DAYBREAKERS

Directors: Michael & Peter Spierig
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Isabel Lucas, Michael Dorman
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Just when you think you've seen every single take on a vampire story possible - along comes Daybreakers, a slick, trippy, and very bloody thriller with an intriguing premise, an exceptionally moody look and feel (think Gattaca, only about vampires), enough action and gore and splatter to satisfy the most blood-hungry of fans, even as the plot itself tickles your mind into attention.

The year is 2019, and a worldwide plague - over the last decade - has turned 95% of the world's population into vampires. Everywhere, "life" only exists now after the sun sets, and what life there is, is now in imminent peril as the world's supply of human blood has dwindled to nearly nothing. Those humans remaining - at least, those not in hiding - have been rounded up and are kept in huge farming communities, their blood harvested for the world's supply ...

But even this is not enough, and for years now scientists around the world have been trying in vain to find a blood substitute; one that will enable the vampires to survive long after the last human being has been wiped off the face of the earth. The need for such a supply has, indeed, grown even more critical, as society at large is learning that a vampire who has gone without human blood for an extended period of time begins to morph into a hideous animal gone insane - an animal who will kill anything it can in order to find sustenance. Indeed, under the real worlds of today, in 2019, there exists an underground of monsters; of rabid vampires gone out of control. A fate that's to befall everyone left on the planet, unless an alternative blood source can be found. Meanwhile, what's left is filtered into coffees and other drinks, often at only 20% in quantity, just to try and sustain the world's population as scientists work night and day to save vampirekind from extinction ... even as the human race certainly seems doomed for the same fate, already.

Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a hematologist for the biggest blood harvesting company in the United States. A vampire himself of course, Edward is one of the battalion of scientists conducting experiment after experiment, test after test, in the hopes of finding a blood substitute before its too late. His brother Frankie (Michale Dorman), one of the many soldiers out constantly hunting for and rounding up humans, is just one of the vampires Edward is trying to save ... even as, in his own heart, the bit of humanity that still resides in Edward feels sympathy and even pain for the dying out of the human race. Indeed, his reasons for finding a cure aren't so much rooted in trying to save what humans are left to build up a new blood supply ... but instead, finding a substitute that will enable the vampires to give up living off of human blood forever.

Such would not be the plan of Edward's boss, Charles Bromley (Sam Neill), a ruthless entrepreneur who - though once a human himself, of course - is now all about the money, as well finding a blood substitute so that real human blood becomes that much more valuable on the market. Even Bromley's own daughter Alison (Isabel Lucas), still a human and in hiding herself after running away from her father, weighs on Charles' mind as second place over business. Edward Dalton reports directly to him, and Edward Dalton - the best at what he does - is the only one Bromley sees as capable of producing that substitute and saving the world.

Which makes Edward's task that much harder when, after a traffic accident one night, he runs across a human female named Audrey (Claudia Karvan), and in turn helps her escape from the police. Soon after, Audrey - realizing Edward just might be sympathetic to the remaining humans - finds Edward again, this time bringing along her friend Elvis (Willem Dafoe) ... a grizzled, gruff-sounding revolutionary who holds the key not to a substitute for human blood - but to a potential cure for vampirism that could mean a second chance for the human race.

Wow, did I enjoy Daybreakers. With a strong premise, interesting characters, solid performances, and an intriguing story that holds the mind's attention far beyond the bloody violence meant to keep your eyes riveted - even a slightly weak ending and a final-act plot point I could see coming a mile away still did not curb my enjoyment of the film one bit. Ethan Hawke, doing his usual brooding thing in this film, makes it work perfectly here as the concerned scientist who himself is starting to change into a monster, due to his own lack of human blood - and Willem Dafoe, always captivating on-screen, commands your attention as Elvis in every scene he is in. Sam Neill plays evil brilliantly as always, and all are backed up by a supporting cast in a film that never fails to surprise, and definitely have more than a few jolts in store for viewers along the way (the overall mood of the film, plus the special effects and the way the vampires were designed to look, only help to create a very real world mostly devoid of mankind).

Daybreakers is genuinely entertaining; a vampire movie I could really sink my teeth into (yes, I went there). The gore might be a bit much for those with weaker constitutions, but if you can ride it out this is a fairly unique spin on a subject that's been done to death in recent years. One well worth seeing. **** - Reel Awesome