30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night is one of those movies like 300 that was widely loved upon its initial release, but gradually became “uncool” to like unironically as people began to pick it apart from a logical perspective.  No, Barrow does not really have 30 unbroken days of darkness.  No, it does not make sense for the vampires to wait for the last night to burn the town when they think everyone is already long dead.  No, the vampire rules don’t seem consistent.  No, you can’t set crude oil on fire that easily.

As with 300, however, I would argue that this film works largely because of it’s aesthetic.  This is a movie that’s driven by nightmare visuals; barren cold, utter darkness, and vicious inhuman predators.  The use of Josh Hartnett as Sheriff Eban Oleson was a touch of genius.  It’s true Hartnett was way too young at the time to pass believably as a sheriff, but his detached demeanor really gave the sense that this was a film that was about style over substance.

The premise of the movie is that the town of Barrow, Alaska closes down every year for a month during a period of complete darkness, with only a minimal population staying behind.  However, this year a mysterious man (Ben Foster) who may or may not be a partially-turned vampire (the movie can’t seem to make up its mind) comes into town and destroys any means of communication or transportation.  In the confusion Eban’s ex-wife Stella (Melissa George) finds herself trapped in the town with him.

All of this is a prelude to a vampire attack led by Marlow (Danny Huston).  The vampires speak a mysterious, subtitled language, emphasizing their status as the Other.  These are not humans, but monsters impersonating humans.  Newly turned vampires, on the other hand, stay exactly as humans as the plot requires, as they should, because this movie was not made with logic in mind.

The vampires wipe out most of the town pretty quickly, and just kind of…wait…while Eban and a few other survivors hide out. After a week or two, the vampires send out another surviving human to call out and see who responds.  Eban and his group don’t fall for it, and the woman is killed horrifically.

Why do the vampires wait so long?  Why not just search the relatively small town house-by-house if they have a full month?  Well, because they’re nightmare creatures, built around fear and tension.  To make discovery and confrontation certain would destroy the atmosphere.

The climax is pure contrivance, but who cares?  Stella is trapped outside in the burning town as the vampires try to cover their tracks, while Eban and the others are in the one building that might survive the inferno.  Eban calmly assesses the situation and says “They’ll kill her if she runs.  She’ll burn if she stays,” and decides to use a convenient dead vampire to turn himself so that he can fight the vampires, and save Stella.

Of course, Eban doesn’t immediately turn evil, Marlowe is more than happy to fight him one-on-one, and when Eban wins entirely through a lucky shot at Marlow’s head the other vampires quickly retreat.  Rather than hunting them, Eban chooses to stay behind and die in Stella’s arms as the sun rises, rather than risk becoming a monster.  It’s a convenient ending, but the movie needed closure.

It isn’t easy to talk about this movie in text, as much of the aesthetic is purely visual.  Many of the key scenes look downright iconic, like a painting.  It makes sense for a comic adaptation, although the style of the original comic book was extremely abstract.

Overall, however, I highly recommend the movie.  It’s fun, silly, and scary.  It’s definitely a movie I’d love to see on the big screen again, as I’m not sure how much of the impact I’m losing rewatching it on my television.  I’m pretty sure it’s a lot, though.