Last night’s film is one I’ve wanted to do a post about for a while.
Daybreakers (2009)
I love a good vampire movie! In fact, I’d struggle to say which I prefer out of a good vampire film and a gory zombie flick…🤔
Either way, of all the vampire movies I’ve seen this is one of the better ones.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a sci-fi/horror/thriller starring Ethan Hawke (Gattaca), Willem Dafoe (John Wick) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) among others.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
Ten years after a plague turns most of the world's population into vampires, a critical blood shortage causes panic and gruesome mutations among the reanimated. Edward (Hawke), a vampire hematologist, tries to develop a blood substitute when he meets Lionel (Dafoe) and Audrey (Claudia Karvan), two fugitive humans who claim to have a possible cure. Edward casts his lot with them in the hope of perfecting the cure before it's too late.
This is unlike any other vampire film I’ve seen. It’s as much sci-fi as it is horror and I think that’s what sets it apart from most other movies of its kind.
If you’ve ever read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson you’ll know that the Will Smith movie differs greatly from the book. The novel, in my opinion is way better than the film, and not in a, “they missed a lot out” kind of way, but in a “it’s a completely different story altogether” kind of way.
In the book, [SPOILER ALERT] the vampires essentially establish a new civilisation where they are now the dominant species and Robert Neville is the last human being alive. This film could almost be a sequel to that, just set years later.
The whole idea of vampires running the world and hunting, capturing and farming humans for food is a really interesting one to me. The film also explores the notion that some vampires aren’t happy with the situation and not only dislike what they are, but have compassion for the humans. Again, something I haven’t really seen before in a vampire film.
The movie attempts to blend science with vampire mythology which may annoy some people. There are a few moments that don’t necessarily make sense, like if it was a virus that turned everybody, why don’t the vampires have reflections and why do they explode into flames when staked. Honestly though? This is one of those films where you just have to accept what’s on the screen and enjoy it for what it is. 🤷♂️
The cast is top notch with the likes of Hawke, Dafoe and Neill leading the way (three actors who add a certain amount of credibility to the film), and the movie also has a great look to it, making the most of the sci-fi element with nice visuals.
All in all this is a decent watch if you’re a fan of both the sci-fi and vampire genres. 🧛🏻
Seen it? Let me know what you think. 👇