You're not gonna believe this...I freakin' loved this movie! It's not gonna win any awards or anything, but it's so damn stylized and crafted that ya can't help but be impressed.
The story is this...
The town of Barrow is far enough north that it's one of the locations in Alaska that ends up with 30 straight days without sunlight. A majority of the town leaves for elsewhere during this time because most of the locals can't deal with darkness for that long. Maybe 75-100 folks stay for the duration. And only a handful survive...because freaky-deaky vampires some to play! What better place for vampires to visit? No pesky sunlight to drive them into slumber. Just constant darkness. They don't feel cold - only hunger. So it's terror for the residents because they've got, basically, no chance.
The cinematography is very cool. Very unique. There's one overhead crane shot of the overall massacre of the town that is striking. Blood on snow. Makes a fantastic impression.
The tension builds throughout the film - basically along the lines of "who's gonna get bitten/savaged/axed/beheaded next?" I had a number of "jump out of my seat" moments.
It stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Now, I usually hate Josh Hartnett. I think he's pretty much the blandest "actor" ever to appear on screen. Thank the heavens he doesn't have much to do here but look stressed, run around, and yell a lot, so he's tolerable. Oh, and he grows a beard over the course of the film. And the beard looks, appropriately for baby-faced Joshy, like that of a 12 year old boy.
Melissa George - dunno who the hell she is. Very Olivia D'Abo..though I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing.I would say the best part of the movie is the fact that, while there are "special effects," it's mostly of the good, old fashioned splatter-fest makeup effects kind. There's barely any green-screening. Just lots of fake blood, fake snow, and real terror.
Go see it - you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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