First Look: 30 Days of Night

Check out a brand new poster and some awesome pics of the highly buzzed about upcoming vampire survivalist pic 30 Days of Night.

Based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, 30 Days of Night is a flat out horror film about a small town in Alaska (with the unfortunate situation of being in the dark for 30 days every year) trying to fight off a group of bloodthirsty vampires.

Fans of the genre have been buzzing about this movie for awhile and yesterday I was part of a small group of journalists invited to watch the very first screening of the film (I also signed a waiver so I can't tell you anything about the details of the movie).

But after the screening, director David Slade (Hard Candy), producer Robert Tapert and co-creator Steve Niles came out to chat with the audience. I discovered a few things that I am allowed to leak out to you.

- The cut of the movie was the 1st time co-creator Steve Niles saw the film in full. "I'm thrilled," admitted Niles, "I'm literally having the anti-Hollywood experience with this whole thing. They have treated my and Ben's baby so well. I just can't believe it."

- Producer Robert Tapert not only admitted to hating vampire movies, but was won over when he heard Niles call his story the 'anti-Buffy' in his pitch.

- Director David Slade wanted a scary movie rooted in reality and was convinced Josh Hartnett would be the perfect lead. Slade met the actor in a vegetarian bowling alley diner, had a really good conversation and took a picture outside the building which he then emailed to Hartnett with a thank you note. Josh took the job based on that picture because as Slade recalls, it was such a malevolent picture of a place that Josh had been to almost every day of his childhood life.

- Actor Ben Foster (X-men: The Last Stand, 3:10 to Yuma) met director David Slade through Ellen Page, star of Slade's feature length debut Hard Candy. Thinking that he was going to play the role of a vampire, Foster delved deeper into his vampire obsession but quickly discovered that he was going to play a human instead. Director Slade admits that Ben was so good that they extended his role. "Ben, I think, carries the first half of the film."

The good news is that I'm going to chat with the cast and director properly in two weeks, but I thought I'd give you guys a nice little teaser of this scary movie first!

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