No creature in the history of film has been represented more than vampires. Hundreds and hundreds of films dating back as far as 1909's Vampire of the Coast have explored the undead that sprout fangs that walk among us at night. Over the past years, vampire film and television production has gone into high gear. From Twilight to The Vampire Diaries to True Blood, if you are looking for bloodsuckers, you don't have to search very far. The challenge most writers and filmmakers are faced with therefore is making a vampire film seem fresh and inventive.
The Blade series did a good job in the 1990's pitting vampire against vampire. 30 Days of Night was genius in having the vampires travel to the one place on earth where the sun doesn't appear for months at a time. And Let The Right One In was a foreign gem that surely ranks as one of the genres best.
But writer/directors Michael and Peter Spierig (The Undead) had a new idea. What if in the future the world is dominated by vampires instead of humans. And what if, with so few humans left, the blood supply that vampires need to survive becomes scarce.
Enter, Daybreakers, the new film by the Spierig brothers that stars Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Ethan Hawke. Daybreakers takes place in the year 2019. The world is not all that different from what it is now. People still drive cars and go to work. There are businessmen, policemen and even homeless (with signs around their neck asking for people to donate blood). What is different is that all these professions and people are vampires. Humans are in short supply and when captured, they are harvested for their blood. Humans are so scarce in fact that they account for less than 5% of the population and the blood supply that vampires need to survive has less than a months left in reserve. If a vampire begins to starve he turns into a hideous creature. A monster that cannot reason or communicate and preys on humans and vampires alike.
Scientists are hard at work trying to find a synthetic blood or solution to their problem. Lead by Edward (Ethan Hawke), the team is on the brink of solving the international shortage. Edward is a conflicted vampire. As both a scientist and a human sympathizer, Edward wishes for the simpler times long before the vampire outbreak.
By chance, Edward crosses paths with a group of fleeing humans lead by Audrey Bennett (Claudia Karvan). After Edward helps them escape their vampire stalkers, Audrey introduces him to Elvis (Williem Dafoe) – a former vampire that has miraculously converted back to human.
Just how Elvis was able to adapt back to human form takes about a quarter of the film wherein Edward works with Elvis to understand and then to do a vampire trial on the process found successful.
All the while, the vampire police, army and the conglomerate lead by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) that wants to harvest the humans are quickly in toe with only daylight stopping them from their ultimate goal.
Daybreakers was good, intelligent fun with blood splatter and jump-out-of-your-seat moments that are lacking in horror films today. The Spierig brothers have done an exceptional job of taking the conventional vampire film and turning it into something new and fresh. They have plenty of moments where they go for the jugular, but if you were to take their story and replace human blood with oil, you can argue it is a social commentary on how humans would react when cut off their most valued resource.
Plenty of action – including some cool car chase scenes – and at least 10 jump-out-of-your-seat moments, Daybreakers delivers on bringing a bloody good story packed with severed limbs, chopped off heads and (of course) the burning of vampire skin when exposed to sunlight.
Those horror conventions aside, Daybreakers brings air to the deflated genre and keeps the Spierig brothers as two to watch in the upcoming years.
The Blade series did a good job in the 1990's pitting vampire against vampire. 30 Days of Night was genius in having the vampires travel to the one place on earth where the sun doesn't appear for months at a time. And Let The Right One In was a foreign gem that surely ranks as one of the genres best.
But writer/directors Michael and Peter Spierig (The Undead) had a new idea. What if in the future the world is dominated by vampires instead of humans. And what if, with so few humans left, the blood supply that vampires need to survive becomes scarce.
Enter, Daybreakers, the new film by the Spierig brothers that stars Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Ethan Hawke. Daybreakers takes place in the year 2019. The world is not all that different from what it is now. People still drive cars and go to work. There are businessmen, policemen and even homeless (with signs around their neck asking for people to donate blood). What is different is that all these professions and people are vampires. Humans are in short supply and when captured, they are harvested for their blood. Humans are so scarce in fact that they account for less than 5% of the population and the blood supply that vampires need to survive has less than a months left in reserve. If a vampire begins to starve he turns into a hideous creature. A monster that cannot reason or communicate and preys on humans and vampires alike.
Scientists are hard at work trying to find a synthetic blood or solution to their problem. Lead by Edward (Ethan Hawke), the team is on the brink of solving the international shortage. Edward is a conflicted vampire. As both a scientist and a human sympathizer, Edward wishes for the simpler times long before the vampire outbreak.
By chance, Edward crosses paths with a group of fleeing humans lead by Audrey Bennett (Claudia Karvan). After Edward helps them escape their vampire stalkers, Audrey introduces him to Elvis (Williem Dafoe) – a former vampire that has miraculously converted back to human.
Just how Elvis was able to adapt back to human form takes about a quarter of the film wherein Edward works with Elvis to understand and then to do a vampire trial on the process found successful.
All the while, the vampire police, army and the conglomerate lead by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) that wants to harvest the humans are quickly in toe with only daylight stopping them from their ultimate goal.
Daybreakers was good, intelligent fun with blood splatter and jump-out-of-your-seat moments that are lacking in horror films today. The Spierig brothers have done an exceptional job of taking the conventional vampire film and turning it into something new and fresh. They have plenty of moments where they go for the jugular, but if you were to take their story and replace human blood with oil, you can argue it is a social commentary on how humans would react when cut off their most valued resource.
Plenty of action – including some cool car chase scenes – and at least 10 jump-out-of-your-seat moments, Daybreakers delivers on bringing a bloody good story packed with severed limbs, chopped off heads and (of course) the burning of vampire skin when exposed to sunlight.
Those horror conventions aside, Daybreakers brings air to the deflated genre and keeps the Spierig brothers as two to watch in the upcoming years.