DAYBREAKERS REVIEW

First, I have to say it was nice to see a vampire burn and not sparkle. I almost forgot that they didn’t burn anymore, but more on that later. Let’s talk about Daybreakers. The movie centers around an interesting theory: in a world controlled by vampires, what would happen to vampires if all the human blood ran out?

  Edward, a vampire scientist, was tasked with finding a blood substitute in order to save the vampires. As the pressure mounted on the company to find a substitute, it revealed to Edward its’ real purpose for wanting a blood substitute. With this, Edward had a run in with Audrey, one of the few humans left, who proposed that Edward meet with her friend Elvis. Edward, who was not all that happy about being a vampire in the first place, was intrigued by what Elvis had to say. After vampires found him with humans, Edward had little choice but to try and help them out. There was one big difference; the humans were looking for a cure, not a blood substitute.

  The first thing the movie had to do was set up a world that was ruled by vampires, and they did an excellent job of that. Basically, they kept all the human routines the same, but just replaced humans with vampires. There were shots of vampires taking the subway to work, drinking coffee (with blood added), driving cars, and even vampire congressmen debating on a TV network. The movie was very detailed to what a vampire would need to live in our society. They had shielded walkways in the air to connect buildings. Cars were equipped with a sun shield and a camera on the roof of the car to allow the vampires to drive in the daytime. They did a good job of not overlooking even the smallest details.

  Besides the human side to vampires, the movie also brought out the ugly side of them. If a vampire did not get enough blood to drink, they would begin to turn into a mutant vampire. These mutant vampires looked like big creepy bats with pointed ears and huge wings. I liked the look, and thought it was fitting considering they mentioned that the world changed because of bats. These mutant vampires were not accepted by the vampires, and had to hide underground. They would come out in search of blood, and had no problem attacking vampires for it. In one scene, Edward and his brother were having an argument when one of these mutant vampires broke into his house. It attacked them in order to get the bottle of blood Edward’s brother had brought to the house. I thought it was cool how the mutant vampire attached itself to the ceiling of the house in the middle of the fight. Too bad they messed up the graphics, and you could tell how fake the mutant was.

  The ugly side of the vampire was not saved just for the mutant vampires. As blood got more and more scarce, the true vampire side of them came out, even in what seemed like the most civilized vampires. In one scene, they attacked the servers at a café to get blood. Blood splattered everywhere, and you see them fight to lick whatever blood they could. In another scene, which I thought they ruined (and won’t give any specifics away to spoil anything), was a fight at the end of the movie. Again, vampires were going crazy for blood. What I particularly hated about the scene was that they made it slow motion at times. Sometimes slow motion works, but not this time. It made the scene seem almost ridiculous. Like any other horror fan, I like to see blood thrown around, but please don’t make the scene laughable in order to do so.

  The acting in the movie was good, although the writing wasn’t all that great. It wasn’t too complex, and there weren't many great lines except for the one they used over and over in the previews. One thing I didn’t like was the transition between scenes. It was like they were reloading the movie all the time. They would show a quick view of the city, sometimes a view from the research facility, and multiple times they showed the mutant vampires running around under the city. It was as if it were a TV show that was coming back from commercials. Speaking of that, I thought this movie would make a great TV series: A world run by vampires, showing their constant need for blood, and their battle to stay out of the sun. They could have humans fighting not to become food for the vampires. Today’s vampire shows have a world run by humans, and vampires hiding in order to survive. This would be different. I think that was a short fall for this movie. It was a good idea, but was limited because it was a movie. A TV series could have expanded many of the ideas it had.

   Besides some of the scenes and images I already mentioned, there were three shots in the movie that left a lasting impression on me. The first one was of the vampire children on the side of the street, who were apparently homeless. It was sad to see even if they were vampires. At the same time, the image was a little chilling because it seemed like the children only had bad intentions. The second shot was the one inside the research facility of all the humans attached to these giant machines. It was absolutely depressing to think that was the fate of humankind; to be strung up on a machine, and have the blood sucked right out of you. I think I might have chosen to be a vampire instead. The third one was a simple shot of a mutant vampire looking out of a building window as the sun had just come up. There wasn’t anything special about the shot, but it was just an image that stuck in my mind for some reason. Again, I really enjoyed viewing a different perspective on vampires. A world where they were in control, and not the humans like many of the vampire movies and shows are these days.

  Speaking of that, I said it at the start, but I want to say it again. It was good to see vampires burn and not sparkle. If you don’t know what I am referring to, then don’t worry about it. But for us true horror fans, I have to say it was refreshing to see the rules of vampires being followed again; the need for blood, not having a reflection, and burning in the sunlight. I didn’t realize it until after the movie, but the main vampire in this movie was also named Edward. Was it a coincidence that he also made an awful vampire? How about how he didn’t want to drink human blood, and eventually helped out the humans? Hum, just something for you to think about!

  I thought this was a movie worth seeing. I liked the theme of vampires running out of human blood. As far as vampires are concerned, they really went the distance in covering all of their bases with the details of how society changed to cater to vampires. They fit in the internal battle a vampire goes through fighting between your vampire and human sides. I thought they could have expanded on some of the ideas, which I think would make for a terrific TV series. The writing wasn’t great and not all the scenes were perfect, but they left some lasting images on me, which is something you hope for when seeing a movie. And one for the road, it was really good to see vampires burn! I give this movie 2.5 pools of blood.

  HorrO