30 Days of Night: Dark Days

Picking off right off from where the original ended, the sequel Dark Days follows Stella's life after the 30 days of terror and bloodshed that occurred in Alaska. She seems hateful of everything without a pulse or a tan but doesn't really do anything about it (excluding a scene where she fries one or two of them in her presentation to shut up those who are skeptical). Luckily for her, three people and a vampire not dedicated to killing everything in sight want to eliminate as many vampires off the earth, especially their queen; Lilith.

The negatives: One big problem I had with this was the replacement actress of Stella. Kiele Sanchez isn't necessarily a bad performer in this movie, but the whole time I was just wondering, "Fuck, where the hell was Melissa George when this movie was going down?". She's just really bland as the lead. There's nothing captivating or even that relatable about her character hin this movie. All we know about her is that she's mad about vampires killing everyone she loves and that she misses her husband Eben; who melted away in her arms in the original. Logic is also missing in action as well. Early on, Stella fries a few vampires with these really powerful lights. Yet the four people (the vampire stays home) go into Stella's hiding place with guns. Why the fuck are they not just going in their with tons of lights? Or fire? And they choose the worst times to go hunt. There's at least 2-3 scenes where they're out and about at night. Isn't that the worst time to go out? And another thing...a few scenes indicate that the vampires have psychic abilities (how else would they know where the humans are at all times?), so why didn't this whole war just...end quicker? The ending is a big downer as well. You know exactly who is going to die and in what order. So when they do die in that mentioned order you just wonder...what took so long? The ending is really disappointing and predictable. It feels so rushed and bland. There's not even a big fight scene with Lilith and Stella, it's just a quick kill that's so vaguely similar to a scene in The Descent. And the last two minutes just doesn't make any sense at all. How can you bring back a husband that disintegrated in front of you? It's as if the first movie just didn't exist.

I know it sounds like the movie is totally without merit, but there are a few positives as well. Everyone but Kiele Sanchez is pretty solid in their roles, especially Rhys Coiro and Diora Baird as two of the other vampires. Even though Mia Kirshner doesn't get many lines as the queen Lilith, she even manages to convey a sense of dread, terror, and odd sexual appeal whenever she's on screen. Also, Dark Days did manage to make some wise choices as to what worked in the original. They kept the look of the vampires the same which was easily one of the creepiest parts of the original. And the death scenes are pretty neat. Easy to say that they didn't let down in the gore category as well. And even though the story won't be winning any oscars and you've probably seen a million movies with a similar idea, Dark Days at least moves along at a fairly brisk 92 minute length, which is much appreciated considering how boring movies tend to get after they hit the triple digit length.

30 Days of Night: Dark Days isn't a masterpiece by any means. It's nothing really special or memorable compared to the millions of horror movies that are similar and even released at the exact same time. But for filler fun, it gets the job even if the odds are that you won't remember it a day later. Just don't expect a ton of logic or a strong narrative. Otherwise you will be envious of those getting the blood sucked out of them on screen.

2/4