David Slade Owns the Night

By Daniel Fritz
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/item/david_slade_30_days_of_night_20071021/
With 30 Days of Night, a graphic novel-inspired thriller that has vampires chomping through the Arctic darkness of a small Alaskan town, director David Slade makes a formidable foray into the cinema mainstream with but one independent feature under his belt. Having directed a long string of commercials and music videos, Slade premiered his first full-length movie, Hard Candy, at Sundance in 2005. The film quickly gained a cult following, which must have included producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, who asked Slade to direct their innovative vampire flick. "David has a style and a way of working unique unto him," says Tapert. "He is a believer in lots of tight shots, close-ups with attention to details, which frenetically ramp up his movie."