Anime review: "Blood Lad"

Few months ago I saw an announcement for the "Blood Lad" and got an impression of some vampire-otaku comedy, which sounded nice, so I decided to add it to my wishlist. In the meantime I saw few good review of this series and I gave it a try last week.

"Blood Lad" starts with showing Staz, the main character, loosing time. He is a boss of a province in the demon-world and a vampire. But more important for the show, at least in the beginning, he is obsessed with Japanese culture, plays eroge, collect figurines and reads manga. So when his underling brings him news that alive Japanese girl, Fuyumi, is wondering his section of demon-world, he is in frenzy to meet her. Coincidentally, during this encounter he gets challenged by some upstart and while he has no problem in defeating him, unfortunately Fuyumui loses her life and becomes a ghost. Staz, being more or less a good guy, promises to bring her back to life, which will put him in line against female space-jumpers, his estranged and sadistic brother, demon world's aristocracy, etc.

"Blood Lad" starts very shounen and slapstick, and it stays like this during whole this season. So if you don't enjoy first one or two episodes, you will not like it later. You know the recipe: powering ups, big fights, lots of falling down, crazy costumes or character's designs... But for me, it hits the spot. It stays goofy, but it does get more serious later, as more complex plot elements start, so it can be enjoyed by more mature viewers. On the other hand, if has some pretty violent scenes. There are few nice jokes referencing other anime, manga and games - like "Dragon Ball".

Plot starts very simple, with Staz's quest to restore Fuyumi to life, but it soon becomes apparent that there are deeper currents going around. Not that Staz is necessarily aware of them. Unfortunately, the season ends when it starts to get very interesting. So I join the other reviewers - give us another season! I watched the OVA - it is direct continuation of the series, but also doesn't give a satisfactory (or any) conclusion.

There is not much to say about characters. They are typical for shounen anime: shallow, one-dimensional, somewhat ridiculous. But that is exactly what you need sometimes. There are constant additions, so we will have to wait for next season to see how they hold up.

When I started watching "Blood Lad", one of my first questions was "boing?". Yes, it definitely is. But even though this show has all female characters drawn anatomically dubious and it gives occasional fan service scene, it is far from ecchi.

I really like the visual side of this anime: bright, vibrant colors, good design of characters, fast-flowing animation. But here, voice acting is also very good! I especially liked Braz, who has a great voice - like a real vampire, low, quiet and snake-like.

To summarize, if you like wacky shounen anime with some fights and fanservice, "Blood Lad" is an anime for you. Especially that it has only 10 episodes, so you can finish it in a day or two.

Movie review: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"

Yesterday I went with my girlfriend to cinema to watch the last part of "The Twilight Saga", "Breaking Dawn - Part 2". Few review I saw before prepared to for a very bad movie - so I was pretty surprised to actually enjoy the movie.

"Breaking Dawn - Part 2" takes immediately after the first part. After surviving the transition to a vampire and successful birthing of Renesmee, Bella is adapting to her new circumstances. Sometime later, Renesmee is discovered by another vampire, who reports it to the Volturi (some kind of vampire nobility) who decide to destroy her as a possible threat to their species. Cullens, of course, are not ready to accept this and they start the search for allies for the final battle...

If you hate "The Twilight Saga", this movie will not change your opinion, and you will go to watch it only to spoil it to those who like it. If you love it, they you won't care what anybody think about it. Sure, you can easily find a lot of objections, fails and obvious mistakes/blunders in this movie (and previous ones). Of course, a lot (bad) could be said about the series itself. But if you can accept few inconsistencies and sleazy parts, movie is quite fun to watch.

First, it is partly a freak show - but in good way, like superhero movies (especially like "X-Men"). There are lots of different vampires with different sets of skills. Second, this is a classical fight between David and Goliath, a fight against unfair government that unites seemingly incompatible characters. Thirdly, there is a very unexpected trick in this movie (and it would be a big spoiler to reveal it). Some will probably feel cheated, but I was delighted by it. And last, there are some good jokes here.

My biggest objection to the movie was the decapitations - you will know it when you see it. That looked completely stupid.

Anyway, I had quite fun watching "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" and think it is probably the best movie in the series. But as I was never a fan, I won't feel sorry that it is done.

Oh yes - yesterday I saw trailers for three similar teen movies, one actually based on book by Stephenie Meyer...

Anime review: "Nisemonogatari"

Huh, I just checked, it was more than two years since I have watched "Bakemonogatari". I thought I was last year... Anyway, "Bakemonogatari" - one of my favorite anime. I was, of course, thrilled when I read that a sequel, "Nisemonogatari", is coming out. But, recently, just few weeks ago, I read a discussion on AniDB where people compared BMG and NMG, and many complained that the latter was too much ecchi?!?! I didn't like this, but I hoped for the best.

Now, after finally watching "Nisemonogatari", I must say I that this is one strange anime, even stranger that "Bakemonogatari", and I am not sure I can express my opinion of it coherently. Actually, I am not really sure even what my full opinion is. But on the other hand, let it be noted that I enjoyed it very much and I gave it 9 out of 10 on AniDB.

Anyway, in topic there are no much differences between BMG and NMG. We still follow Araragi Koyomi helping different people (well, girls), overcome their problems connected to supernatural creatures from Japanese and other mythology. As before, this anime consist 95% of talking, whether in dialog or monolog. It is like BMG just took a hiatus from airing and now continued. It has two cases/stories, both involving Koyomi's sisters, Karen and Tsukihi. And this time, difference between real and fake makes a large deal. Thus the name: Bakemonogatari = Ghost Story; Nisemonogatari = Story about pretending (or something close).

As with BMG, where we were plunged into setting without much explanation who is who and what happened previously (and some things obviously did happen before), some events have happened between BMG and NBM that are often referenced but not really explained. Oshino is gone somewhere and Shinobu plays a much, much larger role (and a great one). From one side, I hate not knowing what is going on here, but on the other hand, I really like this way of delivering information - here are the references and you pick what you can. It really entices me to watch new sequels just to find more references, although I will probably end up with more questions than answers (kind of like "Malazan Book of the Fallen"). What I should have done was to watch BMG again before I started watching this sequel, although this is not guarantee that my sense of confusion would me weaker.

So, you are now probably wondering where the strange part is. Well, I am pretty much sure that "Bakemonogatari" didn't revolve around sex as much as "Nisemonogatari". And while my memory regarding this can be somewhat faulty, I am positive that it didn't include any incest. Well, this is not hentai and there is no real incest, but innuendo is quite strong. And not only incest, anime plays with other fetishes like lolicon and harem. There is also lots of fanservice. But all this doesn't feel like ecchi anime, but more like the anime mock it. I am not really sure how to explain this. Also, I presume that this all would sound strange to someone not into anime, so don't even try to tackle this anime if you are a beginner.

There are few things I would like to highlight. First, I would like to see more of Senjougahara. I found her character fascinating in first season - this time she felt much subdued. On the other hand, Shinobu, who played a marginal role in BMG, was the top character for me this time. And I especially liked the ending...

There is not really much I can say in conclusion. Even if you loved "Bakemonogatari", there is no guarantee that you will like "Nisemonogatari" (contrary is true - if you hated BMG, you will hate NMG, too). High quality is still here, just that it have taken some new, strange routes - only for those with acquired taste.

Some time later...

Well, it turns out I was wrong: there are people who hated BMG, and liked NMG. I just read the recommendations on AniDB page of "Nisemonogatari" and there are no two opinions alike. Some hate it because it's too much like BMG; others love it because of it. Some love it because it's not like BMG; others hate it because of it?! To some it's too ecchi, to other it's not enough... As I said, a strange anime.

Book review: "Scar Night" by Alan Campbell

"Scar Night", and whole "The Deepgate Codex" trilogy by Alan Campbell has been in my wish-list for few years now, but somehow there was always something with higher priority. Since I planned to have a two-week vacation around Christmas and there were no high-profile books on schedule right now, I decided to include SN to my reading-pile. From reading blurbs and comments on Amazon, I knew that book took place in some unique setting and that included vampires and angels - not the usual characters in my favorite books. Phrase "urban fantasy" was also thrown occasionally.

I have to admit I have been wrong about this term. I thought that urban fantasy means some combination of classical fantasy elements with contemporary setting - kind of "Twilight", "Vampire Diaries", "Buffy", etc. Although I don't immediately judge this type of books/series as bad, they are not my typical pair of sleeves. So when I read one praise of front cover telling how good urban fantasy book this it, I half-way reconciled with this being a wrong choice. After reading it, I am happy to say that I learned two new things: "Scar Night" is a great book and urban fantasy only means that the story takes place in some kind of a city (whether historic, imagined or contemporary, it doesn't matter). This would mean that the "Perdido Street Station" by China Miéville, a book I really liked, is also an urban fantasy even though I didn't realize it.

Now, let's get back to the book. "Scar Night" takes place in very unique setting of Deepgate city. This is a large city build completely on network of chains and suspended over enormous chasm. Why would someone do a thing like that, you ask? Because the chasm is a home of Ulcis, the God of Chains. Three thousand years ago, Ulcis was banished from the Heaven and thrown in this deep pit. Calis, his greatest angel and leader of Ninety-Nine (other angels) helped neighboring tribes of establish there a city and a religion. And this religion tells that all loyal believers, after death and being thrown in Ulcis' pit, will found their new eternal life there and join Ulcis' armies that will one day retake the Heaven. Now, three thousand years later, Deepgate is the only city on continent and its airships control all territory in surrounding - except small conclaves inhabited by nomadic infidels Heshettes. Dill is a young angel and only surviving descendant of Calis. Since his role will be mostly ceremonial, he has been ignored and left to wander the Temple alone. Now has come the time for him to take his role as figure of faith.

This is where our story starts. I don't see any way of describing it in some details without revealing major spoilers. Let's just say that, although somewhat predictable, plot is very well written and never boring. Pace is good, with lots of things going on. I presume you will be able to guess many things once you reach middle of the book, but there will be few surprises and you will not be disappointed.

First few chapters were somewhat hard to read. It is a quite original setting and Campbell really doesn't pamper the reader, so I was confused at first. But after this initial hardship, story flow without any turbulence - this was one of those books you just can't stop reading.

As the setting, characters are also unique point of this book. Dill, presented from the start as main characters, actually doesn't have much importance as one would expect. He servers as one of POVs and through him we learn much about setting and plot, but he is not a factor in the story. Mostly he is just following what others and fate prepare for him. Sure, he makes few important choices and does a lot of growing up, but I get a feeling this was only introduction to his character and he will play a bigger role in later books. Rachel is probably the real main character of this book. Nicely written female character, one that doesn't accept things as they are and fights her fate; with her troubled background, she makes one enjoyable character. Carnival is another strong female character, but a more tragic one - something of a fallen angel. Devon is one perfect mad scientist - I must say I was surprised about his later importance and role, but I was also delighted with his story. Other supporting characters (Presbyter Sypes, Fogwill, Clay...) are all nicely written.

One of the biggest positive surprises was Mr Nettle. When he was introduced at the beginning I didn't like him, but later he become a real star of the book. I must say I was a bit disappointed with ending, because it didn't deal with his fate as much as it should have, but I hope that this only means that he will appear again. For those who had read "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester, it is enough to say that Mr Nettle was obviously made with Gulliver Foyle as model. His adventure in the Maze was one of the best parts of the book.

I've read somewhere that Campbell has a role in making of Grand Theft Auto. I don't know how important that role was, but I can totally believe it. This book is very gritty and brutal, as is humor in it. I am accustomed to all kinds of abnormal jokes and stories, but I was surprises with the joke Devon played on Heshettes with the rags - it was an original joke, but a brutal one. Nevertheless, the humor in the book is very good and it made me chuckle quite few times.

My only objection to the book is actually only a potential objection. The book is good as it is - it is a compact and encapsulated unit, with no loose ends. It has definite ending and the only thing that announce a sequel is last few sentences. If this sequel proves to be a good book, then all is OK. But I am afraid that it could turn out to be just an unplanned sequel whose only purpose is to pull more money from the people who liked the original. I presume we'll see after reading this sequel, "The Iron Angel".

As it is, "Scar Night" was one great book. It has original setting and unbelievably good character; although the story is a bit more predictive, it is still complex and enjoyable. A definite recommendation for those who like grittier and darker fantasy.

Happy New Year, by the way!!

Movie review: "Breaking Dawn - Part 1"

I've been having a stream of busy days, so I keep being late with my blogs. I watched "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" the weekend before last, but I didn't have the time nor the real will to write it. I mainly watched this movie because my girlfriend was a fan of books and the first movie. Now even she is not sure whether will she watch the last part.

"Breaking Dawn" is an expected sequel of plot started in previous movies. After all problems that have had, Bella and Edward are finally getting married. Their wedding will prove to be a hard thing to swallow for few, especially for Jacob, but it will at last made them happy. But during the dreamlike honeymoon, Bella will end pregnant, which could prove to be a problem nobody expected, especially when the baby start to suck the life of her mother.

There is not much to say about this movie. If you are a fan, you will watch it, but not necessarily like it. If you have it, then you are not even interested in this. For those who went only as a company for somebody and don't have any firm opinion of the serial, you don't have to be afraid - the movie is not bad too much.

Sure, you will understand more if you have watched previous movies because characters don't get much introduction, but you don't have to know past events because the plot is pretty much self-sufficient. If you think a little about it, this part deals with a serious problem (abortion), although I am not sure what would  be the final message. First part of the movie has some sleazy jokes (the wedding) and is somewhat slow (the honeymoon), but later the pace speed up.

Of course, the characters are still over-dramatic and fake, but not obnoxiously so - either they got better or I got used to it. The movie actually makes fun of itself (the graduate hats and this) which can be only applauded.

All in all, "Breaking Down" is not a movie I would recommend anybody to watch (too weak for fans, too bad for the rest), but it is not a total disaster and one can even enjoy the second half of it.

Movie review: "Prowl"

I watched prowl two weeks ago at my friend's house. He and few others are watching movies every day, so they are starting to run out of the films to watch. I don't know who picked "Prowl", but he did a very poor choice.

"Prowl" is a very bad survival-horror with one bright spark. Groups of teens (no stars) are traveling to some city where one of them is moving to. After they car brakes, they hitch-hike a truck and continue the journey in its trailer (what a great idea!).  The trucker then drives them to some abandoned pigs-slaughterhouse where they are attacked by group of something (these something look very ugly and stupid...) so they do the usual idiotic things (like getting separated and so on).

The bright spark I mentioned is the ending that actually succeeds in giving sense to this senseless movie. I must say I was very surprised (positively) by last few minutes of this film. But this still doesn't pay off the time and brain cells you will lose on previous 75 minutes. Feel free to skip this one.

Movie review: "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night"

I watched "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night" last week. The movie was so bad that I didn't finish it. Usually when the movie is bad I still watch it, but I was at friend's house and we started watching it quite late, so when I got sleepy I immediately left. They told me later that it didn't improve in second half.

It is a movie about a private detective Dylan Dog who also fights (or had fight) against monsters (vampires, zombies and werewolves). He is now in retirement (at least in case of supernatural cases), but after getting involved in case of finding a perpetrator of rich smuggler's murder, he will be forced to leave this retirement.

There are several things that bugged me about this movie. First, the beginning is the rip-off of "Constantine". I am talking about goofy sidekick who wants more responsibility (I actually though it was Shia LaBeouf, when I first saw him). Second thing was that the main character (played badly by Brandon Routh) looks like in his late twenties, but he keeps talking about his retirement and previous life as he had decades of experience fighting supernatural things.

And third thing was the most offending: monsters. Vampires, werewolves and zombies. Monsters from "Buffy" look as super-serious works of art comparing to these ones; they are on level of "Scooby-Doo".

I won't lose more of my time on this terrible movie, nor do I recommend you to lose yours on watching it.

Movie review: "Daybreakers"

This week I am on vacation, so I hope I will be able to finish all the late reviews. One of them is about "Daybreakers" a vampire action thriller I watched last week. On IMDB I found out it is about near future where vampires are dominant and human almost extinct, so they are working on some cure to fix all that.

This is true: movie takes place in near future, after some outbreak where vampires conquered the world and society. Now we have vampires living in nice houses on suburbia, going to work during night, going out to coffee-shops to drink coffee mixed with blood and so on. For the richer, there is even a possibility of modding you car to enable you driving during day. Humans are almost gone: there are few out in wilderness hiding, but most of the remnants are used for blood-farms. World-building is actually quite good and it all feels natural. There are few nice quirks separating the movie from rest of the bunch: fashion based on first half of 20th century (coats, hats and so on), colors and the fact that everybody smokes (since vampires don't have to be scared of cancer). At first sight, it looks like a nice place to live (if you are a vampire). But not everything is so well in world: extinction of humans also means a shortage of blood. And few days of blood-shortage transforms a well-mannered vampire gentleman to feral blood-crazy monster with wings.

Edward Dalton (played by Ethan Hawke) is a talented scientist working on finding a formula for substitute blood. He is also hoping he will one day be able to find cure of those have been turned to vampires against their will (like himself). After chance encounter with some escaping humans, he will hear about someone who was supposedly been able to reverse the process. This will not sit well with his boss who is satisfied by status quo and having a monopoly on blood-resources.

First part of the movie is good and sets a high standard. As I said, world-building is very good and it makes a believable world. Unfortunately, the plot is not so good. After initial introduction, this turns to some action thriller with predictable outcomes. Also, the characters and the actors that play them are not interesting, either. We have a collection of totally bland characters, with almost no characterization or explanation why are they doing whatever they are doing. From the way film started, I hoped for something in direction of "Matrix", but what I got was nowhere it.

Also, effects are not exactly fantastical. This is especially true at the end of the movie, where we are having false blood splashing in liters.

In the end, I can't say that "Daybreakers" is totally bad and that you shouldn't watch it. Just be sure no to have very high expectations, especially if you are a fan of vampire movies.

Movie review: "Priest"

Yesterday I watched "Priest" over my friend's house. I haven't even heard about this movie before, so I didn't know what to expect.

It turned out that "Priest" is apocalyptic action western about vampires. After the movie it was revealed that it is based on Korean comic-book. Beginning of the movie, where they reveal the setting is quite good. It is an alternative future, where after centuries of war between humans and vampires, humans got the upper hands. All thanks to Priests, super-human-ninja clerical warriors. But now, last vampires are put into reservations and Priests are neglected, scorned by both Church that disbanded them and by society they don't fit in. Not that humanity is in some great shape. They are living in poverty in few last mega-cities, brain-washed by Church. Technology is similar to steam-punk: there are high-level computers and transparent displays, but on the other hand people still manually filling furnaces and using lamp-oils. The western part is presented by the Wastelands, where people live as first settlers and order is watched by serifs having old style guns. Instead the horses, they use motorcycles. Although this list sound stupid put on one place, it actually works very well in the movie.

Plot is starting when a young girl Lucy gets abducted by a pack of vampires, even though there shouldn't be any more of them in the while. Serif she was having a relationship finds her uncle, Priest, and two of them will go out to search for her, contrary to orders of Church. What they will find in the Wasteland is something nobody believed is possible.

Plot itself is not bad, but the realization of it is. Movie places too much in impossible actions scenes. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-like impossible. Cutting bullets in half with throwing knives, flying/jumping and so on. Also, the last fight and resolution is totally naive and unbelievable. Too bad, because I really liked the first half of the movie.

Interesting how vampires are presented here. They are far from Ann Rice's Lestat or Twilight's Edward. Here they are something between wolves and aliens from the "Alien". They move on four foot, jump and run as wolves; they don't have eyes, have really big and slimy snouts and teeth and they excrete some sticky-looking glue they use to build their hives. And they are almost mindless. Something like zombies from "I am Legend".

There is also a 3D version of the movie, but I didn't watch it. Visuals are quite good. Paul Bettany plays Priest; rest of the cast is mainly unimportant.

One more thing: there is a large probability of sequel. The ending practically spells it, but I think it depends on the success the movie makes in cinema.

So, "Priest" is a not so good action movie with quite interesting setting. It is not something I would really recommend, but if you end watching it you will not be terribly disappointed. Even though I found the plot weak, I will probably watch the sequel if it ever comes out, but just for the setting.

Anime review: "Shiki"

After more than three months of forced rest from anime, I watched a new anime, called "Shiki". It was one of the hits of last year, some mystery with vampires, so I was looking forward to watching it. In the end, I was satisfied, although with some reservations.

I will start with the reservations. "Shiki" is a vampire anime, it is clearly from the second episode or so. And it brings absolutely nothing new to the concept! Not one shred of originality (except one detail, revealed in the later parts). It follows all those naive tropes that have been know since original "Dracula", present in books and shows (yeah, I am talking about "Buffy") for century or something like that. I will abstain of revealing them to avoid spoilers. In most cases I would stop watching or reading a work so low on originality very early... Anyway, anime takes place in (big) secluded village (or combination of villages) where nothing interesting ever happens. In first episode we meet Megumi, who is not satisfied with this situation, and who daydreams about escaping to big city, preferably with Natsuno, a boy recently arrived from a big city. Things are looking brighter as they have some mysterious rich family settling in. Suddenly, Megumi is found in the woods, with amnesia and signs of anemia. But things don't stop here; next you know, anemia is spreading and local doctor Toshio don't know what to do...

Second thing that come is mind is design of characters. It looks like mix between shounen action anime (on trail of "Bleach" or "Sengoku Basara") and dating sims (e.g. "Clannad"). You can guess people's roles after few seconds of watching. For instance, main character is manly, tall, silent guy in his fifteenth year (coincidely, this description can be applied to second main character, except the difference in years). And for God's sake, that guy has wolf ears on top of his head!!! And I am not even starting with the look of that Kirishiki guy... Vampires all have bad complexion, black eyes with red pupils and long canines... I mean, a little subtlety. Also, most female characters have big breasts and there is some fanservice, just to know what to expect.

Also, after few episodes you get a complete revelation of bad guys, so the mystery part is not very subtle, also.

So why watch this anime, you ask? I can't quite explain it why, but "Shiki" really has good atmosphere, unexpectedly considering all these objections. I watched first four or five episodes in on sitting, on windy evening/night, and turning the lights off before going to sleep wasn't exactly a comfy decision. Even though characters are so clichéd, you nevertheless root for them.

And never mind that some things get explained very early; there are still many things to ponder about. Especially when the view starts to shift to the other set of characters. At the beginning I didn't expect to see any alternating POVs. Ending is quite surprising; I didn't believe they would take it to such extreme. Especially the conclusion of main character and one of main villains... What a bang!

So, all these objections from the start are just some unique quirks of this anime, nothing to really complain about.

On the other hand, there is one serious question/objection that you are able to raise after watching the whole anime: I don't get the moral of this story? I mean, it is questionable does it have any. Position of victims changes from one side of characters to their complete opposites, but without any explanations, redemption or anything similar. I like when characters are grey, but this is not the case; in here black and white just changes the places. On the other hand, it does leave you thinking about it. Why would someone deserve a punishment and why would there been need for effort before redemption? If the authors were aiming at this, they hit the bull's-eye, but I suspect that this was just a side-effect of unclear intentions...

In the end, "Shiki" is good vampire/mystery anime, although not much more than that. I did enjoy it much, and it has good grades at AniDB, so I recommend it to all who like these type of anime. On the other hand, I you never watch it, you won't miss any masterpiece.

A final note: the end is pretty inconclusive. In fact, the end practically begs for sequel, so don't be surprised if one comes out.

Movie review: "30 Days of Night"

This weekend I have watched "30 Days of Night", a 2007 survival-horror about vampires. It is somewhat older movie. It got mine attention after hearing few guys in gym talking about its sequel, "30 Days of Night: Dark Days". I was interest in the original and most of them told it was a good movie. Unfortunately, I heard them talking about the ending, but that didn't stop me. Before watching it, I checked it on IMDB as usually. I found out it was directed by Sam Raimi. For some reason, I thought he is director of zombie horror movies so I expected something like that. I was mistaken in first fact (about zombie movies and Sam Raimi), but the movie was like I expected.

The movie takes place in a little town in Alaska, where every year there is a period of thirty days without the sun. While the town is preparing for the long night, strange things start to happen. Someone kills all the dogs, burn satellite phones and then a peculiar stranger is arrested for causing unrest. But, when the night starts to fall, even stranger things start to happen... The town gets infested by a gang of vampires that kill the most of people during the first few hours. Small group of people hides in an attic and thus being their fight for survival...

Main characters of the movie are local sheriff Eben and his (ex?)wife Stella. There are also few more prominent characters (Eben's younger brother Jake, his partner Billy, town grump Beau...) but Eben is clearly the center character. Characters are not exactly deep and complex persons, which is to be expected from a survival horror, but they are quite nice surprise. Plot was also good; if I didn't know the end beforehand, I would be surprised.

Best and worst points of the movie were the vampires. Best, because they clearly have some complex back-story. They have their own language, hierarchy, plans, history... And interesting is that this back-story is very cleverly only implied (well, except the language, which is evident), but with no explanation. So the viewer is left to wonder what else can there be. Of course, I checked the Wikipedia (when I am already mentioning it, donate to Wikipedia!) and found out there is a comic book miniseries that movie is based on.

And the worst part was that these vampires were totally disgusting. I am not fan of Twilight-like vampires, but these ones are totally opposite of them: shark-like teeth and dirty long fangs. Also, when they are feeding, it looks like a piranha-attack! Also, movie is full of most explicit violence. I presume that zombie-fans are quite used to this, but I am not one, so this is a minus from my side.

All in all, "30 Days of Night" was quite nice (well, nice maybe isn't the word) movie for a Saturday evening. Probably intended was fans of zombie-movies, it is still a good watch for regular viewer. Just be sure not to show it to kids.