Movies
My Bloody Vampire: The Best and Worst of ’30 Days of Night’
Spoilers Ahead.
What happens when the sun isn’t there to drive away the creatures of the night?
Before directing the films Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Nightmare Cinema, and the new horror movie Dark Harvest set to release this September 2022, David Slade directed the vampire flick 30 Days of Night and sought to answer this question.
30 Days of Night features a group of ancient vampires led by Marlow (Danny Huston) descending upon an Alaskan town where once a year, the sun sets and doesn’t rise again for 30 days. The story follows a band of survivors, including the town’s sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett), and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), as they try to elude the vampires in the endless night.
Fun Fact: The real town experiences darkness much longer than its cinematic counterpart. Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow) has no sunlight for roughly 65 days, from mid-November to mid-January.
This Ghost House Pictures film premiered on October 19th, 2007, and was nominated for 14 different awards. The film was quickly overshadowed, though, as 2007/2008 saw the release of numerous films still lauded today, including but not limited to: I am Legend, 1408, The Mist, Hostel II, and Rob Zombie’s Halloween, among many others.
Like three of the films listed above, which were adapted from books, 30 Days of Night first existed as reading material, though in this case, it was a mini comic book series.
The film depicts vampires in a fantastically terrifying manner, keeping viewers plastered to their seats until the end, which then sees viewers leaving those seats to get up and yell at the TV. (Or is that just me?)
Putting the “Blood” in Bloodsuckers
The vampires begin to rack up a body count within the town as soon as they arrive. They drink blood as traditional vampires do but have to remove their victims’ heads, so they don’t transform into vampires themselves after being bitten. This clause saw the vampires leave a murderous bloodbath across the entire town. However, there is much more to the vampires than the stealthy carnage they deliver.
The type of vampire presented in 30 Days of Night is my favorite variety. They are intelligent and use an ancient language to communicate (though they speak in a fictional language). They have the elegance and poise that society has come to associate with vampires while simultaneously acting as viciously violent predators. Moreover, these vampires look the part. They are not romanticized or gorgeous; instead, the movie shows that turning into a vampire sees a horrific transformation take place. The face will transform, the teeth will grow sharper, and the eyes will turn black.
This appearance was the case for all but the leader of the vampires, Marlow. He looks more human than his vampire counterparts (but more on that later).
Fun Fact: The film drew some inspiration from Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot as the antagonist was named Barlow.
How 30 Days of Night Ends
What starts as a great movie gets frustrating fast. The town is burning down, and the film’s climax approaches as Stella calls Eben to let him know she’s trapped. Thinking quickly, he injects himself with a dead vampire’s blood. Planning on having just long enough to fight the vampires once and for all before turning into a mindless bloodsucker himself, he saves the day. Now that part, I will allow.
The hero becoming the enemy to defeat the enemy is a terrific trope. I will even overlook that, given Marlow’s leadership role and different appearance, killing him did not kill the other vampires as I had expected.
However, it is with Eben Oleson’s death that the film goes wrong. Not because he dies, though. All hail the conquering hero who sacrificed his own life to save his ex-wife’s life. Obviously, he cannot be allowed to live where he will join up with his other vampire buddies and massacre more unsuspecting towns. However, it is the way that he dies that grinds my gears.
He was not offered the swift, humane death given to much of the vampire squad that descended upon the Alaskan town, e.g., a quick bullet to the head. Instead, he gets slowly, painfully disintegrated to dust by the sunlight as Stella holds him, charring in her hands. It made for a memorable ending, but ouch. He seriously got the short end of the stick.
And for what? To save the woman who wasn’t that into him anyway. She only reached out to him when she needed something from him; he infected himself to save her, and then she couldn’t even give him the dignity of a decent death.
Don’t get me wrong. Eben Oleson choosing to be a hero does not make Stella obligated to give him her love. But does it make her obligated to say, “Hey, you sacrificed yourself to save me. Let me at least spare you the agony of what has to be the most excruciating death of all time’? I believe so.
But I suppose nice guys finish last… or get slowly obliterated by the sun.
All in all, the film is a lot of fun. Eben Oleson was unfortunately doomed to a fate of unrequited love and ashes, but the vampires put on one hell of a show. Fifteen years later (has it really been that long?), it’s still one of my favorite vampire movies.
Do you agree with the ending? Sound off in the comments below!
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
Tragedy Girls (2017)
A dark, comedic, high school romp about best friends gaining internet clout through murder. It may feel dated due to its use of Twitter rather than X, but it adds charm and reminds us of a simpler internet age. Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp deliver devilishly fun performances, and their slasher personas are heavily under-appreciated in the horror community. There are lots of familiar faces here, including Josh Hutcherson, Jack Quaid, Craig Robinson, and not to mention the director, Tyler MacIntyre, who went on to be one of the writers for Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023).
Seance (2021)
This Is Not a Test (2025)
School’s Out (2018)
Graduation Day (1981)
One of my absolute favorite things to do when I’m on vacation is to visit horror filming locations. Wherever you happen to be going, odds are that at least one horror project was filmed there at some point. There’s something magical about seeing the places that helped bring iconic scary stories to life on the big and small screens.
However, some locations are better than others. A lot of them (like the original A Nightmare on Elm Street house, Stu’s house from Scream, and the schoolhouse from The Birds) are private property and aren’t always owned by people who are particularly happy to have horror fans milling around out front. Others (like the schools from Buffy, Elm Street, and many other teen horror titles) are active educational institutions that don’t welcome strange visitors.
But I’m here to deliver a guide to some of the coolest horror filming locations in North America that give you that magical vibe without somebody calling 9-1-1 on you. Because the best things in life are free, so are all the locations on this list.
The Bridge from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Location: Linnie Canal Ct. Los Angeles, CA 9029, USA
The bridge where Glen (Johnny Depp) and Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) discuss the Balinese method of dreaming is nowhere near the movie’s fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. It’s actually one of the bridges over the human-made canals in Venice, California. Specifically, it’s the bridge over the Eastern canal that connects to Linnie Ct. It’s totally free to visit, and once you’re done taking photos and quoting “I’m into survival” to your heart’s content, you’re still in Venice. Not a bad place to be!
The Movie Theater from Scream 2 (1997)
Location: Rialto Theatre, 1019-1023 Fair Oaks Ave. South Pasadena, CA, 91030 USA
Although the majority of the campus scenes in the college-set slasher sequel Scream 2 were filmed at Agnes Scott College in Georgia, a lot of the school’s surrounding environs were filmed closer to Hollywood, in sunny Pasadena. While the movie theater where poor Phil (Omar Epps) and Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) are killed in the movie’s prologue is no longer an operating cinema and you can’t go inside (the building has been taken over by a church), the exterior has been well preserved and looks more or less exactly the way it did in the late 1990s.
This horror filming location is also just an 11 minute drive from the street where the film’s famous car crash sequence was shot, which is part of Green Street between South Los Robles Avenue and Madison Avenue in Pasadena.
The Myers House from Halloween (1978)
Location: 1000 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030, USA
Although the building has been moved from its original location, it was rebuilt to look exactly the way it does when young Michael Myers is stalking his way around it in the iconic opening sequence of Halloween. There is a business operating out of the building, so don’t bother them or try to get inside (the interiors aren’t the same, anyway). But at this point, they’re very used to people doing photo ops out front. If you find yourself in Pasadena on October 31, it’s a can’t-miss destination, as a nonstop torrent of cosplayers swarm the area.
Other free Halloween locations in South Pasadena include the exterior of the hardware store where Michael gets his mask (right around the corner at 966 Mission St – it’s now the Radhika Modern Indian restaurant) and the famous hedge he hides behind when stalking Laurie Strode (just one mile away, at 1019 Montrose Ave S).
Brennan’s Tip: If you do have money to burn, check out the SugarMynt Gallery next door, which is chock full of horror-themed artwork. Also grab a snack at the Heirloom Bakery across the street! They’ve got all kinds of great treats (I even had them do the desserts for my wedding), and you can enjoy them on the outdoor patio with the Myers house looming over you.
The Town Square from Scream (1996)
Location: Healdsburg Town Square, Healdsburg, CA 95448, USA
Scream was filmed in and around Sonoma County, but the core town playing Woodsboro was the real-life wine country borough of Healdsburg. The town square, complete with fountain, is still there, and surrounded by cute shops and restaurants. You can also find the police station exterior where Sidney punches out Gale at Oakville Grocery (124 Matheson Street) nearby, but it has changed enough to be barely recognizable at this point.
Derry from It (2017), It: Chapter Two (2019), and It: Welcome to Derry (2025-)
Location: Port Hope, Ontario L1A 2Y7, Canada
The majority of the important locations in It and Welcome to Derry’s fictional town of Derry, Maine are all located along the main road of Port Hope, including the movie theater (Capitol Theatre on 20 Queen St), the library (Port Hope Town Hall, 56 Queen St), the park with the bandshell, and the alleyway outside the butcher shop, which still has the door painted with the faux sign from the movie.
Brennan’s Tip: Check out the river that runs parallel to the main street. When I went, there were hundreds of fish making their way upstream for spawning. Multiple species do this in Port Hope, in various seasons, so you never know if you’ll get lucky.
The University from Black Christmas (1974)
Location: Soldiers’ Tower at the University of Toronto, Hart House Cir, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7, Canada
The college from the 1974 proto-slasher Black Christmas is played by the real-life University of Toronto, with the most notable area being the plaza outside Soldiers’ Tower, where Clare’s dad is seen waiting for his ill-fated daughter.
Brennan’s Tip: If you’re a huge Killer Party (1986) fan like I am, the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada building (25 Spadina Rd), which plays the haunted frat house, is just a short walk away.
Abe’s Snake Bodega from Scream VI (2023)
Location: Dépanneur St.Ambroise, 5701 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, QC H4A 1W9, Canada
Our next horror filming location is of a more recent vintage, but it’s an instant classic: the “New York City” bodega in which Ghostface hunts down Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) in Scream VI. Both the exterior and the interior of the shop were used for filming, though they changed a great deal of the inside to make it look more New York-y. You don’t have to pay to visit, but if you want to do a photo op posing like Ghostface at the end of the row of refrigerator cases, you might as well buy a soda on your way out as a thank you.
Other worthwhile free Scream VI filming locations in the area are the campus of Blackmore University (McGill University at 845 Sherbrooke St W), and “Central Park” (Parc La Fontaine, 3819 Av. Calixa-Lavallée).
Crawford Academy from Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
Location: Concordia University – Loyola Campus, 7141 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada
The fictional high school from this classic Canadian slasher was played by the real-life Concordia University (except for the opening kill scene, which was shot around Douglass Hall at McGill University). It’s a relatively small campus, so you can’t miss the grand brick buildings, which look exactly the same now as they did 45 years ago, though the quad has been relandscaped.
The Steps from The Exorcist (1973)
Location: Corner of Prospect St and 36th St NW, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., 20007, USA
William Friedkin’s landmark classic The Exorcist is home to one of our most iconic horror filming locations yet. The steps that claim the lives of both Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) are still there more than 50 years later, and you’ll almost certainly find people exercising on them, as if they aren’t worried that Pazuzu is gonna fling another victim toward them when they least expect it.
While the house from The Exorcist is indeed at the top of the steps (at 3600 Prospect Street), it is more set back than the movie implies (the exterior of Reagan’s window was a facade). But it’s still there, as is the Georgetown campus, where other scenes from the movie were filmed.
The Crystal Shop from Obsession (2026)
Location: The Green Man, 824 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505, USA
Our tour of some of the greatest free horror filming locations of North America comes full circle now, bringing us back to Southern California with the most recent movie on the list. Curry Barker’s Obsession was entirely shot in and around Burbank, and the metaphysical supply store The Green Man looks almost exactly like the fictional store from the movie, both inside and out. Just don’t go in hoping to find a display of One Wish Willows.
