Based on Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's cult graphic novel, this solid shocker from Hard Candy director David Slade offers genuine surprises not seen in an undead movie since the last viscerally modern revamp, Near Dark. The premise here is that the Alaskan town of Barrow spends 30 days each year cut off from the outside world in polar winter darkness, which makes it ideal territory for feral bloodsuckers looking for an uninterrupted buffet of human flesh. After the initial invasion, survivors led by sheriff Josh Hartnett attempt to wait out the interminable month without attracting the attention of the screeching fiends. None of the original comic book's gore is tempered, whether it involves child vampires, grisly decapitation or the blood-crazed feeding frenzies of the super-quick, razor-toothed creatures. It's a variation on the classic siege-by-monsters scenario with snowy landscapes adding to the chill of the slow-building tale and Danny Huston's speaking-in-tongues pack leader grabbing the most attention.