I find it difficult to talk about the vampire horror genre. It has now been done so much that it has surpassed ‘done-too-much’, vaulted over ‘done-to-death’ and now rests within the realm of merely ‘done’. Vampires are here, so we’d better get used to it. And it is with this in mind that the Spierig brothers, known for their underground Australian zombie movie Undead (2003), bring Daybreakers: a vampire horror with a neo-noir twist.
In the near future, a plague causing vampiric symptoms (no reflection in mirrors, thirst for blood, bad complexion) has swept over the entire world; turning almost every soul into a blood hungry fiend. Far from falling into disarray, the world accepted its new found status, and human blood becomes the world’s drug, Vampires living almost normal lives supplemented by regular doses of the red stuff. Few humans remain, using the vampires’ weaknesses to stay out of their way. As their numbers dwindle, the Vampires begin to feel the effects of the drought, and as the blood farms hold less and less stock, the populace face the threat of starvation. Holding out for a blood substitute, Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a Vampire scientist on the brink of a breakthrough; but after a chance meeting with a group of human refugees, he starts to question the stability of his own civilisation.
The Spierig brother’s previous effort, Undead, I didn’t like at all. It was presented by the trailer and posters as a return to the comedy aesthetics of films like Peter Jackson’s wonderful splatter comedy Braindead (1992), or even Sam Raimi’s career defining Evil Dead Trilogy (1981-1993), but this simply wasn’t the case. The slapstick fell flat, the film had no Lionel or Ash character to lead the way, and the whole thing was rather a mess; a classic case of style over substance. The filmmakers tried to do too much with too little and it showed. However Daybreakers is happily rather good.
The film on occasion looks really great, the neo-noir stylings of the Vampire city is complimented by the 50’s look of the Vampires, rushing through the twilight streets in their dark clothes, clouded by steam and cigarette smoke. The Spierig brothers’ first film suffered because of its budget and lack of studio pressure to make it more streamlined; but Daybreakers gives the right balance of visuals and narrative: the story is quickly paced, despite the occasional lull in action, and solid performances from main players Ethan Hawke and Claudia Karvan give the characters more than enough depth to hold interest. Sam Neill in particular gives an enjoyably villainous performance as the antagonistic Vampire bureaucrat Charles Bromley, and Willem Dafoe has a little too much fun with the scenery chewing Lionel "Elvis" Cormac: spouting the silliest lines in the film. The movie is fine overall; the adequate performances, well-paced narrative and occasionally stand-out visual direction means Daybreakers is a good, if not great, horror thriller.
by Alastair
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