Trailer Tuesday: Daybreakers

Vampires. Vampires are everywhere these days. If it isn't zombies it's vampires! Just the other day I walked past a massive Twilight display, complete with candles, goblets and red velvet, in an Exclusive Books window. Sitting in the cinema a few minutes later, I was subjected to back-to-back trailers for 2 vampire movies. I couldn't help thinking I should really have finished my epic vampire novel years ago - I would so be cashing in right now given the current craze for all things pasty, immortal and blood thirsty.

But I digress. I said I saw back-to-back trailers for 2 vampire movies. The first was for Twilight sequel New Moon. The second, however, was for a little known sci-fi horror thriller called Daybreakers.

Taking its cue more from the Blade films and I Am Legend, as opposed to Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer, Daybreakers centres on a (quite literally) dark future where, in 2017, vampires are the majority and human beings the minority. The latter, in fact, are hunted by the vampire authorities and then placed in "farms" to be drained of their blood.


A problem arises though when the authorities realise there's barely a month's supply of blood left to feed their population. And starving vampires morph into something quite horrible.

Enter vampire hematologist Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) who is tasked with creating a blood substitute that will sustain the vampires and ensure the survival of the nearly extinct human race. He's contacted by a group of human survivors - headed by Willem Dafoe's Elvis - who may have actually discovered a cure for the vampire plague. This however puts Edward in danger as a cure is the last thing that powerful vampire CEO, Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) wants.


First of all, I love the concept of Daybreakers - a complete social reversal akin to Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series, except with a more contemporary setting. Secondly, I love that there are no traces of gothic romance and swooning teenage girls. The vampires of Daybreakers seem to be cold and ruthless, whether they're corporates sitting at a boardroom table or devolving winged monstrosities.

Now I'm not an especially big Ethan Hawke fan, but I'll sit up and pay attention to anything that features Willem Dafoe in a prominent role. And early reviews indicate that he steals the show here. Plus, it's always great to see Sam Neill back on the big screen.

For the record, Daybreakers had its premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, and impressed on the whole. While apparently quite flawed, the film is still a lot of fun - which explains why it is currently sitting on 100% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Daybreakers is set for release in North America on 8 January 2010 - just 2 days before my birthday, yay! God knows when it is scheduled to open in South Africa, but hopefully it will be around the same time, and sooner rather than later. I'm really looking forward to this one.