Original, Stylish ‘Daybreakers’ With Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – In the early part of the last decade, Michael and Peter Spierig (The Spierig Brothers) debuted with the unique zombie cult hit “Undead” and horror nuts waited to see what they’d do next. It took way too long but the brothers are back with the stylish, original “Daybreakers,” a vampire film that injects new life into an often-dead genre.

The world of the horror film, so often based on graphic novels, old films, or successful books, has been tragically devoid of unique ideas for years. When an original screenplay is produced for a horror film, it’s tempting to embrace it with open arms. Hardcore horror nuts should flip for “Daybreakers,” a film with enough new ideas to make its flaws incredibly easy to overlook. It’s a shame that The Spierig Brothers couldn’t match their concept and style with things like character and dialogue, but this is clearly a cult hit in the making and horror fans should eat it up like a vampire with a fresh kill.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Daybreakers” in our reviews section. [13]

“Daybreakers” takes place in 2019, ten years after the beginning of an outbreak in which most humans turned to bloodsuckers. Most. There are a few small groups of humans fighting for survival and some truly poor souls being barely kept alive as a food source. It turns out that the vampires have faced a stark realization - with no humans, there’s no sustenance. Worldwide panic is starting to set in as people fight for food.

And it’s not just a hunger thing. It turns out that vampires get ugly when they get hungry and turn into something called a “subsider”. Basically, well-fed vamps look like Edward Cullen. Hungry ones look like Nosferatu. And the ugly, hungry ones are breaking vampire society’s rules and threatening to bring it to a halt. The race to find a suitable blood substitute gets more urgent by the day.

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Daybreakers” review. [13]

A scene featuring Ethan Hawke (center) as Edward Dalton in Daybreakers.
Photo credit: Ben Rothstein/Universal