30 Days of NightMovie Reviews

Poster art for "30 Days of Night."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 53 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    A well-paced and entertaining horror debut. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today |

    It loses some of its bite by film's end, but 30 Days of Night manages to do for the vampire genre what "28 Days Later" did for the zombie flick: give age-old monsters a modern-day makeover. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Directed by David Slade ("Hard Candy"), the action scenes are artful and terrifying; these killers move so quickly and decisively, there seems to be no hope for humanity. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    A proficient, atmospheric fangfest that does nothing you haven't seen before but still does it passably well. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    It is well-made, well-photographed and plausibly acted, and is better than it needs to be. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    Excels at bloodthirsty action, though dialogue and human-interest aspects are a tad anemic. Result is a mixed bag but has a catchy premise and quite enough splatter to satisfy gorehounds. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | John Anderson

    The movie thus moves from truly creepy to truly inane, which is, unfortunately, all too common in films of this ilk. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    Dramatically, the film is a shambles, with whiplash-inducing lurches in tone and pacing that make it seem as if portions were edited out of sequence. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times |

    The performers have little to do besides spill and drink blood in this tedious, inconsequential B picture. The sun doesn't rise nearly fast enough. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    You can expect a lot of shredding and gurgling. 30 Days of Night is relentless, but it's also relentlessly one-note. Read full review

View more reviews for 30 Days of Night on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Very-bloody vampire movie lacks bite. No kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this vampire horror movie (which was based on a graphic novel) isn't for kids. While the themes aren't especially sophisticated, the imagery is very bloody, with bodies getting torn, beaten, chewed, and graphically abused. Children are in danger and killed (one is a bloody-mouthed vampire who's eventually slain by an adolescent boy), and there are explosions, car crashes, shootings, foot chases, and lots of tense scenes. Language includes several uses of "f--k" and other profanity, there's some drinking, and a grandmother grows medicinal marijuana.
  • Families can talk about the continuing appeal of vampire stories. How does this movie compare to other vampire movies and TV shows you've seen? Parents and kids can also discuss the way that families are presented in the movie. Why do the characters who are part of families do some of the violent things they do?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Vampires are self-serious and dedicated killers, humans argue among themselves, survivors depend on courageous martyrs.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Gory displays of vampirism throughout: They chomp on their victims, chew their necks, and suck their blood. They also beat, kick, and throw themselves on prey and vehicles. Humans use multiple weapons, including a sunlamp, fires, guns, axes, and vehicles. An early car crash is abrupt and loud. Dead dogs are ravaged and bloody -- a precursor to the discovery of human bodies that are mauled, gnawed, and very bloody. Attacks are chaotic (fast cuts and close-ups), with groaning and growling sounds. Shooting leaves vampires with limbs and heads blown away.
  • sex false0 Sex: Gruesome "sexual" play between male and female vampire (they hiss at each other and bare their teeth, the woman pawing at her torso in a demonstration of passion). Earnest declarations of love between protagonists.
  • language false5 Language: Profanity includes several uses of "f--k" and lots of "s--t"s (once with "head"), as well as "damn," "hell," and "bitch."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Repeated shots of Chevrolet truck logos, references to Oreos and Snapple.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Characters drink and refer to whiskey and vodka. A grandmother grows marijuana to soothe her cancer (a baggie appears in a desk drawer, and plants are shown in her house). Someone thinks a vampire is a human "coked up on PCP."
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

3.5

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… wildly violent and splattery … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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