It was just a short time ago I was discussing hot sexy vampires and those of the fugly kind.  Count Orlock is not one for romancing.  But there is no denying the current trend of sexy vamps, thanks to Twilight, though Stephanie Myers should not shoulder all the blame.  Think back to Coppola’s Dracula adaptation, the good Count didn’t look too shabby in some scenes, though he could get real mean and real ugly real fast.  I don’t know if those Cullen kids can get all monstered out or not, but the nosferatus in Daybreakers bring back the ugly, monstrous, dangerous vampire, and it’s a welcome relief.

By the year 2019, a mere nine years from now (mark it on your calendars), the world is in love with blood because just about the entire population is a vampire.  There are some human hold-outs, and the vampires have tried to convert them to the blood sucking side.  Sometimes the conversions are consensual, sometimes not.  Vampires rule the world, and the world revolves around them.  What humans remain are either in hiding, treated like cattle for their blood, or are used as lab experiments.  It seems that vampirism has spread too quickly, and the food supply is running out.

At the major pharmaceutical Bromley Marks, which provides the majority of the blood supply for the masses, chief hematologist Edward Dalton is working on a blood substitute.  Real human blood is running low, so a synthetic blood must be discovered for the vampires to remain in existence and to keep things from getting fubar.  When the cooler-than-you vampires are deprived of human blood, they become Subsiders- the crazed, ugly, monsters that no one likes (just like a drug-deprived Whitney Huston).  Sadly, though, Edward is tired of it all; he doesn’t much like being a vampire, and he feels sorry for the humans who are hunted down like animals.  A chance meeting with some fugitive humans puts him into contact with the human underground, and Edward discovers something much better than a blood substitute, he discovers a cure for vampirism.

Daybreakers is a groovy alternative to those other vampire movies, and you know the ones of which I speak.  The world of Daybreakers is pretty cool, it’s distinctive and inventive, and logical; it seems everything has been covered for a planet of vampires to live on.  Underground walkways, day-shielding for automobiles.  It does seem illogical at some moments; for example, a vampire can stand under a shade tree…I just don’t get that.  They’re okay as long as they’re not in direct sunlight?


My chief complaint is the movie seems too crowded with too much story.  The vampires have to stock the shelves, so to speak, plus deal with the Subsiders.  Daybreakers covers a lot of ground, and it seems crammed too full at times.  It would have been nice if it had been longer, actually, if the film’s budget had let the makers explore the various storylines more.  The war against the Subsiders is a flash in the pan with no real detailed action, and I would have loved to have seen the attack on the senator’s cabin, but we just get to see the aftermath.

All that aside, I can’t wait to watch it again.  And you must watch it, if only for Willem Dafoe, he steals the whole movie, and as action packed and smart as Daybreakers is, that’s no easy task.  As a reflection of the real world’s woes, it’s pretty strong.  As a kick ass vampire flick, it rocks.

4.5 out of 5
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