Nosferatu Vampires Origins – 30 Days Of Night Creatures Explored Darkness and seclusion bring out the worst in people, but what happens when the darkness also attracts monsters who thrive in such conditions? ’30 Days of Night’ tells the story of a town’s population who, over the course of a month, become victims of a vampire invasion.
This film, directed by David Slade and based on a Steve Niles comic, plunges into a world of brutal murders, bloodthirsty monsters, and devastation, all set in an unsettling nighttime atmosphere. ’30 Days of Night’ is a fantastic vampire horror film that is well worth seeing!
They’re Coming! – 30 Days of Night (2007)
The movie opens with scenic shots of snow-covered mountains, and it appears that it is the last day of sun in Barrow, Alaska, before the annual ‘30 days of night’. As the town prepares for darkness,‘The Stranger’ arrives at the docks in a tiny boat and disappears into the mountains. Though based in Alaska, the entire movie was shot in New Zealand using a day-for-night technique.
Soon after he disappears, the town sheriff, Eben, shows up at the scene with his coworkers and finds that the town’s network satellites have been burned down. They enjoy the last sunset before leaving for the town while some locals leave for a month-long stay in warmer regions. In the meantime, the ‘Stranger’ locates the town’s sled dogs and brutally murders them all. He also destroys the only emergency helicopter, thereby blocking all worldly access.
While Eben investigates these ghastly crimes, he receives a call from his estranged wife, Stella who requires a ride to the airport. However, she misses the flight and is stuck in the Barrow for a month. Apparently, the couple is going through issues, and she does not wish to stay with Eben. Meanwhile, ‘The Stranger’ visits a diner where he stirs up some trouble. ‘The Stranger’ was based on the character of R. M. Renfield from the famous novel ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker. Both the characters shared a similar hunger for blood, aided vampires to find their victims, and eventually die at the hands of the vampires.
Somehow, Eben and Stella show up at the same place and Stella helps Eben arrest the ‘Stranger’, putting an end to the commotion. At the prison, Eben interrogates the suspicious stranger while Stella greets Eben’s brother, Jake, and their grandmother, Helen. The stranger warns them that ‘they’re coming and that death is in store for the town. While Eben tries to extract more information, the town suddenly experiences a black-out and things go into a frenzy.
As chaos breaks out, Eben rushes to the network operator’s office only to find his head on a spike and no means of communication with the outer world. Meanwhile, a group of vampires attack the town and come for the residents’ blood one by one. Everybody scrambles to find a safe house, and Eben leads the residents to the diner. He returns to the prison, only to find that the stranger had attacked his brother and things get even grimmer. The vampires in the comic book attacked the town to end other vampire clans’ plans to end their secrecy. However, the movie tweaked these details and the vampires’ intentions for attacking the town were quite different.
Deciding to look into the situation, Stella accompanies Eben and drives around to look for the culprits. They almost get attacked by a vampire themselves, and somehow manage to escape. Upon returning to the prison, Jake and Helen are nowhere to be seen. They discover blood covering the surfaces, and the prisoner begs Eben to kill him off. He appears to be disappointed that the vampires did not take him along.
As the camera pans towards the vampires, they move across town slaughtering humans under a leader, Marlow, who instructs the clan to kill off all humans in a strange language. The group does not turn any humans into vampires, and just brutally kills off the residents. The language spoken by the vampires was developed with the contribution of a linguistics professor.
While the chaos and the attacks continue, the locals scramble to the diner which becomes a primary safe-house. Eben and Stella make their way to the diner too, where they find Jake safe and sound. They hatch a plan, and decide to lead everyone to Charlie Kelso’s house, which has been boarded up since he left town, making it an ideal hiding spot. As they move to the house, Eben and Stella get cornered by vampires but with some help, they manage to escape and reach Kelso’s house. They hide in the attic, and Jake reveals that the vampires killed Helen. Upon closer look, we can see a portrait of Steve Niles, who wrote the original comic book in the attic.
Meanwhile, Marlow visits ‘The Stranger’ in prison, and it appears that he aided the vampires to attack the town to become a vampire himself. However, Marlow does not keep his promises and finishes him off. Originally, it was not intended for Marlow to come back to kill ‘The Stranger’. He was supposed to die along with Helen, but the directors went with this version instead.
The group manages to ration supplies and survive for a few days, while Eben tries to rescue more residents. They continue to stay in the attic, however, some of them get fed up and leave. Unfortunately, they don’t last long as the vampires get to them. Eighteen days later, a blizzard strikes and the party exploits the whiteout to get provisions from the general store, but they are stuck there after the storm passes.
Eben makes a distraction by having the vampires pursue him to Helen’s house while the others escape from the station. He uses one of Helen’s UV lights to severely burn one of the vampire’s faces, who turns out to be the leader’s lover, Iris. Unable to salvage her, Marlow kills the vampire and then follows Eben’s trail. Although the vampires’ names are not mentioned throughout the movie, they do have names that are revealed in the end credits.
Eben communicates with Stella using a walkie-talkie when Beau, the snow-plow driver, decides to save Eben. He distracts the vampires with his vehicle and saves Eben’s life. However, he fails to fend for himself for too long and meets a sad ending at the hands of Marlon.
Distraught by the day’s events, Eben and Stella return to the police station where they console each other. They come across a resident, Carter, whose family was killed by the vampires while he escaped with just a bite. He begs Eben to kill him before he turns into a vampire, and Eben complies.
After a few days, the couple spots the deputy, Billy, hailing them with light from across the street. They visit him and learn that Billy had killed his family to protect them from the vampires, and had almost attempted suicide himself. They return to the station with him, where they discover that the survivors have found their way to the utilidor, the only operational power structure left.
As they make their way across town, Stella spots a vampire sneaking upon a young girl, Gail. She intervenes and tries to protect Gail, while Eben and Billy move ahead. They decide to meet Stella at the utilidor and end up getting separated. As they reach the place, Billy gets bit by a vampire. However, he does not go down without a fight and pushes the vampire into the massive shredder. As the vampire dies, Billy starts to turn into a vampire, and Eben kills him. Playing the character of Eben, Josh Harnett did most of these stunts on his own, and the entire movie was filmed in just 80 days.
As the month-end draws near and the sun rises, the vampires burn down the place and wipe off all proof of their activity. They seek out the survivors and try to kill them as well. Given the circumstances, Eben decides to turn and injects Billy’s blood to become a vampire himself to fend for Stella and the young girl. He then seeks Marlow out, and the two battle it out viciously. As Eben struggles, he attempts to punch Marlow through his mouth and kills him. With Marlow dead, the rest of the vampires flee the town.
As the movie approaches its finale, the couple watches the sunrise as Eben rests in Stella’s arms. Realizing that the sunlight will incinerate Eben’s vampire self, the couple share one last kiss. Stella holds Eben in her arms, as the sun comes up and he turns to ash.
Nosferatu Vampires
The vampires in the story, also known as Nosferatu, are undead creatures of the night that attack humans. Their main intention was to kill humans, and not convert them. With pale skin and sharp fangs, these creatures waited for the perfect opportunity to strike humans in a place with no sunlight to affect their movements.
The Nosferatu were bloodthirsty monsters and did not hesitate to kill anyone in their path. An interesting thing that sets them apart from other creatures is their ability to infect the blood of humans, causing them to gain the supernatural strength that only vampires possess. However, they seemed to have a weakness for sunlight, and ultraviolet rays that burned their skin beyond repair. They can also be killed by severely decapitating their heads off their bodies.
Why Should You Watch 30 Days Of Night?
Exploring themes of the undead, gruesome killings, and a murderous invasion, this movie keeps one on their toes until the very end. The terrific acting performances, action scenes, stunts, and grim settings in a dark atmosphere altogether make it a thoroughly enjoyable watch. The movie was also followed by a sequel ’30 Days of Night: Dark Days’ that unfortunately did not live up to the hype of the original. If you are a fan of vampire horror, then ’30 Days of Night’ is the perfect flick to indulge in!