Daybreakers

Constantly suspenseful, at times downright scary, and hardly ever boring, DAYBREAKERS is the film for those who've been craving a REAL vampire movie. It's not fair to say that DAYBREAKERS is hurt by the current overload of blood-sucking creatures in both the big and small screen, because the truth is that a lot of the other material out there can't really be classified as "a vampire flick". The CIRQUE DU FREAK movie? TWILIGHT? Did those movies really follow the rules of what a vampire does and doesn't do, and of how a vampire dies or doesn't die? DAYBREAKERS is refreshing precisely because it follows those rules. Vampires need blood to survive, and while they can sustain themselves on animal blood, human blood is much better for them. Oh, and they do die if they're exposed to sunlight.

What's awesome about DAYBREAKERS is that, in addition to following the rules about vampires that we're so familiar with, it brings a few twists and turns to those rules that often make the film even more interesting. Even better, in this film, the line between heroes and villains isn't quite clear. Sure, it's humans vs. vampires and it's difficult for the audience not to root for the humans, but there's this constant sense that the vampires are just like any other race trying to survive, and this is conveyed so well because the film chooses not to portray them as stereotypical monsters, but as actual characters with thoughts and emotions.

As I said, the film brings a few twists to the "vampire rules" to make the film more creative and interesting, and the attempt is mostly successful, but towards the end things start entering convoluted territory. Certain things are "bended" in order to ensure the happy resolution. There's also a few too many instances of people turning on each other and having changes of heart that don't quite make all of the characters' motivations as compelling as they had been during the first few scenes of the film. In spite of all that, considering the fact that DAYBREAKERS is a January release and that it's been bunched up with all these other "not-quite-vampire movies," the movie's got a lot of bite, and it's worth seeing for those who are looking for something that's dark, suspenseful and interesting.

6/10