Culturegeeks

Give the filmmaking team of 30 Days of Night a gold star for a genius move: casting Danny Huston as head vampire honcho Marlow. Huston tears up the screen – and a bunch of hairy, frigid Alaskans – in a performance that is textured, intimidating and “Whoah!” inspiring.

And here’s the rest of the good news. The film isn’t nearly as crappy as I thought it would be.

[ I should note here that 30 Days of Night is one graphic novel that I actually haven't read (and shame on me - I know, I know, I know) so I can't comment on the film as an adaptation. ]

Here’s what I loved about 30 Days of Night: a strong idea, a few inspired gory moments, a vampire kid that is un-freaking-believable, a few realistically interesting characters, a major plot point that involves a marijuana-smoking grandmother and a very nice turn from actor Ben Foster (who was woefully underused as Angel in Brett Ratner’s hacktastic X-Men: The Last Stand) as a Renfield-esque vampire thrall. Oh yeah, did I mention Danny Huston?

The are major problems, which critics are quick to point out: some bad acting (good lord, Melissa George is awful…), inconsistent tone, pacing problems and laughable amounts of gore. I agree on all counts. I’d also like to add that the last scene of the film is really, really lame.

But here’s the thing: I really enjoyed 30 Days of Night. And that’s probably because I love genre film so much. Many critics have argued that the film has a really sophisticated premise that gets wasted on the action. That argument may be true – if indeed, this were not a horror film. But horror, like so many other genres, is a blunt instrument: it shouldn’t be held up to a standard of transcending the very genre conventions it delights in. And for my money, a film with a whip-smart take on a tired standard (is it possible to make a scary vampire movie anymore? or are we a culture that has so completely oversexualized vampires that they are no longer garish monsters?) and a decent sense of characterization, some tense moments and a few finely textured performances is totally worthwhile.

My friend Ehren argues that this one of the few films he’s ever seen in which humans are treated truly like prey, and that the cold predator nature of the vampires is so well-articulated that 30 Days of Night brings something new and awesome to the table. I think he’s right on the money – about this and one other crucial element of the film: bald vampires are no good. No good at all.

My prediction: if 30 Days of Night had re-cast its leading roles with two older character actors, slowed down the action, removed 50% of the gore, and added 10 minutes of dialogue, it would be applauded as stylish and smart, perhaps “the thinking person’s horror film” of the year.

Instead, I think we ended up with merely a bloody good time. I’ll take it.