30 Days Of Night Blu-ray Disc Review

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Title: 30 Days Of Night (Blu-ray Disc)

Region: A

Genre: Horror

Stars: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, and Mark Boone Junior

Writers: Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie, and Brian Nelson

Based On The Graphic Novel By: Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith

Director: David Slade

Feature length: 113 minutes

Extras: Audio Commentary With Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, and Producer Rob Tapert, Graphic Novel To Film Comparison, Behind The Scenes Featurettes

Languages: English and French Dolby True HD 5.1 Surround Sound and Spanish, Portuguese and Thai Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (Classic), Thai, and Chinese Language Subtitles

Packaging: Blue BD Case

Sound: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2007/Blu-ray Disc Release: 2008

Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

30 Days Of Night is based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, which has spawned an ongoing series of graphic novels and created a more feral vision of the vampire as well as the most original depicted on film since From Dusk Till Dawn. The vampires are not romanticized at all in this movie. Here the vampires don’t have fangs, but they do have sharp jagged jaws that bite into a victim and rip their guts out. These vampires are in some ways sort of like zombies, but unlike most depictions of zombies, vampires retain their sentience and higher brain functions from inception. Their pupils are dilated into large black orbs with barely any white visible. Some look more like animals with distorted features and the vampires use high pitched shrieks as a means of communication and intimidation and have more predatory behaviors whereby they use hissing for as a means of echolocation for possible prey. They also have enhanced hearing and sense of smell. While the traditional means of spreading vampirism through blood and bites exist, a vampire can also infect a normal person by simply scratching them with their long steel like nails. The vampires still retain their ability to speak in their native language or an ancient tongue from and as yet undetermined age. They are cunning, have great strength and acrobatic abilities and even display human emotions toward each other when one or more share a bond deeper than friendship. The film does not reveal whether or not they are subject to repulsion from Christian imagery like crosses or have any allergies to silver or garlic as well as other elements of the vampire mythos. They are however susceptible to both sunlight and ultraviolet lights, which burns them, and they can be killed by destroying the brain either through a gun shot or other projected force and their bodies can be completely destroyed to the point that there is no means of revival in just about anything that would kill a mortal being. They also use familiars to prepare things before their arrival. The familiars have some imitative vampire traits as well as fast reflexes, but it is not clear whether or not they are at all physically changed as a result of contact with the vampires or are mimicking tricks learned from them, but unlike vampires, their servants are quite mortal and not light sensitive.

In the sleepy secluded Alaska town of Barrow, the sun sets and doesn’t rise for thirty days and nights. From a sinister black ship comes a stranger, who sabotages the town by destroying most of the satellite phones, killing all the dogs, wrecking the helicopter and any other form of contact left to the outside world. Then like a plague the vampires arrive to feed on the residence leaving only a few survivors hiding in the long night, trying to outlast them until the sun rises again and using their knowledge of the arctic environment for whatever advantage it can offer them. Presented in a high definition 1080p widescreen aspect ratio, 30 Days Of Night looks magnificent in the theatrical release aspect ratio of (2.40:1) with a full and atmospheric English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Soundtrack coupled with a French Language Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Sound option as well as Spanish, Portuguese and Thai Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (Classic), Thai, and Chinese Language Subtitles are encoded onto the Blu-ray Disc too.

What I really liked about 30 Days Of Night was the sense of impending doom felt throughout the film as well as the tragic back stories of some of the characters that adds to the overall atmosphere. The soundtrack by Brian Reitzell is outstanding. I liked it so much when I saw 30 Days Of Night in the theater that I purchased the soundtrack CD and even put it on my I, Pod. Coming off Hard Candy, Director David Slade does an excellent job at capturing the bleakness of Steve Niles storytelling. Niles has been doing movie tie-in graphic novels and comics for a variety of recently released horror pictures that include 28 Weeks Later and I Am Legend. He has a natural sense that good horror is amplified not only by what we see and hear in the dialogue and action within the film, but in what is never explained such as a memorable confrontation at the general store with a young resident no one had ever seen before or was aware where the person came from. It is interesting to note that although he was offered the opportunity to present an unrated and gorier cut of the film, Slade stuck with the theatrical version as his preferred Director’s Cut.

Extra value features include a retrospective and screen specific feature length audio commentary with Producer Rob Tapert and Stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Hartnett comes off quite down to Earth in this commentary and I respect anyone who is a successful Hollywood Actor that will admit that they lead charmed lives because quite honestly, I think they do. He is also surprisingly knowledgeable about the technical aspects of filmmaking and even points out areas in the film where the action doesn’t make sense because certain sequences in the film were shuffled around between how they appeared in the screenplay and how they appeared in the completed film. Melissa George is sweet and I like the fact that she not only took the time to read the graphic novel, but it sounds as though she read some of the sequel books featuring her character that are available in stores now. Rob Tapert is professional and speaks from experience and yet he can hang out and relax too while participating in the commentary. There are eight behind the scenes featurettes that can be viewed individually or as one reel covering various aspects of the film production. Danny Huston, who plays Marlow in the film, is almost unrecognizable out of character and without vampire makeup. Exclusive to the Blu-ray Disc release are thirty direct still comparisons of images from the graphic novel and how they were realized for the film.

30 Days Of Night will debut on Blu-ray Disc on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at retailers on and offline courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

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