Vampires are possibly the most used monster in film history, featuring in over 200 films in the past century. They spand back to the dawn of cinema. From the early 20th century German director F.W. Murnau’s groundbreaking 1922 silent film Nosferatu, to the famous Dracula of 1931 with Bela Lugosi, to the middle of the century, with including Christopher Lee’s numerous “Hammerhorror” Dracula films in the 50s, 60s and 70s, the Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski starring remake of Nosferatu in 1979, Tobe Hooper’s long Stephen King adaptation of Salem’s Lot. The latter end producing such films as Tony Scott’s 1983 Catherine Devenue/David Bowie starring The Hunger, Tom Holland’s 1985 Roddy McDowell romp Fright Night, Joel Schumacher’s stylistic 1987’s The Lost Boys Keifer Sutherland/Corey Feldman/Haim and Kathryn Bigelow’s underrated 1987 cult classic Near Dark. The 90’s continued with Francis Ford Coppola’s stylistically camp epic Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992, to Neil Jordan’s Annie Rice 1994 adaptation of Interview With a Vampire, to Wesley Snipes actioner Blade in 1998.
Vampires have continued to be present with the Twilight Saga, Let The Right One In and shows Moonlight, The Vampire Chronicles and True Blood, making the subject Vampires popular as ever. However it has been in this past decade where the true meaning and use of Vampires has become lost in a slew of young teenage fandom (save for Let The Right One In). The Vampire plays for a metaphor for numerous things: racism, disease, addiction, society, life the list goes on, and are used in films to help address these issues in a layered, creative fashion that could also expand the genre. Yet with the past decade of Vampire films, these metaphors have been clouded by the vampire fever created by the Twilight Saga, turning the idea into something of a superficial moneymaking empire. And so, i greet the Spierig Brothers new film, Daybreakers, with delight, as it returns some of the focus on the true vampire ideals, not to mention a great deal of dignity.
The idea of Daybreakers makes for an interesting, and unadressed concept in the world of the vampire. A marvelous “what if?” situation of what if vampires managed to dominate the human race and take control of the world, and what would happen if their human lifeforce begins to run low, what if there was no blood left for them to feed on?
This idea opens a whole world of opportunities and ideas that could be addressed, and the Spierig Brothers leap at this opportunity, in the end creating an insanely entertaining film experience, that not only honours the vampire legends, but expands and questions them.
Set in a futuristic Vampire world in 2019, where a plague has turned almost all into Vampires. The film follows Vampire, Edward Dalton (not that sparkling douche), a Hematologist, played by Ethan Hawke, working for the Bromley Marks company, run by Charles Bromley (the wonderful Sam Neill), who is racing against time to find a substitute for blood due to the dwindling supplies, only to discover much more, with the help of a small army of humans.
The first 20-30 minutes, perfectly displays the world of 2019 to amazing effect, with the eyecathing, Blade Runner-esq cityscape, infused with Vampires living like human beings in the night. There are so many fantastic nuances that help establish this vampire society, such as the homeless person’s sign instead of asking for food or money, stating “Need Blood”, to Uncle Sam urging the population to find the last humans, to the announcer warning the population of sunrise, to one of the first shots of Dalton seen through a car mirror, showing a headless suit, and also the way they have blood with their coffee instead of milk . These are all small detailed pieces which are just so very entertaining to see, showing how the Spierig Brothers truly respect the genre.
Due to the short running time, the film barely stops for any breath, making for a tight experience. Once the world and the problem is established, Dalton is almost immediately whisked off to the outskirts of the city (aka the Queensland outback where it was filmed) to encounter the humans and setting in motion the eventual conflict of the humans and vampires.
The film as a whole is, in simple terms, a well told vampire story, and while some of the dialogue being something to be desired, it is made up for the entertaining and inventive story it brings. The only flaw within this is the quite hard to swollow “cure”, which could have been done in a more effective manner. It proves also that The Spierig Brothers are two directors to look out for in the horror scene, if they continue, as the film proves to be an amazing improvement on their ultra low budgeted, dinky-dye, yet boring 2003 film, The Undead.
Ethan Hawke has always been an actor who has illuded A-list fame (often seen as the poor mans Tom Cruise), but here he provides another interesting performance as Dalton, the morally ambiguious vampire who is wiery of his kind and ponders of the humanity he had lost. Sam Neill makes for a great villian in Bromley, showing devilish joy in his role of corporate vampire. Willem Dafoe is always great value, making his ex-vampire now human resistence leader Elvis an entertaining character with eccentric dry wit.
The rest of the cast however feel less successful, making for merely a showcase of Australian talent edging to make it in Hollywood. Claudia Karvan, who has been on the Aussie scene for years yet has failed to break into the American market, plays the human love interest Audrey. She does have heart and sincerity, yet her screen prescence doesnt gel to the leading lady status. Vince Colossimo as Hawke’s research partner seems tacked on, making for a useless, hollow performance. These words also display the performance of Michael Bay’s eye-candy Isabel Lucas, who appears on the screen, gnaws on herself and explodes off. She is however slightly better than her performances in Transformers 2, although that was hardly a performance. Michael Dorman, who plays Hawke’s hothead brother does hold his own onscreen with the better talents, becoming a bearable presence.
The vampires in the film are, according to the legend, loyally approached on the most part, which is good for any fan of the genre. The blood deprived creatures that the vampires become are slightly reminicent of the “vampires” from Francis Lawrences yucky “I Am Legend” yet here are more menacing, more creature-like, with the distortion of form into something more animalistic, and due to them being made mostly of classic makeup effects instead of complete shotty CGI is a big plus. In turn makes for some very horrifically effective creatures. The film has good moments action, through various car chases, adding to the tension, done in daytime, and the gore factor is quite high in some points, making it a no holds barred experience. Some of the CGI sections are not the best, likely due to the budget, but they pass.
In the end this film is both a success and failure. A failure by way of how it tries to sell the Australian scenery and some of the actors who struggle with their American accents. This film is not one to market Australia as it truly is of the American mindset. The success however is the film being a welcome addition to the vampire genre of films, the true ones which are creative with the genre, such as Scott’s The Hunger, Bigelow’s Near Dark and Jordan’s Interview With A Vampire, all interesting films that delve deep into numerous metaphorical trains of thought, the creative opportunities, the affect of being a vampire. It’s sad that this doesn’t have the success of the souless Twilight Saga, but at the same time, it will garner a more loyal, pure cult following in years to come.
3.5/5
