Riveting, if somewhat unoriginal, vampire movie whose fascinating premise translates as little more than 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (though not nearly as hilarious or hardcore) meets 'Near Dark' via 'Pitch Black'. Barrow, Alaska is about to experience a month of total darkness; their last sunset filmed with impressive, snow capped luminance by director David Slade (in his follow up to edgy underground hit 'Hard Candy'). Like an anxious flock of birds, most of Barrow migrates south for the winter dark spell, though strapping Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and quite a few others stay put. A bizarre series of seemingly unrelated crimes are soon linked as the work of someone (...or something) trying to further isolate the already remote hamlet. The situation goes from bad to worse; as bloodthirsty vampires descend upon Alaska for an unabated, free-for-all wholesale slaughter. Now if you've seen one vampire movie, you've pretty much seen them all, but that doesn't mean there isn't something to love about each one: '30 Days of Night', for example, draws heavily from one of my favourite films in the genre; 'John Carpenter's Vampires' (1998) whilst sparring use of 'Day-For-Night' filter and shutter effects during vampire attacks is reminiscent of the excellent 'Blade' trilogy. Josh Hartnett puts in a solid performance as the young Sherriff charged to outlast an increasingly bloody siege, and though he's yet to better his laconic turn as Slevin Kelvra in 'Lucky Number Slevin', Hartnett gamely runs with it for the blood-soaked finale. Aussie actress Melissa George is also on hand as fire marshal Stella Olsen, joined in municipal matrimony to Eben, George, who seems to have found her niche in horror, has an unchecked tendency to overact. And since Slade knows what makes for a good performance (see Ellen Page in 'Hard Candy') could've worked to make the Olsen's strained relationship a little more believable, instead of us simply waiting around for the next big action sequence. Produced by horror legends Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, '30 Days of Night', essentially a vampire western, and a thoroughly entertaining one at that, has bite as a kinetic comic-book thriller, though many scenes may be over familiar to genre fans whilst the creatures themselves look like Blackheart prototypes from 'Ghost Rider'. Now I like most vampire films, hell, I'm even known to occasionally pop on 'Vampires II: Los Muertos' with the impossibly hot Arly Jover and 80s rocker Jon Bon Jovi! and this is no different: A well made popcorn movie that'll yield a lot more enjoyment when viewed as an action film than a fully fledged horror. Bloody good show.