The idea of a vampire like Bromley feeding off the misery of his own kind is an intriguing one. But the Spierig brothers never truly commit to dissecting the economics of supply and demand during a time of crisis. Then again, it’s just one of many ideas pursued by the Spierig Brothers that are never fully realized.
How about the allure of vampirism being too strong to resist? You don’t age and you live forever. Hey, I understandable why a girl would rather burn to death in the sunlight than remain trapped for eternity in the body of a 10-year-old year child. But why would Dalton – 35 (again for the 10th time) and upwardly mobile – resist being a vampire when his human-hunter brother Frankie (Michael Dorman) embraces it? Dalton’s actions reveal that vampires do not completely lose their moral code when their humanity is sucked right out of them. So what gives? Don’t look to the Spierigs for any insights. They like to think they are making a treatise on the human condition, but they’re actually too busy concocting new ways to kill off everyone in sight…read more [ShockTillYouDrop]

In “Daybreakers”, the latest film by the Spierig Brothers, the year is 2019 and vampires rule the earth. It’s ten years after a single bat bite triggered a viral epidemic that transformed the bulk of the human race into undead bloodsuckers, and society has altered accordingly. The streets are mostly empty during the day, blood is the chief economic good, and the purity of your plasma is directly proportionate to how much money you make. Ed (Ethan Hawke) is a vampire hematologist who has spent every year since the transformation trying to synthesize a plasma substitute; he’s hoping to give vampire-kind an alternative to blood-farming the few remaining humans left on the planet. After a chance encounter with a group of human resistance fighters that include ex-vampire Willem Dafoe, Ed is integrated into their efforts to perfect a cure for vampirism and stop the genocide of the human race…read more [Quiet Earth]

Usually guts and gore isn’t my thing. Horror films often fill me with concern over who is going to clean up the mess and as such, I tend to leave the more gnarly film reviews to our resident horror hound Sebastian Cordoba. But I decided to review new Australian vampire flick Daybreakers myself because it’s home grown content and I was keen to see what our fellow countrymen did with the vampire theme.
I must admit I was fearful – blood-sucking films are a dime a dozen at the moment and I was afraid that this film would simply be a shameful grab for a bite of the vampire pie. But thankfully Daybreakers is a shining light in this rather dimly lit genre…read more [TheVine]

Daybreakers was good, intelligent fun with blood splatter and jump-out-of-your-seat moments that are lacking in horror films today. The Spierig brothers have done an exceptional job of taking the conventional vampire film and turning it into something new and fresh. They have plenty of moments where they go for the jugular, but if you were to take their story and replace human blood with oil, you can argue it is a social commentary on how humans would react when cut off their most valued resource.
Plenty of action – including some cool car chase scenes – and at least 10 jump-out-of-your-seat moments, Daybreakers delivers on bringing a bloody good story packed with severed limbs, chopped off heads and (of course) the burning of vampire skin when exposed to sunlight. I would be remiss if I didn’t also note some incredible visuals also. A scene in the subway where the lights routinely go out and the waiting patrons all have the red beady eyes was a highlight…read more [KillerReviews]

The Spierig brothers’ first feature, Undead, was a meagre homage to George A. Romero’s classic zombie movies, substituting uninspired ironic humour and gross-out laughs for genuine terror. With Daybreakers, their cinematic reference points are still easy to spot – this time it’s the dystopic futures of Blade Runner and Minority Report – but the writer-directors have abandoned cheap laughs for a tenser tone and more thoughtful approach.
Daybreakers draws much of its strength from its well-developed future society, absorbing the viewer in a fluorescent-light world that has been adapted to suit the nocturnal needs of vampires…read more [ScreenDaily]

While we have not seen it, I have heard solid things about this from close friends in the business. Stay tuned for our own take on this Vampire film.

I just thought with a small lapse in news on the site, I could update you all with a few tidbits from around the world of Hollywood.

• Heroes now have their own toys. Toys R Us is selling a line of action figures based on our beloved characters from the show.
• Yahoo has brought us some new Hellyboy 2 photos.
• “Smallville” creators and executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have announced they are not staying on for the eighth season of the show. Do we really care though?
• “I am Legend” is still soaring on the DVD charts.

Now I do know that there are leaked Dark Knight photos out there but since they are not properly published I will refrain from posting them here. If you want them, Google is your friend.

Geez. First let me apologize for the lack of December reviews.

Our bad. Best not to dwell. Onto the reviews.

“I am Legend” is not the movie you were promised. Veiled attempts at depth, CGI monsters that couldn’t fool a child, Wal-Mart scare tactics, and superfluous extra characters make this adaptation fall short of anything more than satisfactory. Except for Will Smith. Damn. He’s still got it.

Where to begin? New York, immense and empty. I was reminded of a 28 Days Later London, except for the overwhelming green-screen and smooth CG nature of the city. It lacked that matte nature of reality, so the “epic” shots I was so excited about from the trailers were empty and felt terribly un-exciting. The opening sequence featured these streets as Robert Neville, Smith, hunts deer with what seems like desperate need.

Immediately from the beginning, the dog, Sam, was an awesome addition to the story. As Will’s Wilson, the dog was a great foil, and performed better than an obnoxious child-actor could have.

Nearly immediately though, I was taken out of survival mode when Neville returns home. MILD SPOILERS follow for those who care. He has lots of food. Smith’s character needs for next to nothing. Canned food, vegetables, pastas, grains, everything. He has it in his pantry. Granted, he’s had some time to stock up, but the sense of urgency is immediately sucked out of the film.

Robert Neville has dinner and then bunks down for the night….in his fortress! I’ve not seen the likes of those steel plates for some time.

All and all Neville needs nothing. He has security and plenty of food. Enter blood-hungry “Dark Seekers”.

Remember the Mummy? Remember that thing he did with his mouth? You’ve seen the next thirty minutes of the movie. Upsetting. “What’s that? I can’t see when there’s nothing but darkness on the screen.” BAM. “Wow, that loud noise scared me. Do you think he could put my head in his mouth?”

Insert boring plot, annoyingly forced secondary characters, and then some “theology” about butterflies and you’ve got the movie.

The best part of this flick, Will Smith. He can still look at a script and deliver his end of the bargain. The devolution of his social skills is awesome, and there’s a scene with his friend “Frank” that’s absolutely disturbing. The only bad part is that there’s no fall out and about an hour of film left that’s particularly uninspired. Will’s performance falls just short of carrying the entire film, but just can’t seem to seal the deal. It’s unfortunate, I was rooting for ya Will.

I might gripe, but as far as adventure flicks, this one isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen. It was a decent waste of time, but I only recommend seeing it once in theaters…if at all.

Verdict: 6/10