly enough to where your investment can't be shaken by the many subtlety faults, yet nevertheless firmly enough to keep you going. Slade's atmosphere doesn't always hit, but it cuts enough to keep you going, with an aspect that both cuts deep in its effectiveness and never faults being the acting, as most everyone turns in an effective performance, particularly the charismatic Danny Huston as the slick yet sickeningly inhuman and effective antagonist, and surprisingly emotionally-powered leading man Josh Hartnett as the strong yet still vulnerable and emotional hero. The film goes carried by its performances, be they onscreen or off, and with striking style making the film all the more engaging, when it's all said and done, while there's no getting around this film's misstpes, you'd be hard pressed to not find yourself generally pumped and compelled enough to walk away more satisfied than not.

At the end of the day... or night, or whatever, resonance often goes undercut by some writing faults and many a lapse in subtlety, while momentum goes further hurt by uneven pacing, thus making for an erratic final product that stands to hit harder, yet still most certainly doesn't fall flat, boasting attractive yet effectively gritty style to compliment intense action sequences, which further go complimented by the tension found within the atmosphere by David Slade that establishes much consistent thrilling intrigue and, here and there, even effective resonance, supplemented by the slew of stronger-than-expected performances - some of the strongest of which being by the effectively antagonistic Danny Huston and effectively protagonistic Josh Hartnett - that help in making "30 Days of Night" a memorable thriller with style and intrigue.

3/5 - Good.