This review was written by guest poster Eric Nuzum, a local pop culture commentator and author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula.

Here’s the reason why there have been more than 600 vampire films produced in the past 85 years: Vampires are the perfect metaphor.

Tradition says that vampires don’t cast reflections. But vampires are, in fact, reflections of what terrifies or titillates us, as well as what we are scared to admit we find alluring and seductive. If you want to understand a moment in time or culture, just look at its vampires.

So what does the latest entry into the vast goo of vampiric cinema, 30 Days of Night, tell us about ourselves? Well, it could be (a) we really don’t like cold, darkness, and feeling lonely, (b) we like films with lots of blood and loud noises, or (c) that the movie-going public would rather see anything other than the new Ben Affleck movie.