Vampires have long been a staple of the horror genre, but over the last decade they have lost a lot of their scare appeal. Because of movies such as “Underworld” and “Queen of the Damned,” they have become less frightening than ever. However, David Slade’s newest film, “30 Days of Night,” provides an exciting new take on vampires.

The movie, based on a graphic novel, is set in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States. It takes place when the Earth’s rotation plunges Barrow into 30 days of darkness. The arrest of a stranger triggers an attack of vampires on the town. Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) quickly becomes the leader of the survivors.

The movie takes off from this point with violent, gory action interspersed with scenes of suspense and agonizing moments of human weakness. The vampires invade the town and no one is safe.

Hartnett and his band of survivors make a desperate bid to survive until daylight returns once again.

Director David Slade does a wonderful job making the vampires scary. They have few lines, thus limiting the audience’s ability to see something human in them, and exist mostly as predatory lurkers in the shadows just off screen. When they strike, they strike quickly and with great brutality, and then they are gone just as fast. They are immune to bullets and nearly everything else short of decapitation.

Plus, they are willing to torture survivors in order to lure the victim’s family and friends into traps. Their use of an innocent woman as bait is particularly hard to watch.

Vampires dominate and none of the characters are particularly complex, but they play their parts extremely well. Hartnett and his fellow cast members do an excellent job of portraying a group of people doing what it takes to survive.

Perhaps the movie is too violent and the scenes too brutal, but it’s Halloween, isn’t it?

Overall, “30 Days of Night” is a fantastically creepy movie with some moments of genuine terror mixed with disturbing carnage. However, the violence and psychological trauma depicted in the film will likely drive away any thin-skinned viewers.

If you are in the mood for a scary movie to see around Halloween, it would be hard to go wrong with “30 Days of Night.”