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Vampires have time to kill in '30 Days' Vampires have time to kill in '30 Days'

David Slade imitates the subjects of 30 Days of Night. PHOTO: AP

Adapted by the director David Slade from Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's graphic novel about vampires taking over an Alaska town, 30 Days of Night is a series of gory set pieces that seems to have been edited with a meat ax. A major early transition is so clumsy that you may assume that the projectionist accidentally skipped a reel. No such luck: it's a style thing.

After an intriguingly subdued opening section - which introduces the inhabitants of a town above the Arctic Circle that's shrouded in darkness for one month a year - the movie crosscuts between the schemes of a predictably effete, nasty vampire horde (Eurotrash nightclub-crawler outfits, subtitled dialogue) and the besieged citizenry's attempts to hide and fight.

Slade's solid cast includes Josh Hartnett as the stalwart town sheriff; Melissa George as his estranged wife, a fire marshal; Mark Boone Junior as his loutish, antisocial brother; Danny Huston as the flamboyantly cheesy vampire chieftain; and the impishly hammy Ben Foster as a prophecy-spouting jail inmate whose plot function recalls the similar, superior Stephen King mini-series Storm of the Century.

Film Notes 30 Days of Night DIRECTED BY: David Slade STARRING: Josh Hartnett (Eben Olesen), Melissa George (Stella Olesen), Danny Huston (Marlow), Ben Foster (the Stranger), Mark Boone Junior (Beau Brower) RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes TAIWAN RELEASE: Today

But 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.

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