Daybreakers (2009)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  6 / 10

  Daybreakers sucks the life out of sci-fi and brings life to the vampire sub-genre. An original vampire flick? Impossible! Yet, the Spierig brothers managed to flip a typical clichéd vampire story on its head to create something as fresh as human blood. That doesn't prevent the overall production from feeling inexpensive, but it maintains your attention throughout. A vampire hematologist is tasked with researching for a blood substitute as the remaining human population dwindles, meaning vampires will have no blood left. Just the originality alone is enough to quench our bloodythirstiness, considering it was released during a period of genre saturation (no thanks to 'Twilight'). The Spierig brothers fortunately managed to perpetuate a sense of intellectual world building, particularly in the first act. Immediately, this dark futuristic world is thoroughly explored, from the degenerative "subsiders" to the laboratory farms that harvest humans. Retaining dark gothic aesthetics without requiring towering spires and grand cathedrals. The story, whilst executed basically, illustrates the desperation that the vampire race is facing. Humanity faces extinction and the chic vampires face degenerating into psychotic bat creatures. There was just enough meat in the plot to keep me invested. Hawke is consistently decent as always, same can be said about Dafoe, both giving convincing and moody performances. Neill was perfect casting as the corporate antagonist, exhuming a menacingly calm demeanour. The visual effects however, were B-grade at best. So horrendously cheap looking that the production value deteriorated instantly and, on multiple occasions, took me out of the film. Laughably poor. The final act loses its intellectual plot and succumbs to mindless action with blood gushing everywhere. Whilst I appreciate the practical effects during these sequences, it just lets the overall narrative down. All that build up with minimal payoff, ultimately leaving a metallic aftertaste. For what it is worth though, the innovative premise, world building and performances converted me.

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