Bleeding hearts

Writer/director duo Michael and Peter Spierig (twin brothers from Australia) have followed the international financial success of 2003's Undead with another failed attempt to put a novel spin on a series of archetypal horror clichés. Not that there's anything wrong with horror clichés - they tend to get the job done, after all.  If only they were enough to carry the day in this case.

Daybreakers opens on a Matrix-like, dystopian nightmare world in the future ruled by urbane vampires who harvest the remaining human beings for their blood. But there's a problem - for the vampires, that is. A shortage of humans has led to a shortage of blood. The vampires have co-opted the global financial system, and the artificial scarcity and manipulation of commodities markets is an obvious anti-capitalist metaphor. The rich have enough pure blood to remain comfortable, while the working-class and poor must make do as best they can.

As soon proves true, the best they can is not good enough. Reduced to animal substitutes and "mixers," vampires craving blood eventually begin feeding on each other, triggering a process of mutation that transforms them into Nosferatuesque creatures ghoulishly scrambling through the city's underbelly, hunting prey.

Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a hematologist and vampire who was unwillingly "turned" during the pandemic that infected most of the human race. Along with his fellow scientists, Dalton is trying to create a synthetic substitute for blood that will ostensibly ease demand for the precious substance and lift the yoke of slavery from the necks of the few humans left alive.

Enter Audrey (Claudia Karvan), who leads a small group of renegade humans. This surprisingly mild-mannered freedom fighter crosses paths with Dalton during a traffic accident, and the two soon pair up to liberate the species.

Many critics have apologized for their disinterest in this film, blaming their malaise on the glut of vampire and zombie movies that have been distributed recently. It's true many of these films have been bad, leading to a certain weariness among the peddlers of opinion. But some have been quite good (2009's Zombieland, to name just one), and critics have had no trouble getting behind them. The problem with Daybreakers is the quantity of wanton clichés on display, and the leaden pacing that lolls the audience into a torpor even as it strives to generate thrills.

As a fan of the genre, I'm inclined to give most vampire movies a pass, however junky they might actually be. But the Spierigs' writing takes the term "B-movie" to a whole new level (or perhaps, "lower grade" is more apt). A typically stellar Willem Dafoe is laden with the majority of the campy dialogue as a cohort of Audrey's who dispenses with his given name, introducing himself simply as "Elvis." It's an embarrassing misappropriation of talent, with Elvis issuing forth with lines like "Being human in a world of vampires is about as safe as bare-backing a five-dollar whore" every few minutes or so. Hawke is earnest enough as our protagonist, but hasn't got enough of whatever mysterious quality would redeem the film to make a difference. Sam Neill is a stock evil nemesis as a prominent vampire at the head of a nebulous corporation poised to take advantage of the fluctuating prices and availability of blood.

The anti-capitalist themes at work in Daybreakers are admirable, but the triteness with which they are presented all but bleeds the tale of value. The Spierig brothers will no doubt continue in a similar vein, and their vision isn't without promise. Perhaps time will season their talent with gravitas and produce horror films of genuine interest. At this point, they're not quite there.    

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com