30DaysofNightDarkDays

30 Days of Night Dark Days (2010)

One of the survivors of the 1st movie, Stella, has made it her mission to try and get people to believe in the vampires that destroyed her home of Barrow Alaska. Everyone laughs at her and even think that when she publically burns up some of the undead at one of her appearances it is all publicity. But this does bring her to the attention of a group of vampire hunters who recruit her to help them track down and destroy Lilith the queen of the vampires. When they finally do catch her she is on a ship headed north towards another town. It is up to Stella and the others to stop another massacre.

I really liked the first 30 Days of Night and this one has some things in common with that. The vampires are very scary and act like monsters. There aren’t any sparkly douchebags running around trying to get the attention of a teenage girl. Nope these creatures simply want to eat you for supper! So as a fan of vampires as monsters I did dig that aspect of this sequel. The vampires also look really good with their rows of sharp shark like teeth and black eyes. It is a simple makeup job, but they totally look like predators on the hunt. This is also a carryover from the original movie and it also is something that I liked about both movies.

But that is where the comparison ends for me. I have some issues with the story for 30 Days of Night Dark Days, which I’ll refer to as Dark Days from here on out. The movie has the annoying habit of bringing up something interesting and then just sort of leaving it there. There is a vampire that has managed to retain some humanity and is trying to help the hunters track down Lilith. I found this to be an interesting character, but they only hint at his background. And then do away with him rather unceremoniously. I though that this was a huge missed opportunity to do something different, but they blew it. And if he isn’t going to play a part then why screw around with the “rules” that are already established?

Another thing that kind of bugged me was moving the setting from the barren north to Los Angeles. One of the best parts of the original was the setting and the fact that the night went on for a month. Moving it south sort of robs this movie of what made the 1st unique and interesting. That was a real drag. Oh and I have to say that the final battle with Lilith is a real letdown as well. They build up that she is the queen of the vampires and then is killed off faster then some of her minions. Way too anticlimactic. Toss in an ending that I thought was sort of stupid and makes the Stella character look really dumb. I mean this is the character we have seen survive two nasty encounters with the undead already.

This one is really a disappointment. Though not a terrible movie it doesn't live up to the 1st one. Do yourself a favor and avoid Dark Days. If you really want to see some badass vampire action pop in the original.

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer