Daybreakers

Daybreakers (2010)

Just as the idea behind 30 Days of Night in retrospect seems as brilliant as it does obvious, so does the simple conceit of the Spierig brothers new vampire film. Let’s say for the sake of argument that vampirism did exist and was rooted not in superstition and mythology, but science and viral outbreak. Creatures of such a savage and immortal nature would surely overrun and decimate a human population in no time flat, leaving their precious blood supply dwindling down to the last drops. The genius behind Daybreakers is that it chooses to begin its story after the human apocalypse in a world of vampires that, while similar enough to our own to occasion genuinely interesting parables on the nature of corporate greed and class warfare, has its own alien edge that is brazenly novel and endlessly fascinating to explore.

Ethan Hawke does an excellent job here as a Vampire hematologist attempting to synthesize a plasma alternative to not only feed the starving masses on the edge of revolt, but to placate his desire to recapture a semblance of his lost humanity. He looks frankly awesome as a vamp in his retro noir suit and hat with piercing eyes. He constantly smokes and looks cool as hell doing it. The character plays to his strong suits of being able to convincingly portray intelligence without bogging down the screenplay with scientific specifics and his vulnerability is charming and heartfelt. Sam Neil as his boss who runs a blood supply corporation, is in full on menacing rich guy mode and was born to play roles like this. Willem Dafoe adds tons of edgy fun as a former vamp who having found a cure, enlists Hawke in his crusade to save the inflicted population from itself.

I won’t bother giving plot points and narrative guideposts as half the fun of the film is letting the story unfold and seeing where it goes. The other half of the fun, which I will gladly speak of, is the immersive and gorgeous world created here. That this reality was realized on a 20 million dollar budget is nothing short of remarkable and has whetted my appetite to see what these twin Australian up and comers could do with more resources. The first 15 minutes are basically wordless and draw you in buy establishing the parameters of this undead utopia and its dysfunctional social strata effortlessly. You will believe in this speculative horror future and be enveloped by it dark beauty.

The action scenes are more restrained than a Michael Bay clusterfuck, but are all the more enjoyable for their easy to follow visual presentation and creative arrangement. A wonderful car chase sequence early on is a testament to the films ingenuity in particular. Did I mention that the film also manages to marry effective tension and solid scares with brutal, hard hitting gore? Oh yeah, it pulls that shit off very nicely. There is some CGI work here (handled by the Spierig’s themselves) but it never detracts from the film and is tastefully done with the emphasis on practical carnage that truly packs a punch. I was shocked, scared and emotionally invested in equal measure all the while having something to chew on with the sociopolitical subtext that is never grating or preachy, simply there to dwell upon if you choose to.

I won’t say it’s a perfect film or anything. There are a couple of female characters that fall flat and once the focus shifts to the surviving humans things drag a bit in the second act. All is redeemed though in a jaw dropping conclusion, a literal bloodbath that had me grinning ear to ear with glee as I could hear audible gasps from other audience members. The point is, this is a unique film, that while flawed, is so earnest in its effort to entertain and satisfy those looking for artful, high concept horror, that I forgive its few trespasses. This is for the adults out there who want to be exhilarated and challenged a bit by a theatrical genre outing again. I can think of no higher praise than that.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by Matt Risnes