The sophomore slump is the phenomenon in which the second project, following a successful one, will come off as inferior. It’s certainly the dread of filmmakers working in Hollywood who know that the adage is tied to the other truism of the film industry – you’re only as good as your last film. For the Spierig Brothers, Michael and Peter, they are faced with the daunting task of topping their indie horror sleeper, Undead, with a film about a world populated by vampires entitled Daybreakers.
The idea is an intriguing one, and the film starts with a bang as a young girl leaves a note for, assumedly, her family, that her existence, trapped in a body that does not age, has become intolerable so she goes out to meet the morning. Needless to say, this is not conducive to the health of most vampires and Curly Sue is quickly turned into ash. We then meet Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), a hematologist working for a giant corporation. His work is geared towards finding an acceptable blood substitute for the global vampire population as the number of human beings dwindles, creating a crisis of available blood. Worse yet, when a vampire goes without blood for long enough, they become feral beasties that feed off other vampires in their need for sustenance. The search for a replacement for human blood is really only half of what the corporation does. The other half of the business relies on capturing and farming humans for the sweet red stuff. Our hero Edward, though, doesn’t drink any of that stuff, keeping himself alive with pig blood.
Dalton runs across some humans on the lam, who arrange a meeting with him to enlist his aid. One of their numbers, a brash and sardonic redneck who goes by the name Elvis (Willem Dafoe), has been accidentally cured of his vampiric ways, and Dalton is pressed into service to identify and replicate the procedure. If only it were that easy. See, Dalton’s brother has never been happier than he has as a vampire. Likewise Dalton’s boss, a slimy character named Bromley (Sam Neill). Ah, sweet dramatic tension.
Dalton runs across some humans on the lam, who arrange a meeting with him to enlist his aid. One of their numbers, a brash and sardonic redneck who goes by the name Elvis (Willem Dafoe), has been accidentally cured of his vampiric ways, and Dalton is pressed into service to identify and replicate the procedure. If only it were that easy. See, Dalton’s brother has never been happier than he has as a vampire. Likewise Dalton’s boss, a slimy character named Bromley (Sam Neill). Ah, sweet dramatic tension.
Daybreakers lives and dies by its concept, and, for the most part, it’s a good one.
The production design has a 1940s feel to it that works well within the film, and
the costume design is fantastic. The effects are also quite good, from the subtle
design of fangs to the all-
Unfortunately, some poor casting, especially Willem Dafoe, detracts from some of
the story, as does the distracting score from Christopher Gordon. But Daybreakers
biggest problem is the glut of ideas that it entertains. I’m reminded of a scene
from Robin Williams in Dead Again, when, referring to smoking, he says that it’s
important to decide what you are and be that. Daybreakers never makes that choice.
Sometimes it’s a straight monster movie, sometimes it’s a political satire, sometimes
it’s an action/horror/adventure film… all of these things work together to make the
film seem bipolar and jarring. Just when you think the movie is going to be a thematically
interesting film about human overconsumption in modern times, it ditches its high-
By
Bo
Unfortunately, some poor casting, especially Willem Dafoe, detracts from some of
the story, as does the distracting score from Christopher Gordon. But Daybreakers
biggest problem is the glut of ideas that it entertains. I’m reminded of a scene
from Robin Williams in Dead Again, when, referring to smoking, he says that it’s
important to decide what you are and be that. Daybreakers never makes that choice.
Sometimes it’s a straight monster movie, sometimes it’s a political satire, sometimes
it’s an action/horror/adventure film… all of these things work together to make the
film seem bipolar and jarring. Just when you think the movie is going to be a thematically
interesting film about human overconsumption in modern times, it ditches its high-
Still, there are a lot of interesting things about Daybreakers. I can’t recommend the film as a successful piece of horror entertainment, but I can recommend it to those who are interested in the idea of a world run entirely by vampires (though you’ll probably feel a little cheated by glimpses and nothing more) and those film analysts who wish to see a fine example of a movie undone by its own ambition.
