Daybreakers

Daybreakers (2009)
Directed by Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig
Length: 98 minutes
Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, and brief nudity




Lately, it has been near impossible to escape the vampire craze created by the awful Twilight saga (let's be for real, those are not vampires). With the success of Edward and Bella's struggle for love, vampires have invaded every facet of our lives, from television series like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, to musical acts like Vampire Weekend (who have nothing to do with vampires, actually), and movies such as this 2009 horror/sci-fi gem. Forgetting the "romantic" side of vampires and focusing on the primal thirst for blood, Daybreakers is a fresh and original take on one tired genre.

In the not too distant future of 2019, a virus has transformed almost the entire world population into vampires. Save for a few "wild" humans, most are captured and farmed for their blood like cattle. But with the human population dwindling and no suitable blood substitute available, the vampire population has begun to regress into a subspecies that resembles the man-bat form Dracula took in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 interpretation (click here for a sample). Ethan Hawke (Brooklyn's Finest, Tonight at Noon) plays Edward Dalton, a vampiric blood specialist seeking to develop the blood substitute. Upon meeting some humans, Edward is taken to meet Lionel "Elvis" Cormac, played by Willem Dafoe (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Miral) a former vampire reborn human who holds the key to curing the vampire virus. Now it is up to Edward and Elvis to help stop the vampire population from wiping the humans out for good.

While my description of the story may seem a bit ridiculous, I found it to be a nice alternative to the vampire origin story. Daybreakers does a nice job of introducing the scenario and the impact the virus has had on everyday life for the world's population. In fact, the best aspect of the film is the attention to detail - you won't find vampires that twinkle in the daylight in this film. From cars with daylight driving mode, to no images in the mirror, this truly feels like a real vampire movie. Though the film is definitely more science fiction than horror, there are a few good scare moments to make you jump. As if the plot and details weren't enough to cement the fact this isn't Twilight, than seeing a human being ripped apart by a squad of vampire soldiers will surely change that for you.

The acting isn't anything special, but that is to be expected with most horror/science fiction films. Everyone does a respectable job fulfilling their role and conveying the story. The background and scenery is what truly sets the film apart from most other substandard films. The futuristic setting is the right level of geek without taking away from the story at hand. Daybreakers isn't the best film in its genre much less the best vampire movie ever, but it is a nice take on a stale genre that needed some fresh blood. Give it a taste!

Final Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote:
Edward Dalton: "Is this place safe?"
Elvis: "Living in a world where vampires are the dominant species is about as safe as bare backing a $5 whore."