"30 Days of Night: Dark Days" Movie Trailer Review

"30 Days of Night: Dark Days"

Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

It is undeniable that the vampires from "30 Days of Night" were badass. So, naturally, they had to make a comeback. After three years, they’ve returned in "30 Days of Night: Dark Days."

Barrow survivor Stella Oleson (now played by Kiele Sanchez) is back as our main character. In the trailer's opening, she reveals to a small crowd that vampires attacked Barrow. To prove her claims, she attaches ultraviolet to the ceiling and flips them on, causing the vampires in the crowd to burn up. This touches off a meeting with other survivors who wish to take down the vampire queen Lilith.

It seems like a good idea to take the fight to the vampires this time over, rather than just have a rote repetition of the first film. Hopefully, this twist on the established food chain won’t de-fang the undead that worked so well in the first movie.

What is troubling about "Dark Days" is that it’s a direct-to-DVD sequel to a movie that was released theatrically. As many horror fans know, this tends to translate to a poor sequel. Two scenes in the trailer hint at possible problems, both of which are minor. One of the voiceovers is poorly acted and another line is troubling by how it’s written.  Stella asks, “You’re planning on just walking in there and killing her?” The response she’s given is, “Yes. We got big guns, sweetheart.” It comes off as too casual and, quite frankly, ill conceived considering the devastation caused in Barrow. It could mean that the screenwriter tried to make the characters more like action heroes, but they’re still mortal men and women facing immortal killing machines.

Still, I suppose that could be considered nit picking. Everything else looks to be fairly solid, as far as a horror sequel can be. "Dark Days" looks to be easily worth at least a rental, if not a purchase.


"30 Days of Night: Dark Days" is available on DVD October 5, 2010. Below is the trailer. What are your thoughts?