After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires. (imdb.com)

I’m really starting to admire and look forward to seeing Josh Hartnett in films. Though he was in a couple of more well known films before Sin City like Black Hawk Down and The Virgin Suicides, I only ever paid attention to his acting a bit in Sin City and more in The Black Dahlia. The Black Dahlia, especially. It’s interesting that both in The Black Dahlia and 30 Days of Night, both films are not perfect, but they’re both strong enough that a strong main character can make it seem better than it is. Hartnett, I think, did this for both films and especially 30 Days of Night. Many of the supporting characters (outside the vampires) were bordering on typical caricatures of horror/action films but never quite made it over the edge. Which is great.Hartnett brought a human, believable element to the script that engaged me fully. He’s definitely an actor to watch out for in the coming years.

As for the movie as a whole, it was good, entertaining and somewhat different than your typical modern vampire films. Remember when vampire films had very unattractive vampires years, and years ago, ala Nosferatu? Now, it’s all about prettying them up and making them humans who happen to be vampires. Not that I mind that. I loved Interview with the Vampire, for one but. But, 30 Days of Night brought back to ugo-vamps with sharp, tiny teeth, big gums, pale skin and speaking an incomprehensible dead language. Dead, sexy. (ha ha).

The directing was strong enough to hold the story together. The writing was strong enough to support a weak cast (except for Hartnett and a couple of others). I suppose what sold me on just deciding I wanted to see this film was the concept of vampires “feasting” on the residents of an Alaskan town during the 30 days and nights that Alaska is without any sun. It’s a high-concept plot that works out despite a few casting/acting hiccups.

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