DAYLIGHT’S END FILM REVIEW: A MAD-MAX STYLE ROMP THROUGH THE VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE…

---

Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, (Yip, those bloodsucking-vampires) a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.

Johnny Strong (Fast and the Furious, Black Hawk Down) plays Thomas Rourke, a loner on the move in a post-apocalyptic world filled with vamps after an outbreak.

I was a little worried when the opening credits showed snippets of news reports detailing how the apocalypse had escalated, much like another famous movie, (but zombie-originated movie) World War Z, but my worries were gone whence the opening kicks in.

The opening shot of Rourke’s armored car blasting down a desolate road screamed of Mad Max to Culturedemandsgeeks and the connection only got stronger when we realized that the main character had lost his pregnant wife and was a loner, much like Mel Gibson’s Max, who lost his wife and child.

Culturedemandsgeeks was intrigued from then on after.

After destroying a vampire hiding in a closed store, (death by fridge) Rourke gets back in his car and heads into the city center and gets out to explore the area.  He witnesses people in a cop car get out to check on a woman in the road cradling what looks like a baby.  They are suddenly attacked by a group of heavily armored and weaponized marauders, who kill everybody but the female (played by Chelsea Edmundson) who brings him back to her community of frightened and holed-up survivors in a near city.

Anything with Lance Henriksen in it as he has such a commanding screen presence with his awesome voice to boot; he plays the leader of the group of survivors who is unsure how trustworthy Rourke is and you can totally see his point of view.

Henriksen is the main draw among the group and does a great job playing a leader who has been hardened by the loss of a son. Also making a strong impression are Louis Mandylor as his surviving son and Edmundson as Sam, the character who bonds with Rourke the most and has a plan to get her group out of Dallas.

The vampires have been stepping up their attacks in Dallas since the arrival of a new alpha vampire, so Sam’s escape plan needs to be carried out soon. To facilitate the plan, Rourke suggests taking the fight to the vampires, a mission he will gladly lead because he has a personal vendetta against this alpha.

Then as the story unravels and our desolate hero goes/tries to save the day, but not before destroying most of the community from within (which were probably going to die anyway), but Rourke’s character definitely helped them on their way.

The ending did drag a little, and you just wonder why don’t these people just goddamn leave already, instead of just waiting to be sucked dry by the thirsty vamps led by an intelligent vamp.

FINAL VERDICT:

Daylights End is briskly paced and never dull with a script that doesn’t go the way you’d expect; you know how sometimes you watch a movie and you can predict what dialogue comes next? That doesn’t happen with this which keeps things fresh and interesting.

This movie turned out to be high action, quick-moving film that could be best described as Mad Max meets 28 Days Later meets Assault on Precinct 13.

3.5/5 STARS