Did I ever tell you about my trip to Alaska? I don't think I did. It was last February, in the middle of the FILMuary marathon. I visited a small town called Chevak and the city of Fairbanks (and even ate at the northern most Denny's in the world (the sign said so)). Of course, none of this compares to Alaska's northernmost city, Barrow.Aside from being at the top of the world, Barrow is also the setting for 30 Days of Night. The city at the top of the world is at the top of the list for vampire travel agents. You see, it's night time...for 30 days. Kinda. Really it's just a very small amount of light every day, but that isn't as intriguing. No. 30 days of complete darkness, now THAT'S a story element.
So, the vampires decided that this year, they would attack Barrow. Why now? After all these years? I don't know. I guess that they just never got around to it. They're real busy, you know. What with their BlackBerries and iPhones and PDAs and all that other stuff that vampires have. I guess it's tough to get up that way. Especially when you can only travel at night!
Aside from it's setting, it's a pretty generic vampire attack movie. The vampires terrorize the town and it's up to our sheriff to save the day (and his marriage) with the help of a plucky assortment of locals.
The movie, however, fails to ever build any suspense. The vampires lay siege to the town for 30 days, but you really don't get a sense of time. The whole thing feels like it takes a night or two. You never get a real sense of the hell that would be hiding for a month. I think THAT would have been a much more interesting story.
It was entertaining enough, it was just lacking suspense. And that's a pretty vital ingredient for a horror movie. It's like making a cake without flour. Yeah, it might turn out ok, but it just doesn't feel right...
6 people walking down the street so that the vampires can lure you out of hiding out of 10.
