Unorthodox vampire film Daybreakers gets its day in the sun with a brand new 4K SteelBook release from Lionsgate.
The Movie
Daybreakers is the second feature film from Australian writer/director brothers Michael and Peter Spierig (Undead, Predestination, Jigsaw). The film’s main appeal is its fascinating conceit: in the future (2019), a plague has turned the majority of the world’s human population into vampires. What remains of humanity is either being farmed large scale (a la The Matrix) for their blood or they have gone into hiding.
The protagonist of the film is hematologist (and human sympathizer) Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) who spends his nights working to find a blood substitute for a clearly evil corporation run by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill). Edward’s work is reaching a breaking point, though; the world is running out of humans and without blood the vampires will mutate and turn into Subsiders – feral, bat-like creatures who have begun to seep out of the sewers and into the suburbs. As news reports and a recurring bit at a subway blood/coffee shop demonstrate, the situation is becoming increasingly dire.
Of course for Bromley and people like Frankie (Michael Dorman), Edward’s brother in the military, the solution is to hunt down more humans. This is how Edward’s storyline intersects with a human resistance movement run by Audrey (Claudia Karvan) and, in a twist, a vampire-turned-human named Elvis (Willem Dafoe) who recruits Edward to their cause by confirming that there is, in fact, a cure.
A large part of the back half of the film is Edward working with the humans to try and replicate the events of Elvis’ miraculous reversion as Frankie and his team draw the net ever tighter and the looming blood shortage creates more desperation and violence.
It’s typical stuff of futuristic dystopias (see: Equilibrium; Johnny Mnemonic, etc), as well as vampire narratives (Blade), particularly the gory finale, which is so lurid and operatic that it nearly punts the film into camp territory. But the film’s story and world building is so strong that The Spierig Brothers’ tendency to fall back on familiar tropes is forgivable.
It doesn’t hurt that the film boasts a striking visual aesthetic, with the story’s allegory reinforced by its colour scheme: the chilly blue modern world for the vampires is contrasted by the warm yellows, browns, and greens of nature. The sterile interiors would arguably be even more memorable if the film wasn’t coming in the wake of other heavily colour tinted movies/franchises, including The Matrix and Twilight, but it remains striking nonetheless.
Take, for example, Elvis and Edward’s pivotal first meeting. The encounter takes place outside during the day in the shade of an enormous tree, with Edward’s unnatural vampirism highlighted as he dodges sunbeams and the location highlighting the need for trust between the two parties (Edward could simply bite Elvis, but he could just as easily fry).
If the over the top finale does have a redeeming quality aside from its sheer ridiculousness, it is the confirmation that even if a cure were possible, not all vampires would choose to return to the way the world was. Sixteen years later and Bromley’s proud declaration that he would rather have a product that drives repeat business than a cure feels scarily spot-on.
Anchoring the production is Hawke, whose Edward isn’t the most interesting character, but Hawke does exactly what the film needs him to do. Evoking shades of Hawke’s Gattaca character, Edward is a bleeding heart humanist whose worldview drives conflicts both small (with his brother) and large (with Bromley).
Neill and Dafoe are more exciting to watch because they’re not saddled with grounding the narrative and because they get all of the best dialogue. Neill, in particular, does chilling work in scenes involving his human daughter, as well as when the villain states the film’s thesis when he discusses how vampires are superior to humans.
Dafoe, meanwhile, manages to toe the line between action and comedy. In lesser hands, the part would feel underwritten, but in Dafoe’s cheekily grinning hands, the supporting character feels essential and heroic in equal measure. It doesn’t hurt that Elvis also gets one of the movie’s best visual moments when the details of his cure are revealed in a flaming flashback that highlights the Spierig Brothers’ talent for visual flair.
Unfortunately Daybreakers appears to have been unfairly forgotten by the mainstream horror crowd. The film was a minor success back in 2009 ($51M on a $20M budget) and, in the new features on the disc, the Spierig Brothers discuss the possibility of expanding the lore/world in a hypothetical sequel. Considering the tantalizing details offered in Daybreakers, especially about an entire hierarchical world of vampires who still have to go to work and pay bills at night – there’s plenty left to explore here.
Bring on Daybreakers 2.
The Extras
In addition to porting over legacy features from the original disc, including a making of featurette called “Making of Daybreakers”, an audio commentary with the Brothers & creature designer Steve Boyle, and the Spierig Brothers’ short film The Big Picture, the SteelBook features a bevy of new material:
- “Building the World of Daybreakers” (15 mins): A contemporary retrospective with the Spierigs about the film’s origins, how they developed and expanded the world, and plenty of behind the scenes.
- “Art and Craft: The Actors of Daybreakers” (12 mins): An overview of the Brothers’ experiences working with Hawke, Neill, and Dafoe. Apparently Hawke would offer up plenty of suggestions and alternative takes, while Neill’s biggest contribution was cutting down/refining his character’s dialogue to make it sharper.
- “Gag Reel” (2 mins): Mostly consists of the actors breaking. Fairly typical.
- “Art Department and Lighting Tests” (90 secs – no dialogue): Mostly actors standing on their marks to test the lights/shadows.
- “Costume, Hair, and Make-up Tests” (9 mins – no dialogue): Actors trying on their costumes.
- “First Subsider Test” (9 mins): This is a test of the Genesis camera, but also includes insight from Peter Spierig about the development of the Subsider make-up since this iteration isn’t the finished effect we see in the film.
- “Make-up Effects Tapes” (8 mins): Camcorder footage from the practical FX team in the lab as they test things like Subsider fingers and blood spurting from decapitated busts.
- “Stunt Department” (7 mins): Footage of the stunt team, lead by Keir Beck, rehearsing several of the stunts, including the Subsider attack in Edward’s house, and Frankie’s death by a group of vamps
- “On the Set of Daybreakers” (44 mins): A somewhat scattered video diary of the shoot that offers nearly every department an opportunity to introduce themselves and (briefly) address their contribution to the film. A lot of time is spent on the shooting of the aforementioned Subsider attack in Edward’s house, as well as an ‘against the clock’ attempt to shoot the unhoused vampire/shock collar sequence (in a surprise, they run out of time and have to do pick-ups later).
The Daybreakers 4K SteelBook is now available from Lionsgate
- Movie: 3.5/5
- Disc: 4/5
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