FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Jan 29, 2010

A wee bit about...

...Daybreakers!


As I've mentioned before, I'm not one to get all goo goo over vampires- particularly the ones that are more "sexy" than "monstrous". I mean, I have zippo interest in True Blood. I'm not one to get all goo goo over Ethan Hawke, either, so why did I actually pay to see Daybreakers in a theatre?

Well, I didn't- my mom did, as she treated me during an afternoon out whilst I was home on vacation. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting much from the film, maybe it's because I like ruminating on the "what about...?"s of horror (what about when zombies run out of people to eat? what about when vampires run out of blood? what about NOT bringing Jason back to life, so he'll stay the fuck dead?), but I was surprised to find I enjoyed it.

Yes, this is a future world in which vampirism has taken over- it spread throughout the populace like the Black Plague or Pac-Man Fever- and the world's blood supply is almost dried up. Hawke stars as Edward Dalton, a scientist charged with finding a solution to this food shortage problem; if the vampires go too long without feeding, they'll devolve from pale-but-pretty to leathery-and-scary. Quelle horreur!

Actually, the animalistic vampires featured are pretty damn scary and I wish there'd been lots more of them. I suppose, however, this isn't a people vs. scary vampires movie; rather, it's more non-jerk vampires vs. jerk vampires with a dash of scary vampires thrown in.

Overall, Daybreakers stylish and violent- and it probably takes itself a bit too seriously, but it's rather nice to see a horror movie in the multiplex that takes itself seriously at all, so I can't complain. Why, I would've been happy even if I had to pay for my own ticket!


wud up, category #8 in Operation: 101010?

10 comments:

Melanie's Randomness said...

Ya know I was tempted to see this. I'm a bit Ethan Hawke fan. I think I'll do matinee but you've convinced me to give it a shot!! Thank u!!

Stacie Ponder said...

Oh man, if you like Hawke you should dig it. It's a good matinee movie- bloody, action-y, err...vampire-y...

Ray said...

It's a fun movie, and it definitely earns its R rating. I like that the Speirig Brothers clearly put a lot of thought into what a vampire-dominated world would be like (the Subwalk, daylight driving mods). And Willem Dafoe gets some great lines. Unfortunately, the ending feels a little like they sat back, looked at each other, and said, "I've got nothing else" Still worth seeing, though.

CWL said...

My very confused friend told me that this was a vampire movie starring Ethan FROMME. It wasn't Edith Wharton-written level good, but it was still really worthwhile. And, you're right, it was nice to see a big-deal horror movie taking itself seriously for once.

Stacie Ponder said...

Oh my God, I wish this starred Ethan Frome...and all the vampires were crippled or killed in a dazzling sledding sequence!

Feed Me Brains said...

I'm still on the fence about shelling out a few bucks on this one. After seeing the trailer I initially decided this would be a netflix movie...

Maybe I'll take your suggestion and go the matinee route... I'm in need of some nachos anyway :)

Chris Otto said...

Ethan Frome, LOL.

Vampires, scary or no, would definitely NOT eff with Joan Allen.

Missy Y. (formerly A Case of You) said...

Dude, I really totally and completely hated this movie. It had all those false endings, all that overdramatic music. Dude, there were slo-mo action sequences. C'mon! It was so tragically awful. Willen Dafoe gave one of the worst performances of his career. I was so bored watching this movie I just wanted to die.

I do agree that the scary vamps were good, but the movie should have been about them instead because everything else was so boring.

Stacie Ponder said...

Well, all right then!

littlecreamsoda said...

I watched this movie not too long ago. Although I really loved the whole idea of the film on how these vampires deal with their dwindling supply of blood, I wasn't that big of a fan of the acting. I havent really even been a big fan of Ethan Hawke since maybe Taking Lives. The movie had a good thing going for it though, and I mean how many people would have thought of that solution! Pretty cool.

Also, loved them freaky vamps, thought they were great and I too wished there were more!