30 Days Of Night Scriptbook

by Stuart Beattie, Brian Nelson (Screenplay)

The chilling graphic novel by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith reinvigorated the horror comic genre, and their tale is now a blockbuster movie directed by David Slade (Hard Candy). This special illustrated screenplay edition offers the complete shooting script for 30 Days of Night, plus behind-the-scenes production photos, interviews with the cast and crew, and conceptual film art and storyboards, as well as a special introduction by 30 Days of Night co-creator Steve Niles.

Genres: Horror

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2007

Reviews

[Marthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the story is captivating enough and the script is written with attention to realistic detail, it is at times a bit uninformed. It was nice to read some background information that explains some of the logic behind settings, though it's hard to see how that would translate cinematographically. Something that really bugged me was the depiction of women and female-male interactions and relations: men are more often introduced with reference to their body type, women by age and attractiveness. Women are more often portrayed as argumentative, men as more rational and diplomatic. There were a few nice moments that show mutual respect, but I'm not sure it redeems the script (or the film) for me, even though it was interesting to read.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great script to a great film. The extra material included is really nice to see but, for the cinephile and fan of the franchise that I am, it would have been nice to feature more development and making of material. Seeing as it *is* called the movie scriptbook, though, it does kind of delivers on exactly what it says it will.

Worth checking out if you're a fan of the film or screenwriting in general. This is a tight, solid, well-crafted vampire siege thriller.

[Arnela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recently re-read this (and excusing the few typos here and there) it's still as good as the first time I've read it.

It feels almost scrapbook-ish with the comic art, storyboard thumbnails, conceptual art, and movie stills interspersed among the literal script columns. I will admit that for me, personally, the excess titling of scene shifts did tend to pull me out of story I still greatly enjoyed it, and it was just fun to see how actors are told to portray their lines (right after the line is written).

This is a good collection piece for anyone who's a fan of the books and the movie. But if you're looking for the best telling of the story I say read the comics.