| 80 |
Film Threat
Decent vampire movies are few and far between, and I’m having a hard time remembering a recent one that impressed me like 30 Days of Night.
|
| 80 |
Empire
James Dyer
This slick and sticky horror is the most accomplished treatment of vampire lore since Near Dark.
|
| 75 |
ReelViews
Works on its own terms, which is more than can be said of most horror films these days. If this is the kind of movie you're looking for, it delivers.
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Tirdad Derakhshani
It's a bloodsucker's paradise.
|
| 75 |
Portland Oregonian
It's not perfect or "Shining"-level inspired, but it's solid.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
A well-paced and entertaining horror debut.
|
| 75 |
USA Today
Scott Bowles
It loses some of its bite by film's end, but 30 Days of Night manages to do for the vampire genre what "28 Days Later" did for the zombie flick: give age-old monsters a modern-day makeover.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
Directed by David Slade ("Hard Candy"), the action scenes are artful and terrifying; these killers move so quickly and decisively, there seems to be no hope for humanity.
|
| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
These days, it's dark everywhere. Which makes Slade's wild, often exhilarating neo-Western ride into frostbit vampirism something of a respite, albeit one awash gore.
|
| 67 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Which is more interesting: Vampires fighting over the potential long-term blowback of their Alaskan buffet, or a couple of exes bonding under duress? Seems like an easy decision, but 30 Days Of Night makes the wrong choice.
|
| 63 |
TV Guide
Mark Boone Jr. makes a vivid impression as eccentric loner Beau Brower, and Danny Huston is mesmerizing as the leader of the shrieking, slashing, wallowing-in-gore bloodsuckers. They effortlessly eclipse the rest of the cast.
|
| 63 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Like most kiddies games, this one starts out fun and then gets tired. Inevitably, that's when Slade tries to revive our interest by upping the gore quotient.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Sun-Times
It is well-made, well-photographed and plausibly acted, and is better than it needs to be.
|
| 63 |
Premiere
Eric Alt
It's all pulled off with a firm sense of the fun in being scared.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
A proficient, atmospheric fangfest that does nothing you haven't seen before but still does it passably well.
|
| 63 |
Miami Herald
Based on a graphic novel, 30 Days of Night opens with a premise so promising it seems almost impossible to screw up.
|
| 60 |
New York Magazine
Danny Huston is screamingly funny as the alternately finicky and savage Head Ghoul--he’s like something spewed forth from the bowels of the Politburo. The problem is structural.
|
| 58 |
Baltimore Sun
It's seductive in its buildup but overall as subtle and, alas, as humorless as a hatchet to the brain.
|
| 58 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Andy Spletzer
With such a good concept for a vampire movie, it's hard to believe it turned out to be this boring.
|
| 50 |
Variety
Excels at bloodthirsty action, though dialogue and human-interest aspects are a tad anemic. Result is a mixed bag but has a catchy premise and quite enough splatter to satisfy gorehounds.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Nearly two hours long, 30 Days of Night makes you feel the cold (though it was shot in New Zealand) and feel the fangs, but it also makes you feel like 30 days is a pretty long time.
|
| 50 |
Village Voice
Robert Wilonsky
Director David Slade's stab at the story is actually rather ordinary.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Reader
Forget about a stake through the heart: sheriff Josh Hartnett discovers that decapitation is the best way to stop the bloodsuckers, who suggest feral, steroid-crazed gymnasts as they scale buildings and leap onto moving vehicles.
|
| 40 |
Los Angeles Times
The movie thus moves from truly creepy to truly inane, which is, unfortunately, all too common in films of this ilk.
|
| 40 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Megan Lehmann
Dramatically, the film is a shambles, with whiplash-inducing lurches in tone and pacing that make it seem as if portions were edited out of sequence.
|
| 38 |
New York Daily News
Lighter on horror than it is on inadvertent humor.
|
| 30 |
The New York Times
Matt Zoller Seitz
The performers have little to do besides spill and drink blood in this tedious, inconsequential B picture. The sun doesn’t rise nearly fast enough.
|
| 25 |
New York Post
The movie approaches the final scene with a straight face, but it left the audience giggling spasmodically. This script probably should have gone all the way and thrown in a few quips: If your movie is a joke, at least be intentionally funny.
|
| 25 |
Entertainment Weekly
You can expect a lot of shredding and gurgling. 30 Days of Night is relentless, but it's also relentlessly one-note.
|
