Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2009, daybreakers, michael spierig, peter spierig, spierig brothers
Director(s): Michael & Peter Spierig
“Daybreakers” is the sort of film that I wish George Romero still had the resources to make. It’s campy, often too clever for it’s own good, and orchestrates some spectacularly gruesome sequences. A scene early on, involving a winged intruder, illustrates modern horror at it’s absolute finest – long, steady takes, allowing us to actually [gasp] comprehend the action. Problematic though it may be, “Daybreakers” is a thrill-ride that fans of the genre will not want to miss.
The human race is largely extinct in 2019. After a virus, which turns it’s victims into blood-sucking fiends, broke out in 2008, the populous was soon divided. Humans and vampires couldn’t coexist for long, however, given the whole fangs and stuff, and thus human farming has become the new multibillion dollar industry. The last few survivors, traveling by sunlight, do what they can to hide as the vampire public demands nourishment. Hunger isn’t their issue – after a month of starvation, they turn into mutated, ravenous bat-creatures.
You know you’re in good hands as the movie begins. We’re introduced to the homeless population, all bat creatures, under the subway. On the wall, there’s vampire-skewed Uncle Sam propaganda. A coffee vendor guarantees 20% blood in every cup. To travel during daylight, elaborate tunnel systems have been established underground. This world is fully realized by the Spierig brothers, the twins from Australia whose previous (and freshman) outing was “Undead”.
Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a lefty vampire, morally opposed to human farming and thus finding his blood fix through pigs. A hematologist, he’s been working under the supervision of Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) in finding a blood substitute. After befriending a pair of human survivors – beautiful, hard-bitten Audrey (Claudia Karvan) and the eccentric auto-enthusiast Elvis (Willem Dafoe), Edward soon discovers a new cure, one that will jeopardize the profits of the vampires in power.
Hawke, who I will forever admire due to his work in Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”, seems bored with the material, although I guess vampires ITALICare a pretty dreary folk. Dafoe has a ball playing the over-the-top badass (not too distinguished from Harrelson’s character in “Zombieland”), while Australian Claudia Karvan perhaps gives the most fully realized, intense performance.
“Daybreakers” falters mainly in it’s subplots, such as one involving Bromley and his daughter, which are often ignored or ended abruptly. But, like “District 9″ and the aforementioned “Zombieland”, it’s a film that pushes the boundaries of horror conventions and establishes a fresh view of a tired genre.
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
