30 Days of Night (2007)

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from 30 Days of Night. I read Steve Niles' first graphic novel with that title - I think there a slew of them out now. It was a solid vampire tale with a great story and amazing art work. Maybe saying that I wasn't expecting much from the screen adaptation is incorrect - I was expecting it to mirror the graphic novel. It did.

It's been a couple of years since I read 30 Days of Night and didn't remember much so the movie wasn't completely spoiled - well we saw it at the Alamo Drafthouse but more on that later. The acting was fine, there were a couple of tense scares, the vampires were pretty scary looking actually and not mince mince sissy vampires, there was minimal use of humor, there was some satisfying gore, and all in all it worked. It was kind of nice to see a vampire movie that didn't try to reinvent the genre or sex it up or make it all "cool" like Blade or Underworld.

Pretty much if you're going to see 30 Days of Night you've either already seen it or are waiting for it to come out on DVD. I enjoyed it but would have rather seen American Gangster.


P.S.

The Alamo Drafthouse is not the place to see a horror movie if you actually want to watch and enjoy it. It may be all well and good to see The Monster Squad or whatever dreck Tarantino is passing off as art and have some drinks and dinner and have a good time but God forbid you actually want to watch a movie in peace and quiet. This is why I go to matinees.