Daybreakers - Movie Review

By Ron Wilkinson Jan 8, 2010, 18:24 GMT

Set where vampires rule the world but have a problem. They have nearly wiped out the human race on whom they feed. They face starvation and madness if humanity should die out...one man discovers a solution...they must become human again. ...more

Just when you thought it was safe to be a vampire, corrupt corporate politicians spoil the fun

Although this film is rated “R” for bloody violence, R has become a relative thing for actor Willem Dafoe. The R for this film is nowhere near as serious as the R for his last film, the remarkable Lars von Trier torture-fest “Antichrist.” The two experiences are quite different since one expects blood in a classic vampire flick; and this is a classic vampire flick. One expects less gore in a mournful getaway by a loving couple as in “Antichrist.” So when the hole is drilled through Dafoe’s leg and a bolt inserted through the leg to captivate the victim that is more shocking than simply human flesh being torn from the bones of living victims as happens in “Daybreakers.”

What is unusual in humans is expected in vampires.

The setting of the film is post-apocalyptic America. After the scourge of a deadly virus there are very few humans left. The virus doesn’t kill humans---it turns them into vampires. The vampires must then drink human blood in order to remain healthy vampires. If the vampires can’t find normal humans and are forced to drink the blood of other vampires, they become unhealthy vampires. Although unhealthy vampires have terrible oral hygiene, they jump and fly like atomically mutated rhesus monkeys with claws like lions and muscles like orangutans.

In spite of the fun they have, the life of an unhealthy vampire is a living hell without end because they never expire. As writer/director brothers Michael and Peter Spierig pen, “Life is a bitch and then you don’t die.”

The first requirement of a good vampire film is humor and this flick has its share.

One of the fascinating parts of the construct is that the vampires and the humans live side by side. The society is a sort of disaster-zone apartheid with separate but equal rights for the vampires and the normals. The vampires get carried away now and then and chomp on the wrong leg but they are quickly subdued with very cool high voltage electric strangle poles. Then they are turned into vampire mulch or something.

An unfortunate sub-set of the normal human population is “farmed” in the most grotesque and amazing hot houses where people are strung up and fattened like feedlot beef for that final trip to the blood donor center. Disgusting and sickening, it is very much like the actual feedlots where our own beef is fattened for our flesh ripping delight. Farmed salmon are not much different.

Oscar nominated Ethan Hawke plays Edward Dalton, a blood biochemist and vampire researcher who refuses to feed on human blood. He is driven to develop a blood substitute that will sustain vampires and spare the few remaining humans. However, the corporate world has other plans that have everything to do with bottomless Bloody Mary’s but nothing to do with normal humans. Again, much like the real world we live in. Sam Neill plays Charles Bromley the vampire in charge of the powerful corporation that Edward Dalton works for. He is driving Dalton for the blood substitute but not for the reason Dalton believes.

Ed meets Audrey, a human survivor who leads him to the breakthrough he needs. Willem Dafoe plays Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac, a vampire with a heart of gold. Along with a little good luck and a chance flaming automobile crash in Elvis’ Chevy, he, Ed and Audrey have a chance to save the world. But first they must defeat the evil politicians driven insane by insatiable corporate greed for blood and money.

Super make-up and costumes by WETA Workshop, the folks behind the look and feel of “The Lord of the Rings” hyper-trilogy. The bat-monkey orthodontic disaster vampire costumes alone are worth the price of admission.

A groovy vampire flick with a sweet anti-corporate twist, “Daybreakers” rates 8.5 out of 10 on the pustule eruption scale and at least a 9 on the graphic flesh ripping index. Willem Dafoe continues on his rampage to become the most self-destructive actor since Klaus Kinski. Will he ever make a normal film again?

Written and Directed by: Michael and Peter Spierig

Starring:  Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill

Release: January 8, 2010
MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity
Runtime: 98 minutes
Country: Australia / USA
Language: English
Color: Color