User:Brian Kurtz/Sandbox


 * 33.19

30 Days of Night (2007)
Barrow, Alaska is the northernmost town in the United States. Every winter, the sun goes down and does not rise again for thirty days, making Barrow a frozen and isolated community. Atop a snowy peak, a grizzled stranger watches an icebreaker ship coming across the sea. Knowing what this signifies, he turns away and begins marching towards Barrow.

On the last day of sun, Sheriff Eben Oleson and Deputy Billy Kitka discover a patch of black scorch marks in the middle of a field. The patch is a pile of burned up cell phones. Both men are confused by their find and wonder if a group of rebellious teenagers might have been responsible. Afterward, Eben and Billy turn to observe the final sunset they will see for the next month.

Back in town, fire marshal Stella Oleson talks with Adam Colletta. Adam knows that she and her husband Eben are separated, but he holds onto hope that they might be able to settle their differences and get back together. She appreciates his concern, but she is in a hurry to make the last plane out of Barrow before the airport closes down for the winter.

Eben and Billy drive out to Beau Brower's place where they find him working on the engine of his GMC truck. Eben sees that he is leaking generator oil all over the ground and issues him a citation. Beau is an unfriendly sort of fellow and grumbles at Eben for writing him up. When he gets back into the truck, Billy asks him why he gave him a citation for such a minor offense. Eben tells him that Beau lives all alone and sometimes a little citation lets him know that he's still part of the community.

Stella races her Chevy truck down Ranson and Route 355, desperate to get to the airport in time. A young man named Malekai Hamm crosses the area in a trenching tractor, but loses control of the brakes and smashes into Stella's truck. They are both okay, but this costs Stella time that she cannot afford to waste. Reluctantly, she calls Eben and tells him that she needs a ride to the airport. Eben sends Billy to go pick her up.

He then fields a call from John and Ally Riis, a husband and wife who own a dog sled kennel. When Oleson shows up at their place, they reveal that somebody broke into the kennel and slaughtered all of the dogs. Eben notices that the attack took place only a short time ago and promises to look into it.

He returns to the police station where he finds his grandmother, Helen, and his younger brother Jake. Helen tells Eben that Carter Davies telephoned him regarding some vandalism that took place at the utilidor where he works. He drives to the utilidor and meets with Carter Davies and Wilson Bulosan. Wilson Bulosan is a helicopter pilot who lives in the area and tells Eben how someone ripped out the throttle and the rotors to his helicopter and threw them into the utilidor shredder (which Carter refers to as "The Muffin Monster"). In anger, he hurls a butcher knife into the machine and watches it as it gets chopped up with the rest of the debris.

Meanwhile, Gus Lambert is working at the communications relay station. He is monitoring his post when he notices the power going out. He takes a flashlight and begins looking about outside. A group of dark, furtive figures dart around him and Gus grows scared. They are vampires and as they surround him, one of them leaps upon him and tears out his throat.

Elsewhere, the stranger makes his way to the Ikos Diner. He is dirty, mangy and shifty-eyed. He asks for a shot of whiskey, but the establishment's owner, Lucy Ikos tells him that the sale of alcohol is illegal for the entire month. He then asks for raw hamburger, but Lucy tells him that they only serve their meat two ways - frozen or burnt. The stranger begins to get riled up. Eben walks in and sees that he might be a trouble maker and asks him to leave. The stranger gets up in Eben's face in a thretening manner. Stella Oleson enters the diner and puts a gun to the back of the stranger's head. Eben then arrests him. While the Olesons take the stranger to the sherrif's office, the silently moving vampire horde continues to thin out the population. They attack three workers named Denise, Aaron and Gabe outside their place of business. Gabe is pulled into the shadows and killed. The vampires throw his body back out into the snow and Denise and Aaron find him with his throat slit open.

At the station, Eben throws the stranger into a jail cell. He then discovers a stash of marijuana in his grandmother's desk drawer. He asks Jake about it and he tells him that it helps her with her cancer. Eben now understands why Jake wanted to live with her rather than Stella and he. Helen confesses that she keeps a private greenhouse at her home and jokes that she didn't want Eben arresting her. Just then, they lose computer network access at the station. Eben tries to call Gus Lambert to see what the problem is, but discovers that the phone lines are down. From his cell, the stranger begins to smile. He eerily intones, "They're coming. This time they gonna take me with 'em". Eben asks him, "Who are they?" As if in response, all of the power in Barrow goes down.

Eben gets in his truck and drives out to the communications station. He sees that all of the power has been cut off and begins scanning the area with his flashlight. He spots smears of blood in the snow and follows the trail until he finds Gus Lambert's frozen head impaled on a wooden post.

Shortly thereafter, a vampire known as Arvin attacks the trailer home of John and Ally Riis. He bursts through the window of their house and snatches Ally. He drags her outside and pulls her underneath the wooden stilts holding up the trailer. John goes after them, but the vampire slashes at his face and breaks his leg. Ally disappears into the darkness.

Back at the police station, Helen, Jake and Stella entertain themselves with a board game while the stranger stands in his cell taunting them. Jake grows irritated at him and throws a game piece in his direction. The stranger picks the piece up, thanking Jake, and telling him that he now has something he can use to pick the lock. Jake goes over to recover the piece, but the stranger grabs him about the throat. Eben gets back just in time to shoot the stranger in the shoulder and get Jake safely away from him. Eben then handcuffs the stranger to the bars of his cell. The stranger acts more deranged than ever and begins frothing at the mouth. He shouts that they are all dead.

Eben and Stella get in the truck and drive towards the pipeline to find Billy. As they continue forward, Eben sees a dark shape flashing in the rear view mirror. A vampire leaps upon the top of the truck and begins pounding on the roof. Stella grips the steering wheel tightly in an effort to stay on the road, while Eben fires his sidearm through the roof. The vampire falls, but is otherwise unharmed. The two continue driving.

As panic begins to slowly overtake the people of Barrow, the vampires decide to reveal themselves. The leader of the brood is a man named Marlow Roderick, who communicates with his brethren via an ancient, vampire language. He is attended by Zurial, Kali, Arvin and Inika.

30 Days of Night complete articles

 * Gus Lambert
 * Helen Munson

Body count

 * Gus Lambert - slit throat, beheaded
 * Gabe - Slit throat
 * Ally Riis - undetermined
 * Helen Munson - undetermined