"30 Days of Night"

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #46
    Re: "30 Days of Night"

    Well, true... there was The Birds and I'm sure others before that. But Romero pretty much set it down, then.
    "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

    My YouTube channel.

    Comment


    • #47
      Re: "30 Days of Night"

      Originally posted by Signal30 View Post
      Well, true... there was The Birds and I'm sure others before that. But Romero pretty much set it down, then.

      I meant before film existed (as in certain literature, folklore, legend etc.).

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: "30 Days of Night"

        Well, sure... Matheson's "I Am Legend". Wheee... circles within circles. But nothing comes to mind before that.

        Maybe Hodgson's "House on the Borderland".
        "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

        My YouTube channel.

        Comment


        • #49
          Re: "30 Days of Night"

          Originally posted by Signal30 View Post
          Huh... I just finished reading the screenplay and it's actually a lot of fun. There's still some stupid bits, but a lot of the one's that bugged me in the film (like the refugees using a space heater in the attic when there was no power) weren't written.

          There's also some sweet small bits that didn't make it into the film.

          So this is a case where it's more the director's fault.
          Funny you should say that, because the script for The Invasion was a great read -- yet the film sucked goat gonads. Hard.
          @TerranceMulloy

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: "30 Days of Night"

            Originally posted by Signal30 View Post
            Well, sure... Matheson's "I Am Legend". Wheee... circles within circles. But nothing comes to mind before that.

            Maybe Hodgson's "House on the Borderland".

            Don't forget Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" (i.e. the basic premise of a group of people stranded or trapped and being picked off).


            On a side note, I have somewhat of a hard time believing David Slade is to blame for the majority of problems with "30 Days of Night" considering he made such an impression with "Hard Candy" before it. Hopefully he'll have better luck with his next project.


            "The Invasion" certainly had a more than solid and unique take/theme on the story but was muddled and ruined by...well, almost everything else in it.

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: "30 Days of Night"

              What about "Don't be afraid of the dark?" Circa 1973
              @TerranceMulloy

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: "30 Days of Night"

                In both cases they don't serve as bunker horror antecedent because the threat was internal. Actually, the antecedent was probably the old westerns, as the cowboys rounded up the wagons or squinted over the walls of a fort, waiting for a cavalry that never comes.
                "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

                My YouTube channel.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: "30 Days of Night"

                  Originally posted by Signal30 View Post
                  In both cases they don't serve as bunker horror antecedent because the threat was internal.

                  Isn't the threat of someone trying to kill you external? "And Then There Were None" at least to a degree fits the bill.

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: "30 Days of Night"

                    The popular horror analog for "And Then There Were None" would be the body count film... one (or two) individuals knocking off a group in a limited environment. Although more strictly (like Don't Be Afraid of the Dark) it would fall into the old dark house subgenre.

                    The bunker/siege template is a group of people holed up in an environment against an external assault, usually apocalyptic in nature (whether small or large in force). It didn't really come into it's own until the sixties.
                    "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

                    My YouTube channel.

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: "30 Days of Night"

                      If you're gonna be loose and define them as horror, Deliverence is kind of a gray area, but Southern Comfort best fits into the body count template. To a degree, so does the former (short a high body count, but within the template).

                      A recurring motif (and part of what defines it) of bunker horror is that although the survivors have a ostensibly defendable stronghold, the infighting among themselves weakens the effectiveness of their sanctuary.
                      Last edited by Signal30; 10-21-2007, 11:39 AM.
                      "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

                      My YouTube channel.

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: "30 Days of Night"

                        I caught a screening of this last week. The film has nice photography and the beginning is promising. Sadly, the rest of the flick doesn't deliver.

                        Most of the stuff that bothered me has been mentioned in other posts, like poor character development and a sucky ending. It also became a bit repetitive after a while. Some details below.

                        [SPOILER]
                        About the character development: When the film starts, Harnett is this nice guy, who got wronged by the bitch of his wife who doesn't even let him know she's in town. Throughout the movie, we get all these hints as to how you have to take care of your family (the guy who killed his wife and kids) and how you have to sacrifice yourself for those you care about (the mountain guy who blew himself up). Then, in the end, faced with the imminent death of his wife, Harnett's character "grows" and decides to sacrifice himself to save her. This would be all fine and dandy if he was a selfish @sshole at the start of the film. But he wasn't, so what gives? And if there wasn't supposed to be any character growth, it's pretty boring to see a guy who's already selfless be "forced" by circumstances to become even more selfless.

                        With the ending, I'm with Signal30 on this one. Nothing like a one on one showdown with the top dawg while the henchmen stand around swaying menacingly.

                        With regards to the film being repetitive, it's the whole "we need to find a new place to hide" every ten minutes. There wasn't much progression and it became pretty boring after a while.

                        Last but not least, jeez, was I the only one who got tired of the screeching raptor-vampires? Oh yeah, and did anyone else catch the Adrien Brody vampire?
                        [/SPOILER]

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: "30 Days of Night"

                          I've been chewing on this film a lot more than I should be, mostly because it just seems so willfully ignorant... like it was put together by dudes that have never really left Southern California.

                          At ton of missed opportunities. The biggest one being that the environment that they're in (you know, part of the hook) is as deadly as the vampires. That was in no way conveyed. No excuse for that these days when with a few taps of the keys you can read what happens if you're in an attic with no power and it's 30-below outside.

                          You know, a little shivering and visible breath for starters?

                          At least in the script there was a moment where one of the critters peels a mask of frozen blood from his face.

                          Most of the time everyone is running around like it's a bad month in Pennsylvania.
                          "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

                          My YouTube channel.

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: "30 Days of Night"

                            When will we actually get a vampire-centric film that not only is scary but actually has sufficient character development and delivers on its hook or premise? Who knows.


                            The film made $16 million bucks this weekend...alright but not great.


                            And speaking of vamps...
                            Last edited by j over; 10-22-2007, 04:06 AM.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X