30 Days of Night (15)

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by horror specialists Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, this is a lively horror movie that makes the most of a decent premise.

30 Days of Night reminded me a lot of cult vampire western Sundown. This time, the setting is a small town in Alaska, where the undead come out to play in the month of darkness endured by its northern location each winter.

Basically, it’s a lot of stalking and biting and things that go chomp in the night, as the good townsfolk try to stave off the monsters.

On the one hand we have the solid sheriff played by Josh Hartnett, who has just the right sort of earnestness for the role. On the other is Danny Huston impeccably cast and hamming it up as the vampire leader.

All things considered, it’s probably a good deal longer than it has to be, but horror fans won’t mind as there is that much more time to wallow in the film’s copious amounts of gore.