30 Days of Night (2007) Explored

[Music] [Applause] hey guys what's happening nyet here with film comics explained and today we'll be exploring the awesome 2007 horror film 30 Days of Night which is directed by David Slade starring Josh Hartnett Melissa George Ben Foster and Danny Huston easily one of my favorite vampire films of late the film sparked life back into the genre reasserting the notion that vampires could be terrifying when done correctly spearheaded by David Slade who had just directed the incredible psychological thriller hard candy the plot of 30 Days of Night was actually conceived in the early 90s by author Steve Niles Niles had originally hoped to turn his concept into a comic book but after receiving limited interest he then tried to adapt it into a screenplay which also didn't pan out positively shelving the idea for a few years the writer then met up with idw publishing a comic book publishing company that was in its infancy who loved his idea and published it as their first comic book series setting the town of Barrow Alaska which is explained as having 30 days of extended night during the winter the graphic novel essentially followed the husband and wife Sheriff team as they attempted to save their town from the Nosferatu who were ancient vampires that have come to feast on barrows inhabitants taking full advantage of the lack of daylight after the success of the original graphic novel series illustrated by the talented Ben temple Smith and its subsequent sequels Niles tried once again to find interest in a film adaptation and was surprised by the fact that his story was this time being well-received by production companies after a seven-figure bidding war Sam Raimi and Robert a peer who had recently created the production company senator international eventually managed to secure the rights for the film Raimi who was signed on to produce the film stated that he was blown away by both the story and the haunting artwork and it even desired the director film before seeking out David Slade to helm the production nas then began adapting the screenplay in October of 2002 attempting to keep the film true to his miniseries whilst also fleshing out the characters further a few months after he completed the script senator international had also partnered up with Columbia Pictures which requested a revision of the script in 2004 over two and a half years prior to the scheduling shooting dates stuart beattie was then brought on to complete another draft of the script which was approved by both the studio and Niles Raimi then sent out a copy of the graphic novel over to Slade with a posted on the cover reading wouldn't this make a great film after reading the copy the two eventually met up and began discussing the graphic novel and how to best adapt it to film Slade was then signed on to direct 30 Days of Night in September of 2005 and brought along Brian Nelson the screenwriter responsible for hard candy to write the final draft of the film we have two advantages we know this town we know the cold we live here for a reason because nobody else can the film begins to reveal the town of Barrow which was preparing for its annual 30 days of night due to the harsh elements the isolation and the lack of vitamin D for the oncoming month some of the townsfolk are seen leaving and begin to head south while those that stayed began their preparations for the long haul it's also revealed that a temporary ban on alcohol is imposed on Barrow during these 30 days of night to help keep the peace as the town got ready a mysterious man known only as the stranger played by the talented Ben Foster a seen rowing ashore from a larger ship before making his way towards the town once he arrives he sets about sabotaging the town's ability to deal with the upcoming nightmare by first stealing and destroying all the cell phones destroying the town's only helicopter and finally killing all the sled dogs while following the trail of destruction and attempting to make sense of the madness the town sheriff eben Olson also learns that his estranged wife Stella a fire marshal who had moved out of town a while ago had just missed the last plane out of town forcing her to spend the thirty day period in Barrow and although they tried to avoid one another she eventually came to the aid of eben and helped him subdue the stranger at the town diner just bring me a baller raw hamburger don't get me two ways wound you frozen you don't bring me what I want to eat but I wanted Ben Ben Foster is incredible as a stranger and another complex and transformative performance adding a menacing sense of foreboding prior to the revelation of the Nosferatu so is Danny Huston who plays Marlo the leader of the vampire clan and the one responsible for the coordinated attack and although their screen times were limited in comparison to the two leads who were also fantastic I have to admit both Foster and Huston stole the show a lot of this had to do with the fact that they helped set and carry the tone of the film during their brief and unsettling appearances from his jail cell the visitor then began taunting Abaddon Stella Evans younger brother Jake and his grandmother by telling them that death was coming for them moments before the Nosferatu began descending on the town knocking out their telecommunication Center and power supply it's not until a band visited the Power Station to find its operators head on a spike that he began to realize something wicked was on its way meanwhile the vampires led by Marlow began mercilessly attacking the town's inhabitants and though most of the people were armed unless the vampires received the shotgun head to the head the bullets appeared to be useless against the monsters there was just something terrifying about the Nosferatu from their eyes to the shape of their mouths all of which are modeled around the hauntingly beautiful sketches done by temple Smith I've covered the first chapter of this in one of my videos and if you're interested you can find them in my horror playlist Slade in Niles had also worked with a linguistic professor at the University of Auckland knee where they were shooting to develop a language for the Nosferatu with qlik consonants and guttural sounds with Slade explaining we designed this really simple language that didn't sound like any particular accent that you'd be aware of and it was based around really simple actions like eating and hunting the screams of the Nosferatu were also into spliced without of the Tasmanian Devil to create a harsh animalistic sound that was so uncomfortable to listen to [Music] [Applause] after finding numerous survivors on their journey the group made their way to the diner to pick up supplies before hunkering down within an abandoned house that had been boarded up and was known for containing a large attic at the same time Marlow visited the stranger in the station would pave the way for their arrival where it's revealed he was actually a familiar that had been promised immortality in return for his servitude but unfortunately for the poor man Marlowe snapped his neck before ordering the others to ensure that none of their victims turned into vampires this was a slight departure to the graphic novels as while Marlowe did indeed lead the Nosferatu into Barrow in the comics there was a vampire elder named Vincent a who arrived in town after they'd begun their attack and actually begun berating Marlowe for his carelessness after destroying Marlow with a single hit it was actually been sente who ordered the Nosferatu to ensure that there were no humans left as they had essentially survived for centuries with humanity believing that they were just stories and the stuff of bad dreams in the graphic novels there was also a mother and son who functioned as vampire hunters that were excluded from the film and while the mother had asked her son to travel to Barrow after intercepting a transmission between Marlowe and Vincent a the poor guy was taken down by the vampire elder within seconds in an epic display the group eventually lost a few more members along their way to the station house including the courageous beau who sacrificed himself to save Evan realizing that Stella was still out there hiding underneath a car with a young girl that she'd just rescued while the Nosferatu set fire to everything around them Evan decided to do the unthinkable by intentionally injecting himself with a vampiric virus in an effort to save his estranged wife what follows is an incredible encounter between Marlowe and ebon and though the leader of the Nosferatu appeared to gain the upper hand early on his own hubris coupled with evidence determination to succeed led to his own downfall leaving the leaderless vampires no choice but to leave as the Sun made its way back to bear just like the graphic novel urban and Stella then sat at a spot on the edge of town awaiting the imminent sunrise that they'd watched hundreds of times together and after sharing their last kiss the Sun began to come up burning Eben's body in the process leaving stella to contemplate her loss and the horror that you just survived - lets back know straight up straight down the middle Malo is the normal central so tonight we're trying to run out here as to the sheriff's station [Music] although slated initially wanted to shoot in Alaska he and the production team soon realized that the cast and crew would not have been able to survive the six and a half week night shoot in these conditions instead decided to relocate to New Zealand while a single set that would be brought down and reconstructed was initially envisioned the production team ended up using not only the massive soundstage but also decided to create most of the town by adding sets to existing structures and also erecting buildings that could be burnt down to the ground for the finale the cast and crew also found the shooting process was a major shock to their system beginning their shoots at 6 p.m. and wrapping up just as the sunrise was approaching Houston even joked as painful as it was it actually helped them get into character as Marlowe would not have seen sunlight in over a century temple Smith's illustrations also played an important influence on the production design and visual aesthetic of the film with many of the scenes being lifted directly out of the pages of the graphic novels artificial snow was then used to recreate the freezing temperatures of an Alaskan winter and with the final touches being applied hours before the first night shoot the town of Barrow as seen in the comics was finally brought to life after the first cut of the film is assembled Brian Reitzell was then hired to score the film bringing an eerie soundscape and harsh atmospheric tones by using instruments he developed specifically for 30 days of night one of the major strengths of this film other than the fact that it favored practical effects over CGI is that the harsh environment and weather felt like a character in and of itself acting as a howling reminder that fleeing the town on foot was just as dangerous as facing the Nosferatu well that's all for today folks thanks to all of you guys who requested we take a look at 30 days of night if there's any other stuff you'd like me to check out please don't hesitate to ask as always it's been a pleasure niet here with film comics explained thanks for stopping by what's down to mrs. sheriff so sweet so helpless against what is common I'll check on Gus check on Gus bar the witness tried their common [Music]

Channel: FilmComicsExplained

Views: 993,741

Rating: 4.9437108 out of 5

Keywords: 30 days of night

Id: XCriRKouObI

Length: 11min 45sec (705 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 16 2018