2009 SGM Month of Halloween Horror Movie for October 8

30 Days of Night (2007)

Phobia: Nyctophobia (Fear of nightfall)

Quote: “Barrow, Alaska. November 17, 2001. The Northernmost community of North America. It lies 10 miles south of Point Barrow, from which it takes its name. It is a town used to two things: temperatures averaging below freezing and darkness. The climate of Barrow is arctic. Temperatures range from cold as shit to fucking freezing. The sun doesn’t set between May 10th and August 2nd, and doesn’t rise between November 18th and December 17th. This is the last day the sun will shine for 30 days.” – Opening lines of the graphic novel, “30 Days of Night.”

Synopsis: In a small Alaskan town, thirty days of night is a natural phenomenon. Very few outsiders visit, until a band of bloodthirsty, deathly pale vampires mark their arrival by savagely attacking sled dogs. But soon they find there are much more satisfying thirst-quenchers about: human beings. One by one, the townspeople succumb to a living nightmare, but a small group survives - at least for now. The vampires use the dark to their advantage, and surviving this cold hell is a game of cat and mouse - and screams.

Fear creeps in at 00:02:51, then again at 00:13:51: The title card at 2:51 reads, "The Last Day of Sun;" the tension begins to creep in as you know what to expect. In the interim minutes that go by, scenes herald an unease of things to come ... murdered hounds, destroyed cellular phones, reports of rampant vandalism and crimes that appear disconnected, but threaded in some mysterious way. Then, at 13:51 - exactly eleven minutes later - the first nocturnal scene plays out, and the horror begins.

See also: Near Dark; Last Man on Earth; The Town that Dreaded Sundown