January 8th, 2010 is the release date for a new Lionsgate film, Daybreakers. This film, Daybreakers, is a new take on the vampire story. It is directed by The Spierig Brothers and stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claudia Karvan, and Sam Neill among its cast. Over time, many films have surfaced with differing forms of the night-dwelling and fearsome vampires, and some not so fear-inspiring. The discrepancies are vast and range from near mindless animalistic killing machines to the sparkling-in-the-sun being that your girlfriend goes gaga over. Daybreakers seems to be somewhere in the middle. Realistic, human-acting vampires (think Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire) with action sequences and fighting (think Underworld) take over the world, feeding on humans.
A plague has once again ravaged the planet and left it in shambles. Instead of the majority of the population being dead, they are turned into vampires. This leads to blood being the new hot commodity and humans are rounded up to be used to farm blood, similar in concept to being turned into a battery for the machines in The Matrix. Only there is no virtual world in which we can live, blissfully unaware. This world in Daybreakers is ruthless and is seemingly coming to an end as blood is becoming scarce while humanity succumbs to these vampires.
Ethan Hawke portrays a vampire researcher named Edward Dalton. His job is to create a blood substitute that will not only give the vampires life-giving blood, but also save humans from being completely wiped out. He seems to be a human-sympathizer and refuses to feed on them. The human race is decidedly on his shoulders. With the help of a human survivor, Audrey (Karvan), they make a startling discovery that is sought by both sides and will decide humanities fate. I’ve found most vampire movies to have great potential, but often fall short of the mark. This film seems to have a nice twist to the age old Count Dracula and should bring a little life to a dead theme.
Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Isabel Lucas and Claudia Karvan.