30 Days of Night (R, 2007)

The humans are warned of an impending vampire invasion by someone called The Stranger (Ben Foster), who arrives in town seeking a bowl of raw hamburger and then intones, "That cold ain't the weather, that's death approaching." Part wanna-be and part fanboy ("The undead, man!"), The Stranger has led the vampires to Barrow because, in winter, the sun disappears for an entire month. (For some reason, this darkness also means that no planes fly in or out of Barrow -- an illogical premise that leaves the citizens utterly alone and abandoned.) The movie's action follows the basic rhythms of a slasher film, showing one terrible assault after another, with the ugly deaths of disposable extras leaving the small band of stars bickering and learning important lessons about how to look after one another. The humans alternately hide in attics, scavenge from the well-stocked market, and fight off the monsters with all manner of makeshift weapons, ranging from flares and axes to shotguns and sunlamps. As the days tick by (marked by captions so you can keep track), the vampires inexplicably leave the survivors alone for long stretches. The vampires, much like the humans, travel as a pack, led by Marlow and his apparent girlfriend Iris (Megan Franich). Except for Marlow, they all have digitally distorted faces -- enlarged or misshapen noses, jutting jaws, huge scars, and increasingly bloody and gaping mouths -- that mark their strangeness and capacity for brutality (they consume humans and dogs with equal abandon). As usual, human self-sacrifice appears to be the most effective weapon against the vampires, who are selfish by definition and endlessly "thirsty."

Though Eban announces early on that the Barrowites have an advantage over the vampires because they know the town and the cold, the film never takes advantage of this detail. Instead, it relies on a hackneyed "us vs. them" dynamic.

Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: David Slade
Cast: Danny Huston, Josh Hartnett, Melissa George
Genre: Horror
Run time: 113 minutes
Theatrical release: October 18, 2007
DVD release: February 25, 2008
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: strong horror violence and language.