Sam Raimi co-produced this fright flick starring Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Although unoriginal in the basic plot - vampires killing simple towns folk - the twist lies in the setting. "30 days of Night" is situated at the "top of the world" in Barrow, Alaska. What makes the setting particularly sinister for the 152 human residents of this sleepy frozen village is that every winter the town undergoes 30 days without sunlight. And yes, its that time of year again. And yes... 30 days without the only natural weapon against vampires. Now enter the vampires, who arrive with little fanfare presumably aboard a derelict ship briefly shown floating of the Barrow coastline. When they discover the town of Barrow and its unusually long nightfall, its the start of a grisly 30 night block party. And very few of the 152 winter residents of Barrow will survive the month... despite the best and unexpected efforts of a dedicated town sheriff (Hartnett) and his deputy wife (George).

The special effects were quite gruesome, though not out of the ordinary. Something about the bone chilling cold and snow made the violence seem more intense, more bestial. The acting was good ... with Harntett taking charge of himself and his group of survivors pretty well. A surprising and poignant ending closes the story for our main characters.

The movie had some analogues to other cold climate creepshows like Stephen King's "Storm of the Century". But otherwise, on the whole, it was a typical vampire flick that benefitted more than most such movies via an original setting and solid acting.