Horror Film

30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night is a horror film about a town in Alaska where during the winter they have 30 days of darkness and are invaded by vampires who plan to destroy the town and its people. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George and Danny Huston In the main roles and it is directed by David Slade. In the beginning of the film a creepy man comes to town and cuts off all types of communication and transport from the townspeople, stopping them from leaving or contacting anybody. He then warns them that they’re all going to die and that “they’re coming” but he will be saved by them. However, when the vampires arrive nobody is safe. For 30 days the very few survivors of the attack are stuck hiding out in an attic, planning how to defeat the vampires whilst they roam the town looking to destroy any remaining life. I think that this film is not a very scary horror film but it is very gory. I did enjoy this film slightly because the ending was good and the story was different to other vampire films but I personally do not like horror films.

In the film the creepy man at the start destroys all forms of transport in the town, including the husky dogs. In this scene the dogs are barking with teeth showing so are obviously distressed and probably trying to warn off the intruder, then there is a close up on a knife so you know that something bad is going to happen. This could also be interpreted as a foreshadowing of what the vampires do to the humans. There is also a scene that uses an aerial shot that moves forwards so that you can see the devastation caused by the vampires. In this view you can see a lot of blood because the town is covered in snow, so the contrast in colours emphasises the suffering of the town and the people. As well as this there is use of diegetic sound throughout the film, for example when the survivors are hiding in the attic you can hear people still screaming outside. Although you cannot actually see what is going on, it is clear that something dreadful is happening. In the film the vampires have very dark or red eyes, which could mean that colour has been used to show that they are evil as the colour red is usually associated with danger and blood.

Overall I think that this is an average film with a good use of camera techniques and sound etc. but I do not think that it is scary enough, it is more gory and there are some parts where you have to look away from the screen especially with the added sound effects which make it even more horrible.