Daybreakers

Just what the world needs at the minute, right? More vampires. Well, that’s what I was thinking (that and a slight feeling of confusion when the trailer for Legion played before the main feature because I half-thought that was the movie I’d gone to watch; angels, vampires…easy mistake to make). But anyway, yeah, vampires. Thanks to the recent literary and cinematic phenomenon named after a certain time of day, it seems we’re up to our necks in the pointy-teethed folks once again (some might say they never went away in the first place). Thankfully, there’s no cushy and vaguely questionable romance to be found here, and Daybreakers keeps a reasonable distance from the typical portrayal of vampires. Mostly by just pretending that they’re zombies instead.

Yup. That’s right. They might have fangs and a penchant for funeral wear (no coffins, though…), but make no mistake, these bloodsuckers would fit right into any George A. Romero “Dead” movie you care to mention. Come to think of it, so would most of the rest of the film.

Ethan Hawke plays vampire haemotologist Edward (dammit, are they all called Edward?) searching for a cure for a plague that has turned most of the world’s population into vampires, and the scattered remnants of the human race into an increasingly scarce foodstuff. A chance encounter with a small group of human survivors (led by the always awesome Willem Dafoe) puts Edward at odds with his pharmaceutical giant employers, head honcho Sam Neill in particular, who’d much rather things stay as they are, especially since the company is set to become the number one supplier of a blood substitute.

Admittedly the plot sounds sorta like a Sci-Fi Channel movie of the week — especially with all the slang dialogue and somewhat unnecessary ‘world-building’ that goes on in the first twenty minutes or so — but even though it’s not especially original, something about it just draws you in. It helps to have a (mostly Australian) cast of such quality, and also that it’s quite a stylish film, playing out on a canvas of black, pale white and crimson at first and sun-drenched earth tones later.

The Romero influence becomes ever-more apparent as the film progresses, particularly when the splatter starts to fly. Several shots of the vampires feasting on some poor unfortunate could’ve been lifted right from Day of the Dead. Perhaps even more Romero-esque is the film’s stab at creating some sort of meaningful subtext to events. Pharmaceutical companies putting profit before people is one obvious target, as is addiction, substance abuse and society’s treatment of those who fall victim to it. And I suppose it also serves as a cautionary tale against playing with long, pointed sticks. (You should try to keep them away from your heart…)

I’ll freely admit to being pleasantly surprised by Daybreakers. It’s not the utterly thoughtless, schlocky gorefest I thought it’d be, but instead is actually a very solid and entertaining film. It might on occasion take itself a bit too seriously — the music’s particularly sombre, and sounds like it’s been culled from a bunch of 1940s horror flicks — but it could be much, much worse. It could be Twilight, for a start.

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