30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007) - David Slade

The current Hollywood trend of translating comic books into movies shows no sign of slowing up with this month’s latest adaptation, 30 Days Of Night. The comic book in question doesn’t come from one of the two big publishers, Marvel and DC, instead it comes from smaller publisher, Dark Horse Comics. There are no superheroes in this film. Instead, the subject of this film are those pesky bloodsuckers who have seen plenty of screen time, vampires. Director David Slade, who previously brought the excellent Hard Candy to the screen, skilfully directs Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s comic with incredibly gory results!

The film is set in Barrow, Alaska, the northern most town in the United States. The thirty days of night in question are one month a year where the town is plunged into perpetual darkness, with no sunlight at all. As the sun begins to disappear behind the horizon, strange things start happening in the town of Barrow. On the case is Eben Oleson, the recently separated Sheriff of Barrow. While investigating the recent crimes, Sheriff Oleson comes across a trouble causing man who warns the Sheriff of impending doom for the residents of Barrow. The sun dips behind the horizon and hell is unleashed on Barrow as a group of vampires begin to devour the helpless residents. The struggle to withstand the thirty days begins for the survivors who have to rely on their wits to survive.



Comic book movies can be hit or miss. Horror can be very difficult to execute effectively. So it stands to reason that a horror comic should be extremely difficult and a near disaster. Certainly, since it’s release, 30 Days of Night has had it’s detractors. And admittedly, it isn’t perfect. The source material was pretty scant in terms of story. Sun goes down, vampires turn up, town is eaten, survivors struggle to survive. And in the hands of a director with less talent than Slade, the film could have suffered a helluva lot. As it is, 30 Days Of Night is one of the most entertaining horror movies of recent times. Slade’s previous film, Hard Candy consisted almost entirely of dialogue, which had to drive the narrative. The opposite is the case here, with dialogue taking back seat to spectacle. And Spade delivers with gusto.

The vampires in this movie are quite unlike the charming, poetic and graceful vampires from the likes of Interview with the Vampire. These vampires are horrific monsters. Vicious, blood-thirsty ghouls, hell-bent on devouring every last human in Barrow. And it’s the vampires that are the most interesting thing about 30 Days Of Night. When they’re not on-screen, you find yourself wishing they’d pop up again. When they do arrive, you find your skin crawling. And this is the success of the movie. The performances from all involved are pretty sound. Josh Hartnett, who usually makes a plank seem compelling actually puts in a solid performance as Sheriff Oleson. He and his estranged wife, Stella (played by Melissa George) have to rely on each other for survival and their relationship, while limited by the story is still interesting enough. The bad guys are the stars though, with Danny Huston chewing up the scenery (as well as the extras) as Marlowe, the lead vampire. Ben Foster puts in another deranged character performance as the stranger who heralds the arrival of the vampire horde.



30 Days of Night isn’t an incredibly taxing film. Nor should it be. It’s a film about a bunch of monsters eating the inhabitants of a small town. There doesn’t need to be much in the way of character development, except for setting the smorgasbord for the monsters. And this is how the film treats it’s characters. There’s plenty of violence and gore. And man alive, is it graphic. No punches are pulled, and the blood flows freely. In fact, there’s one scene that could qualify for one of the most gory in recent times. Those slightly squeamish should stay away!

David Slade did remarkably well with his first feature, and his sophomore effort is a very decent and highly entertaining horror. A genre that has suffered in recent times, it’s great to see something of quality on the big screen again. Don’t eat for an hour beforehand, disengage your brain, sit back and enjoy the spectacle. 30 Days of Night is a horror worthy of seeing.


8/10

3:10 TO YUMA (2007) - James Mangold

The western has been out in the wilderness for a while now. It’s a genre that had it’s golden age in the 1940s and 50s through the films of John Ford and star John Wayne. Sergio Leone delivered some of the greatest westerns in the 1960s, but since then, the genre has become cinematically unpopular. However, two films, released this year are thought by some to be signalling the re-emergence of the western. The second, released later this year, is The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. The first of these two films, however, is James Mangold’s remake of the 1957 film of the same name, 3:10 To Yuma.

Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, 3:10 To Yuma is a simple story. Two men, with polar opposite views on life are set at odds as one of them struggles to deliver the other to trial and execution. Dan Evans is a veteran of the American Civil War. He lost a foot during the war and lives on a simple cattle farm with his wife and two sons. Evans doesn’t feel like much of a man. His farm is to be destroyed to make way for a rail line. His eldest son views him as spineless and his wife doesn’t think he’s up to much. He is given the opportunity to prove his worth as a man, and save his farm when Ben Wade, a notorious thief and murderer is captured and must be transported to a town called Contention to catch a train to Yuma where he will stand trial. Few men want to take on the dangerous task, as Wade’s gang want to set their boss free. But Evans, and a posse of men not used to handling a gun escort the criminal across the desert where a battle of wills breaks out between Evans and Wade.



The immediate strength of 3:10 To Yuma is the casting of the two central characters. Christian Bale, who cannot seem to put a foot wrong in terms of film roles plays Dan Evans. Bale has the talent to seamlessly take on the persona of every role he accepts, and he’s brilliant as Evans. He’s a man who isn’t strong in character. But he accepts the task of transporting Wade to Contention and is determined to see the task completed. If not for the cash, to prove to his eldest son, and himself that he can stand tall as a man. It’s the more difficult role to play in comparison to Ben Wade. Wade’s character is a lovable rogue. He’s a joker and a philosopher, an artist, but also a vicious killer. To be honest, it’s a role that is a bit confusing. We’re given flashes of Wade’s viciousness. We’re given glimpses into how bad a guy he is. But at the same time, we’re also expected to believe he’s got an artistic and philosophical side. It’s a bit of a cliché. However, Russell Crowe plays the part perfectly. You can’t knock him, as he didn’t write the role, but he plays it well. It is the easier of the two roles to play though.



The rest of the cast is filled with some excellent actors. Serenity’s Alan Tudyk plays the nervous Doc Potter, a comic relief role, but one Tudyk plays very well. Peter Fonda is the grizzled bounty hunter Byron McElroy. But it’s Ben Foster as Wade’s right hand man, Charlie Prince, who steals the show. Prince is a psycho with something that boarders on love for his boss. Foster has carved somewhat of a niche for playing these types of characters and clearly relishes the role.

But this isn’t just a character piece. It’s an action film too, and in this respect, Mangold doesn’t fail to deliver. The script, by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas grips you from the very beginning, and aside from one or two plot contrivances that require a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, is very strong. It’s not perfect, but there’s never a boring moment, so you can’t really hold the weaknesses against it. There are some great action sequences, including a coach chase and a couple of shoot outs, standards of the genre. Overall, 3:10 To Yuma is a very good, if not perfect film. It definitely belongs up with the best of 2007. So far, it seems that the later half of 2007 is going to be the stronger in terms of film.


9/10

ALPHA DOG (2006) - Nick Cassavetes

Based on the true-story of Jesse James Hollywood, a southern California drug dealer, and the youngest person ever to make the FBI's 10 most wanted list, Alpha Dog brings together a cast of young actors headed by Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Brittney-Spears-trainwreck-escapee, Justin Timberlake. Hirsch plays Johnny Truelove, the fictitious version of Jesse James Hollywood. One of his clients, meth-addled psycho Jake Mazursky (Foster) refuses to pay Truelove the money he owes him, so Truelove and his cronies (Timberlake, Shawn Hatosy) kidnap Mazursky's younger brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin) and hold him as collateral until Jake pays up. Mazursky's parents involve the police, and Truelove and his gang realize they're in a mess way over their heads, with time and options running out.

Alpha Dog suffers from one huge problem, and surprisingly, it's not the acting (although there are some appalling performances). The script is appalling. The dialogue sounds as though it was written by an obsessed Keanu Reeves fan. Every character reacts with a 'dude' or a 'whoah' and little else. There is not one likeable character in the film. Even Zack, the kidnapee, the character we're supposed to feel sympathetic towards, is incredibly naive and annoying. Everyone else in the film seems to have their heads jammed firmly where the sun doesn't shine. Not one of them seems to have an iota of sense. The performances range from mildly interesting from Foster, to somewhat adequate from Timberlake (although maybe he shouldn't hand in the notice at the day-job just yet) to appalling from pretty much everyone else. Bruce Willis pops up, but is inconsequential. And then there's Sharon Stone. If there's one reason to see this film, it's her. But not for the reasons you may think. At one point, she dons a fat suit for one of the most unintentionally funny scenes of the year. She looks like she just left the set of Eddie Murphy's latest gravitationally-challenged comedy. Other than that, there's no reason to see the film. Director Nick Cassavetes is less interested in plot development than promoting the SoCal gangsta lifestyle,yo! And for this reason, the film fails. Rubbish.

Alpha Dog @ IMDB