Following the destruction of Barrow, Alaska by a group of vampires and the death of her husband Eben (Josh Hartnett), Stella Oleson (Kiele Sanchez) joins forces with three vampire hunters—Paul (Rhys Coiro), Amber (Diora Baird), and Todd (Harold Perrineau). Aided by the vampire Dane (Ben Cotton), who somehow continues to hold on to his humanity, they set out in search of the "queen bee", the vampire Lilith (Mia Kirshner), who is currently hiding in the tunnels under Los Angeles while planning another siege on the Alaskan town of Wainwright when it enters its 30 days of night.
30 Days of Night: Dark Days is the sequel to 30 Days of Night (2007) (2007), which was based on a three-issue graphic novel of the same name, written by American comic book writer Steve Niles and illustrated by Australian comic book artist Ben Templesmith. The screenplay for the movie was written by Niles and screenwriter Ben Ketai (who also directed the movie).
Dark Days opens with a flashback to the ending scene from the first movie, the scene in which Eben dies in Stella's arms as the sun rises. The movie then jumps ahead 10 months. The town of Barrow, Alaska has been rebuilt, and Stella now has been traveling all over the country presenting lectures to warn people about the events that happened in Barrow.
As in the graphic novel series as well as in the first 30 Days of Night film, vampirism is portrayed as a virus. It can be spread through scratches, bites, and contact with vampire blood. The disease turns infected humans into the undead; giving them black eyes, a mouthful of shark-like fangs, and aversion to sunlight as well as superhuman strength, speed, and acute senses of sight, smell, and hearing. Once a human becomes a vampire, they are no longer receptive to human emotions or feelings. Vampires here differ in many ways from their mythological counterparts, e.g., impaling them with a wooden stake through their heart will not kill them nor will shooting them with silver bullets, stabbing them with knifes, or exposing them to garlic, crosses, holy water, or even fire. They are extremely resilient, capable of withstanding multiple bullet hits and stab wounds. The only effective way to kill vampires here is to behead them or expose them to direct sunlight, which sets them on fire and rapidly burns them to ash. Large amounts of ultraviolet light will also burn them and probably can kill them, but they can never stay dead for long. If blood hits their ashes or dead bodies, they will regenerate.
Yes, it is spoken several times throughout the film, mostly by head vampire Lilith and her lackeys but also some from Dane. The vampires' language in the comic series was described as an "ancient unknown" language. David Slade, the director of the first movie, admits that it is a purely fictional language designed by himself, Danny Huston (who plays head vampire Marlow in the first movie), and a New Zealand linguist. They did not base it on human speech at all but meant for it to be animalistic in nature, based on sounds made by animals while feeding, eating, and expressing hatred. It is how Niles imagined a language would evolve if spoken by ancient creatures with lots of teeth and fangs, making it difficult to pronounce certain syllables.
Dane explains in the movie how the injury that lead him to become a vampire was "superficial" and left him still retaining some of his human qualities. In the comics, however, he hunted Stella, wanting revenge for his slain creator and friend Marlow in Barrow but eventually falls in love with her.
Numerous unnamed vampires and their victims are killed, of course. Of the main characters (with names), Todd is turned by a vampire and Stella is forced to behead him. Dane is shot through the eye by FBI Agent Norris (Troy Ruptash). Amber is attacked by several vampires and Paul mercy kills her. Norris is beheaded by Stella. Paul presumably dies after being attacked by Lilith (at least, he is not seen again). Lilith is beheaded by Stella. Stella's fate is undetermined; Eben ( now played by Stephen Huszar) is shown going for her neck, but the movie ends at that point.
Paul, Amber, and Stella sneak onto the vampire ship. They notice some of the vampires dripping blood on the burnt out corpses of other vampires and are surprised when the dead vampires come back to "life." Suddenly, the ship starts to move. Amber wants to jump off and swim back to Los Angeles, but Stella and Paul choose to remain on board in order to find and kill Lilith. On their way to the navigation room, they pass through a locker room filled with humans hanging from meat hooks. They find the navigator who tells them that the ship is heading to Wainwright, Alaska. Suddenly, Amber is attacked by several vampires, and Paul is forced to shoot her to end her misery. Vampires appear all around them. Lilith tells her vamps to "Bleed them," so the vampires string up Paul and Stella by the wrists and hang them in the meat locker. Norris starts slicing Paul's arms and catching the blood in a basin. Stella manages to free one hand, kick Norris, and then undo her other hand. She hits Norris in the eye with a meat hook and decapitates him with a machete. She then sets Paul free and wraps his arm in her shirt. Not knowing how to stop the engines, Paul and Stella start hacking away at them. This attracts Lilith who rips open Paul's neck. She then goes after Stella. Stella hides in a vat of blood. When Lilith stops to determine where she has gone, Stella jumps up from the vat and decapitates Lilith. When the vampires see that Lilith is dead, they cease their pursuit, allowing Stella to pass out of the ship unharmed. In a voiceover, Stella explains that the Coast Guard seized the ship but what they found was never made public. Stella returns to Barrow where she digs up Eben's crispy body, cuts herself with a straight-edged razor, and peppers him with her blood. In the final scene, Eben comes to "life", Stella hugs Eben, and Eben lunges for her neck.
Stella had just killed their leader. Perhaps out of confusion or even respect for the victor. They reacted the same way the vampires in Barrow reacted when Eben killed Marlow in the first movie.
Most viewers see this as strange behavior on Stella's part, knowing that Eben died as a vampire. Various reasons have been given ranging from grief and loneliness to love and/or stupidity. Some viewers wonder whether Stella had simply given up on her war and decided to join Eben as a vampire.
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