After two viewings this weekend I am still a bit on the fence on 30 Days of Night. On one hand it is a brutally conceived premise with decent performances and brings the vampire genre out of those silly night clubs (the Blade series), and leaves behind the homoerotic undertones (Anne Rice’s novels). On the other hand the film doesn’t seem to give much of an explanation for much of what happens. Where did these vampires come from and how do you turn into one?

Set in the small, isolated community of Barrow, Alaska; where every year the town in swallowed in total darkness for a period of 30 days on end, their world is the perfect feeding ground for a breed of blood-thirsty vampires to feast. With the help of a mysterious stranger (played well by a creepy Ben Foster) the vampires decend upon the town in fury, lead by the cruel Marlow (Danny Huston); perhaps the most Shakespearian vampire I’ve seen on screen in awhile. The town’s residents are caught off guard just as this sunless period is beginning and quickly they must huddle together, led by the town’s sheriff, Eben (Josh Hartnett), and his estranged wife, Stella (played by the always easy on the eyes Melissa George) to survive the relentless attack, and even attempt to outsmart their hunters. This small group of survivors seeks shelter in any warm place possible; riding out most of the darkness in an attic and a supermarket.

While under the direction of David Slade, whose last film was the tense and creepy Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night looks splendid visually; the gorgeous countryside of New Zealand doubles for Alaska, and the make-up effects by WETA (the same team responsible for The Lord of the Rings) brings the bloodsuckers to wonder life, unlike the extensively lifeless CGI that proved fatal in I Am Legend. The look of the film is striking and extraordinary, but the pacing of the story is where the film falters; it never convincingly feels like it’s a month long battle these characters are engaged in: it’s not until Day 11 that food for the humans seems to become an issue. Okay, so it doesn’t feel like a 30 day fight, but the fighting is convincingly brutal, regardless of the shoddy timeline. The second thing that bugged me about the film is its overly ambiguous narrative. Much of what happens in the film is under explained, if explained at all. I assume much more is explained in the graphic novels by Steve Niles from which the film is based on.

I’m still undecided over the film’s ending, which, I must say is a bit of a disappointment, and instead of a solid, fitting conclusion feels more like a set-up for a sequel, not that I’d mind spending more time in the town of Barrow and fighting these nightly beasties. I just hope if there is a sequel that many of the questions that are raised and left unanswered here, get explained. While the film is undoubtedly flawed, I didn’t find the film to be boring and I did love the look and style in which the vampires were brought to life, and to me, they made the film. The human performances weren’t that bad either, but this material is so ripe, I can’t help but think that the film needed more time to develop more of its characters and let those cold, bloody hard days of survival dig in deeper to the viewer. 30 Days of Night has plenty of flaws, but its biggest success is bringing the vampire back into the realm of scary. I’d give this bloody movie a mild, but recommendable thumbs up.