Review of 30 Days of Night: Dark Days

As an avid fan of the first film, 30 Days of Night, I was VERY skeptical into seeing the second, being as it was a low budget straight to DVD sequel. In a way, I wish I hadn't watched "Dark Days" but in another aspect, I am glad that I did. The first installment was perfect. Everything about it I liked, but the second one, not so much. Though filled with a talented cast, the plot seems to lack character development in the "survivors" and kind of gives you mixed feelings about each individual. Melissa George's replacement Kiele Sanchez delivers an excellent role, because she takes of Stella very well. The group of Baird, Coiro, and Perrineau was a great group with a variety of attitudes. Overall, the acting was pretty good. I feel that the film was filled with cheap CGI (hense the low budget), and REALLY fake blood, but besides that, "Dark Days" delivers...until that last 20 or so minutes. The mood of the film turns from being the bada** vampire hunters wanting to get revenge on the clan of vampires for affecting their past in some way, to the group feeling unsure, back to being bada**es, I just didn't feel a method of transition. The story is very good for a low budget, I give it that, the directing, phenomenal, but the movie begins to flat-line in about the last 20 minutes. I felt that the ending was too rushed in, and didn't give enough substance, but it didn't give good visuals either (again, cheap CGI), so I honestly think the ending ruined the whole movie. With a higher budget, and maybe a re-write or two, it could've be theatrically possible, but as is, it remains in the class of a B-Movie. It's definitely a movie to check out, but to the die hard fans of the first, don't get your hopes up like I did. "Dark Days" is an overall 6/10, maybe if the ending was better then it could've been about an 8/10.