The 2000s were a great time for cheesy vampire movies. Shortly before the Twilight franchise turned bloodsuckers into tortured romantic heroes for young adults, countless vampire flicks were released, filled with cringy dialogue and shlocky action sequences. Films like Van Helsing and Queen of the Damned aren’t the sharpest of what the genre can offer, but contain amazing moments of vampire lore, like an eerie masquerade ball depicting vampires without their reflection, or an undead rockstar climbing the walls to terrorize his groupies.
One of the most innovative movies of that era is Daybreakers, which took the cheesy vampire subgenre and transformed it into a dystopian sci-fi thriller. Written and directed by twin brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, this 2010 movie stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and the late Sam Neill, and is streaming for free on Pluto TV. It’s the rare example of a movie that fully embraces the joys of the vampire genre and is unafraid to be ridiculous or excessive while trying out something completely new.
Daybreakers takes place in an alternate and dystopian future of (get ready for it) 2019. Vampires are the dominant species and the remaining enslaved humans are about to go extinct, meaning the main source of food/blood is about to disappear. Hawke plays Edward, a vampire hematologist who doesn’t drink human blood and is developing an alternate food source that will allow vampires to live without harming others. This will also prevent the rise of the Subsiders, a monstrous breed of the undead that starving vampires have begun transforming into. These creatures are rabid and bat-like, sprouting large wings from their backs and huge fangs that deform their faces.
To develop the Subsider design, the filmmakers turned to practical effects, with performers wearing full-body foam latex suits that almost look like Orcs from The Lord of the Rings.
“When people see the Subsiders, I wanted them to feel pity and disgust before they felt fear,” the movie’s creature designer, Steven Boyle, told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. “The foam latex has a faint sulfur smell,” continued Boyle. “And the glues are alcohol-based. So, by the end of the day, it’s a lovely human stew of sulfur, sweat, talcum powder and KY jelly.”
That hard, sweaty work paid off, and the look of the creatures remains one of the film’s highlights, even 17 years later.
Beyond its practical effects, Daybreakers hinges on a complicated and self-serious plot, yet one that is still incredibly fun. The first quarter of the film is centered on Edward’s life and his job conducting gory tests on his human subjects. He’s micromanaged by his boss, Charles (Sam Neill), a vampire CEO who doesn’t share his humanistic tendencies. His life is derailed after a chance encounter with a group of rebels led by Lionel (Willem Dafoe), a human who used to be a vampire and was miraculously transformed back to his original self, putting them on a dangerous hunt to find a cure for vampirism and spark some hope for the future of humanity.
Daybreakers could have been another generic action thriller in the hands of other filmmakers, but the Spiering brothers were fully committed to their depiction of a dark and brooding vampire dystopia. The characters all wear old-fashioned suits and dresses despite the twisted modernity that surrounds them, whether that’s in their grand and sterile homes or at their office jobs in high-rise buildings. Throughout the film, these clinical spaces are interrupted by bursts of nature, with the filmmakers lingering on wide establishing shots of beautiful landscapes, desolate roads and vast deserts.
And despite its far-out concept and plot-heavy script, Daybreakers still pays great attention to the practicalities of being a vampire. Edward is memorably introduced as an empty suit in a mirror’s reflection. His blacked-out car plays a great supporting character as he drives around town in the daytime, protected from sunlight, while allowing him to view the outside world through multiple screens.
Hawke’s Edward is one in a string of truly committed performances highlighted in the film. The Oscar-nominated actor could have just taken the paycheck and phoned it in. Instead, he turns in a tortured dramatic performance on par with Before Sunrise. Dafoe appears sporadically but memorably, delivering cheesy one-liners with a straight face. Without spoiling things, the cure his group is seeking involves exposing vampires to the sun. Lionel’s response? “Fuck it, I love a good barbecue.” Neill is also a standout, unhinged and gleeful, covered in blood and rolling around on the floor in agony. It’s a reminder that he was the rare character actor who never took himself too seriously, and was down to try anything.
Daybreakers received mixed reviews upon its release but it has been rediscovered in recent years, becoming a modern cult classic. The movie is a rare example of a pair of filmmakers trying out something new within the constraints of an oversaturated genre, and a great reminder of the power of craft and practical effects. It’s unabashedly cheesy and campy, something that modern vampire movies could use more of.
Daybreakers is free to stream on Pluto TV.