Scary Movies: Daybreakers

Thanks for this review go to our new guest reviewer, the lovely and perceptive Corinne Dion! Corinne has interests in horror and opera, among other things, and will be providing occasional reviews on this site!

Daybreakers is a unique 2010 vampire thriller, more in line with the science fiction genre than the customary gothic horror category to which most vampire films fall. Unlike other vampire movies, Daybreakers does not romanticize vampires nor take place in the nineteenth century. Instead, Daybreakers is set in a future in which human beings are becoming extinct due a plague of vampirism taking over the human species. Vampires now run the planet, but they are running out of humans to live off of. Many vampires are either starving to death, living off of animal blood (which is not as sustaining), or hunting the few remaining humans on the planet.

In the midst of this desperate existence of diminishing food supply there is one reluctant vampire, Edward (played by Ethan Hawke), who was converted into vampiricism by his brother, Frankie. Edward is a begrudging hematologist for a large company who has been tasked with the priority of finding a human blood alternative so vampires can survive with the dwindling remaining human supply. Edward is a human sympathizer who lives off of animal blood and truly wants to find a cure to vampirism. He believes the task impossible until he comes across a remarkable man, Elvis Cormac (played by Willem Dafoe), who was a vampire but became human again through a baptismal like experience.

From his encounter with Elvis, Edward discovers that vampirism is a disease, arguably a sexually transmitted one. Therefore vampires cannot remain alive without humans as vampires are parasitic. Elvis succinctly explains to Edward that “the Truth is like the sun… you can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t going away.” In other words, it is the human part of vampires that keeps them living and once that last breath of humanity is gone, vampires will no longer exist.

The movie is a surreal mix of a futuristic sci-fi trappings and Edward Scissorhands, the macabre and reality meeting. But beneath all of the dark green-tinted backdrops, the underlying theme is the desperation of life in an environment of diminishing resources (a metaphor for what we as modern people are threatened by today). Additionally, themes of redemption and repentance are central to this film as many characters (such as Edward’s brother Frankie) realize the error of their ways and vampiricism in general and sacrifice themselves for the higher good.

Daybreakers (2009)
Story/Plot/Characters–The movie has a clever premise: in a future world, vampires run the planet and have eaten most of their human food supply. Vampire Chief Hematologist, Edward, must find a blood alternative so that vampires can survive. Acting is better than average for a horror movie. (2.5 points)
Special Effects–The film feels very macabre and scientific – a unique mix. (1.5 points)
Scariness— This film is more thoughtful than frightening although there are some upsetting scenes with gore. Oddly for a vampire movie there is little nudity or blood (1 points)
Atmosphere/Freakiness— The atmosphere is a unique mix of medieval meets science and futuristic. The movie is not particularly freaky, which makes sense as it is not exactly a horror film, but a vampire science fiction with supernatural horrific elements. (1 points)
Total=6 points (Pretty Good)

Verdict: An enjoyable science fiction vampire movie with some intelligent themes presented under the metaphor of vampirism.