Daybreakers

Daybreakers (2009). Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig.

The twin brothers from Down Under, Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig have created a blood-thirsty vampire film that isn’t for the Twilight crowd. Daybreakers is like an Ozploitation flick from the 80s, the only difference being that it has a huge budget and some popular American actors.

Ten years from now a vampire plague is threatening the human population. Almost everyone has become a vampire and the human race faces extinction. The remaining humans are hunted and turned into vampires or harvested for their blood. The world’s blood supply is dwindling and when vampires can’t feed on fresh human blood they turn into savage beasts that kill one another.

Edward (Ethan Hawke) is a vampire hematologist that is trying to develop a blood substitute for the vampire race before it is too late. His employer, Bromley (Sam Neill) represents corporate greed. He cares more about making money from synthetic blood than a cure that will transform vampires back into humans.

Elvis (Willem Dafoe) is a former vampire that found a way to become human again, providing hope to Edward and the rest of the world that is looking for a cure before it is too late.

Daybreakers is bloody good fun with an intelligent script that creates an interesting world of the future, with familiar themes of corporate greed, isolation, extinction and dwindling natural resources. Ethan Hawke plays his role with the seriousness of a scientist while Willem Dafoe gets all of the laughs in several scene stealing moments.

With exploding bodies, car chases and violent Matrix-like fight scenes, Daybreakers proved to be the perfect midnight madness film for TIFF. The enthusiastic audience at its first screening cheered all the way through the film. Daybreakers will get a theatrical release in January 8, 2010 and should do pretty well at the box office.

Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.

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Posted in 2009 TIFF at 1:36 PM