The vampire genre is full of fads, or is the word trend more applicable. Vamps started out cruel and monstrous with Orlock in Nosferatu, and Lugosi in the classic Dracula. Then they became sexy seducers of impressionable young flesh when "bit-lit", as it is commonly referred to, started up and the likes of Anne Rice floated into the great consciousness of pop culture. This fruity, homo-erotic vampire dominated for a while (a while too damn long, if you asked me), giving hope to indie filmmakers. Why, you ask? Well, easy, my friend, because vampire movies are cheaper to make than zombie movies. All you need is a bad actor and some fake, pointy teeth, and you've got yourself a vampire movie. I can't even begin to list the myriad shot-on-video vampire movies, and I have a strong feeling no one wants me to do so. But, I have not just come here to gripe about shitty vamp cinema. I bring hope, dear bloodsucking fiends, in the form of a kick-ass vampire movie that deserves to be praised.

Slickly directed by David Slade, the guy behind the uneven and boring Hard Candy, this film is an adaptation of Steve Niles's landmark graphic novel. Starring Josh Hartnett, which does not detract from the film as much as you might think, the film is basically a bloody gut punch to vampire cinema. This isn't Blade or Interview with a Vampire, my friends. This is a hardcore, bloodthirsty, action-packed wallop of a movie. That's right, I said wallop!

Taking place in a small Alaskan town as the sun sets for a full month of night (get it?), Sheriff Eben, numbly played by Hartnett, and his ex-wife Stella, ably performed by Melissa George who has an unfortunate bird-like mouth, are stuck in a sudden black out as a mysterious force falls like a thick shadow over the ghost town and its remaining inhabitants. It turns out that a group of hungry, animal-like vampires have realized that a virtual buffet exists in this isolated town, and they have no need to fear the sun, so they have arrived with their lobster bibs on (which is not true, because they are actually messy eaters and wear most of their dinner on their face). So begins a lengthy and spectacularly gory survival story as they try to outwit the superhuman demons and stay alive for the month until the sun rise. Yes, the film is close to 2 hours, but I'm glad it was. It was perfectly paced and I was never bored. The vampire fights are brutal and cinematic, and the ending packs a strangely emotional touch. I could not have seen this film going any better than it did, and so that being said, I am sated on gore for a while, and I ask you to check this movie out because it just may erase your memories of Grace Jones in Vamp, yikes!

- Jose Prendes