Hard Candy was a tough, uncompromising and often vicious film. Director David Slade took paedophilia, turned it upside down and shook it inside out along with the audience. Turning his attention to vampires, Slade’s follow-up has the capacity to be a highly-strung, stylish shocker with high-notes that would satisfy aficionados and teenage boys alike. He gets half-way there.

30 Days of Night begins to bleed as soon as we’re asked to suspend well held fears that sheriff Josh Hartnett can save a small town north of the Arctic circle. He’s broken up with his wife, George, who gets trapped when Barrow goes into lockdown for the month of winter when the sun won’t shine. Slade then introduces us to a thirsty group of vampires led by an effective, if under-utilised Danny Huston, and each of their victims as genre conventions demand. Logic soon takes a back-seat as the film dissolves into the familiarly gory game of cat-and-mouse amid much renting of cloth and tearing of flesh.

This is something of a disappointment from a director as gifted as Slade. Chilly New Zealand locations throw things nicely off-kilter but can’t overcome the core problem of miscasting. Credibility is a major obstacle, one that neither Hartnett, George nor Slade get to grips with. Come day-break and an unfortunate case of psoriasis, the straight-faced climax had reduced many to sniggering. As the New York Post quipped, “if you’re movie’s a joke, at least be intentionally funny”.

 // COLIN FRASER