A lot of films can benefit from a bit of genre-bending — combining the best aspects of a type of film to create something new. The Alien series pulled together outer-space action with deep horror tones. Blade Runner mixed science-fiction with film noir to create a dystopian Los Angeles. In 2009, a mixture of vampire horror and science fiction created one of the most interesting vampire stories in recent history — Daybreakers. Daybreakers is written and directed by the Spierig Brothers (Michael and Peter), a duo very familiar with horror and science-fiction. They’re best known for directing 2017’s Jigsaw and 2014’s Predestination, a time-traveling action film with a great twist.

Daybreakers explores a world where a plague has turned almost all humans into vampires. A dwindling human population means the proper amount of blood for vampires is dwindling too. Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), an employee at vampire-run pharmaceutical company Bromley Marks, is trying to create a synthetic version of blood that will let the remaining humans live. Dalton’s plans change when he meets Elvis Cormac (Willem Dafoe), a man who has found a way to transform back into a human again using the sun. While battling horrific creatures that were once vampires themselves, the two are joined by Audrey Bennet (Claudia Karvan), a human, and must do whatever they can to help spread the cure before it’s too late.

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The aspect of medicine and science is what teeters Daybreakers into the territory of science-fiction. It becomes less of a vampire heavy film and more like speculative fiction that examines illness or epidemics and just how far people are willing to go for what they believe is right. It’s reminiscent of other post-apocalyptic films — viewers are introduced to a new world with rules different from our own, with brand new technology and a population changed by the events around them. The twist is that the plague ravaging Daybreakers isn't a lethal disease or a zombie outbreak: it's vampirism. Instead of curfews, there are neighborhood warnings of the oncoming sunrise, tunnels that allow vampires to walk around a city during the day, and street vendors selling blood like it’s coffee.

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To double down on its clinical, scientific angle, Daybreakers' main character Edward Dalton is a doctor (a hematologist for an added layer of irony) who is focused on his research and curious about a cure. Viewers get to watch while Edward tests his theories before eventually conducting experiments on the only vampire body available to him — his own. With the controlled atmosphere of a fermentation tank and covered in a myriad of wires, Dalton exposes himself to sunlight, allowing himself to burn just long enough for his friend Elvis to throw water on him. They repeat the grueling process over and over until Audrey picks up a heartbeat on Dalton, a sign that he is human again.

Daybreakers isn’t without its fair dose of political commentary, as with all good films with science-fiction elements. The film offers a reality where humans are the minority and are only seen as either a source of food or an annoying pest by vampires. There is a particularly shocking moment where viewers are greeted by a litany of vampire-ran news channels full of vampires remarking on humans, explaining darkly that they “just gotta go.” Daybreakers also lets the political become personal to the characters. The CEO of Bromley Marks, Charles Bromley's (Sam Neill) stance on vampirism is biased due to his diagnosis of cancer before the plague. Now seeing the disease as a miracle, he refuses to fund a cure and wants to use his company’s blood substitute to hopefully become the richest man alive, valuing wealth over human life.

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But there’s still a reason why the film is labeled as vampiric horror. It has plenty of scary moments, varying from jumpscares to outright gore in some spots. The main trio of Edward, Elvis, and Audrey are constantly on the run and hiding from Edward’s boss, adding tension to every scene. What might give viewers the biggest fright in Daybreakers comes in body horror. Due to the rationing of human blood to vampires, some creatures have become sick. Thanks to some amazing effects, these infected vampires are now grotesque creatures with rotting faces, who hide in the shadows and prey on anyone. The film also includes many great elements from other vampire films, such as fight scenes with crossbows

Science-fiction and horror are a match made in heaven, especially in films like Daybreakers. With more horror films being rooted in some form of science, far-away or present-day, there comes a terrifying notion for fans of the genre — that developing science could make the nightmares on screen become reality one day, even if it’s not in the form of vampires.

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