Daybreakers review

As a hater of all things horror, I was apprehensive about seeing whether Daybreakers would change my mind. I'm glad I saw it too; although the pacy is an occasional problem (and it's very grisly) the storyline, performances, script, and especially the direction is tight.
The year is 2019, and the world is dominated by vampires. The humans who remain are gathered up and farmed for blood to provide for the vampire's needs. Hemotoligist Edward Dalton (a mild Ethan Hawke) pities the humans, and when a shortage of blood supplies threatens the vampire population, he joins up with some humans who haven't yet been discovered- not to find a blood substitute for his boss (an excellent Sam Niell) but a cure, as he is desperate to be human once more.
Daybreakers is very successful mainly thanks to its fantastic premise. It holds your attention throughout, and is always going into areas you don't expect it to. The cast get better as the film progresses, Hawke and Niell especially. Willem Dafoe and Claudia Karvalan are also very good as the mysterious Elvis and assistant Audrey respectively. The sense of humour sustained is also so refreshing to see for what could have been a depressing film due to its bleak subject matter. The direction from the Speirig Brothers is flashy and hyperkinetic without being self endulgent and nasueating (take note Tony Scott), with lots of gorgeous shots of the Australian outback, and also the nightlife in this world, filled with gleaming skyscrapers and bats. The script is also good and clever, whilst the running time is fairly perfect. The odd moment at the beginning is a little self indulgent and slow, but the pace picks up (as well as the psychological aspect) in the middle. The scares are mainly from the first 45 minutes, but they catch you off guard in multiple places.
Overall, Daybreakers is engaging, enjoyable, but this wasn't too my taste due to the horrific gore in places. For horror fans though, this is an absolute must. For others, a rental is a safe choice.
OVERALL GRADE: 6.5/10