30 Days of Night

There are a lot of people who have seen the horror movie 30 Days of Night what most people don't know however is that the movie is based on a series of comic books written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith.

The comics/film is about a small town called Barrow. The town is located in Alaska. It is also known as the northernmost settlement on the North American mainland and in the United States. The town has 30 days of night (although in the real town it is 67 days) making it the perfect place for a vampire feeding frenzy. The town has one major protector though and that person is Eben Olemaun (Eben Oleson in the film and film adaptation novel) the sheriff of the small town. He has help protecting the town from his wife Stella (in the film the are estranged).

I'm going to tell you what I thought of the movie now. So if you haven't seen it be warned there are spoilers! You have been warned!

I have to say I was surprisingly pleased with how the movie turned out. Much of the comic book survived the transition to film. The vampires were brilliant! They looked like what many people picture when they think vampires. Until Twilight came out that is. I liked the choice of actors especially Ben Foster as the Stranger. He played the part better then I could have ever imagined. While the Stranger's part is small he is very important in the comics/film because he is the person who cuts off Barrow's communication with the outside world allowing the vampires to invade the town with no way for help until the 30 days are over.

Now some problems I had with the film. I hated that they completely got rid of the concept of the ancients and them coming to clean up the mess that Marlow had made. Another problem I had with the film is that they got rid of Vincente whose death became a major part of the sequel comic book. What they did was this: they combined Marlow and Vincente which while satisfying enough wasn't as good as it would have been if Vincente had been in the film.

Another problem I had with the film is what they did to Stella's and Eben's relationship which was basically butcher it except the ending. I myself was quite touched by that screen. I also wish to add that it was acted out beautifully by Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. It almost made up for the butchering of their relationship. The last thing I had a problem with was Iris' voice it sounded like nails on a chalk board and I was about ready to run out of the theater because it made me want to rip my ears off.

All in all I would have to give the film four 1/2 out of five stars. I can't wait to see what they do with the sequel film.