30 DAYS OF NIGHT
DARK DAYS

Starring:
Kiele Sanchez, Rhys Coiro, Diora Baird, Harold Perrineau, Troy Ruptash, Ben Cotton and Mia Kirshner

Director:
Ben Ketai

Running Time:
92 mins

Out to buy on Blu-Ray/DVD 11/10/10

"I want to be one of you"

After surviving the attack on Barrow, Alaska, Stella Olemaun (Sanchez) moves to Los Angeles. Since the attack she has been following the trail left by the Vampires who attacked her hometown. Publishing her finding and offering talks on the events, Stella plans to expose the existence of these creatures of the night once and for all. This brings her to the attention of fellow believers, Paul (Coiro), Amber (Baird) and Todd (Perrineau) who are planning on taking the fight to the vampire but Stella’s action have also brought her to the attention of Lilith (Kirshner), the leader of the LA vampires and she wants her blood.

While vampires have recently become creature to adore and fall in love with, the sequel to ’30 Days of Night’ reminds you what they are really like.

In 2007 director David Slade adapted the first graphic novel in the ’30 Days of Night’ series and gained critical, commercial and cult acclaim for his depiction of vampires as blood thirty, animalistic beasts looking for blood. There was no romance here, no room for brooding, lovesick teenagers who want to live forever, this was a proper vampire flick that pulled no punches and had you on the edge of your seat throughout. When a direct-to-DVD sequel was announced and was to be based on the second book in the series, ‘Dark Days’, fans met the news with some trepidation and some of it was well founded.

Directed by Ben Ketai from a script by the graphic novel writer Steve Niles, the film picks up the story a year after the events in Barrow. Stella is still suffering from what she witnessed and is riddled with grief over the heroic death of her husband Eben but she has a plan. Giving talks on what happened and trying to convince the world that vampires exist, Stella is starting to get noticed not only by the vampiric population of Los Angeles but by those who actually believe what she is saying. A group of vampire hunters led by a mysterious man known only as Dane, reveal more to her than she would ever know but the vampires know all about her too and they are not going to let Stella expose them after thousands of years living in the shadows. While not as grandiose a plot as the original, the story continues and introduces you to a much bigger world of vampires and the threat they have towards the human race.

The big disappointment is Melissa George does not return as Stella and there is no cameo for Josh Hartnett as Eben. While neither of these actors are massive stars, a straight to video sequel must have felt a little below them. The lack of a budget does show however, as the film is littered with TV actors but this not distract you from the continuation of the story. Stepping into the role of Stella is Kiele Sanchez and she does not quite have the presence of Melissa George but she is fine in the role as the revenge filled Alaskan. She is joined by newcomers to the franchise Rhys Coiro as Paul, Diora Baird as Amber and Harold Perrineau as Todd, the vampire hunters led by Ben Cotton’s mysterious Dane. Taking on the role as the head vampire, Mia Kirshner is Lilith but she does not have the screen presence of Danny Huston.

While the original stars may not have returned and the budget is far smaller than the original, ’30 Days of Night: Dark Days’ still has a story to tell. It may get washed away in the flood of other vampire movies hitting the big and small screen but for fans of the original, it is a welcome return to that universe.

DVD Special Features include:

Filmmaker Commentary
Featurette: The Gritty Realism of Dark Days

Blu-ray Special Features include:

BD exclusive :Graphic Inspirations: From Comic to Film
PS3 Wallpaper Theme
Filmmaker Commentary
The Gritty Realism of Dark Days


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