[7]

This vampire flick from the Spierig brothers (Undead) is good old-fashioned B-movie fun. The concept of a world full of vampires on the brink of a blood shortage is interesting, even if the plot goes silly at times. I liked Ethan Hawke as the vampire in charge of finding a blood substitute (just when I was pretty sure I’d never like Ethan Hawke again). He gets caught up with a band of escaped humans and ends up finding a cure to vampirism with the help of a wonderfully over-the-top Willem Dafoe. Unfortunately, the powers that be can’t make a profit off a cure, so Hawke finds himself on the lam. Sam Neill has fun playing the big bad bloodsucking CEO, and there are some nice, juicy special effects in the movie, especially when vampires go too long without blood and regress to a more bat-like, feral state. The movie’s main problem is its staccato pacing. Perhaps due to budgetary constraints, the film tends to pull its punches just when the action is about to peak. Fortunately, the brothers pull off a fairly satisfactory finale, enough to tip the movie in their favor. If you’re a fan of the genre like I am, you might find Daybreakers your new guilty pleasure.