Daybreakers

Friday 8th January 2010, 7:56AM GMT.

‘Life’s a bitch then you don’t die,’ grumbles a vampire in Daybreakers.

Set nine years hence, in a world decimated by a mysterious plague which has transformed the vast majority of the population into fanged fiends, Peter and Michael Spierig’s sci-fi thriller injects fresh blood into the creatures of the night.

The film retains the familiar iconography: the vampires have no reflection; humans slay bloodsuckers with a stake through the heart; and the carnivorous beasties fry to a crisp in direct sunlight.

All that is missing is a bulb of garlic, a protective church cross and a couple of busty wenches, heaving to be bitten.

However, there’s nothing remotely camp or erotic about the Spierigs’ vampires: they are everyday folk who commute to work in the dead of night and queue for coffee infused with blood.

Humans account for 5% of the population and are captured by the vampires to be drained of their blood.

In a clear nod to current environmental concerns, this precious resource has almost run dry and the dominant species faces possible extinction unless it can engineer a blood substitute.

Undead scientist Edward (Ethan Hawke), who was turned by his soldier brother Frankie (Michael Dorman), is a leading researcher at Bromley Marks, the world leader in blood pharmacy, run by the conniving Charles Bromley (Sam Neill).

Working alongside colleague Christopher (Vince Colosimo), Edward struggles to create a stable, synthetic substitute.

Sympathetic to the human cause, the scientists meets human survivor Audrey (Claudia Karvan), who in turn introduces Edward to resistance leader Elvis (Willem Dafoe).

They have an alternative solution to the blood crisis: cure vampirism.

Daybreakers opens with an infected girl writing a suicide note and waiting for the sun to rise.

Stylish credits quickly transport us to April 2019 and an earthy colour palette of greys, browns and black: it’s cold, clinical and far removed from the gothic splendour of bygone vampire yarns.

The neat central premise provides plenty of scope for the Spierigs to create a believable and detailed universe but after an hour or so, the narrative runs out of steam, most notably in the bungled relationship between Bromley and his daughter Alison (Isabel Lucas).

Special effects are slathered in blood and goo and the directors orchestrate a fast-paced chase, which sees Edward scorched by rays of sunlight from the bullet holes in his car.

Hawke and his co-stars are suitably lifeless – Neill arches an eyebrow every now and then – while Dafoe appropriates all of the best lines, including a hysterical analogy between human survival in a vampire world and sleeping with a particularly fragrant prostitute.

An imminent, gory death is no time to lose your sense of humour.