Most of you are already familiar with Daybreakers – the star-studded vampire flick which hit theatres back in January, featuring the likes of Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill. Directed by the Spierig Brothers (the men responsible for film Undead), Daybreakers is set about 10 years in the future in a world where humans are farmed for blood and are near extinction. Vampires have overtaken society and are becoming sick due to the lack of human blood available for consumption. Ethan Hawke plays a bloodsucker who makes a career in hematology. He has sworn off human blood and is consumed with developing a blood substitute. Sympathetic to the human cause, he comes to the aide of a group of humans who then make him aware that one of them (Dafoe) used to be a vampire! This is the point where the film really takes off, but rather than ruin it for you, I'll let you run off and discover it for yourself.

From watching Daybreakers it is very clear that the Spierig brothers have done their homework and know where the genre has come from, because they've crammed more refreshing ideas into this film than I've seen in the last dozen vampire flicks I've watched combined. This is no easy task to accomplish for a monster with such a ripe mythology. The film presents itself as hybrid of the horror, science fiction, and action genres, although fans of the former will certainly be satiated since the blood flows a plenty. My main issue of contention with Daybreakers is that it tries to do too much and, ultimately, this is what prevents it from being a great film. There are so many concepts that are merely brushed over – I could've watched an entire movie on the subsiders alone for instance. Or the idea of vampires feeding on themselves….I could go on and on! The picture has tons of interesting facets, there are just too many to digest in a completely satisfying manner. Daybreakers is a good vampire flick, it is just frustrating because the elements were there for it to be a great one. Who knows, perhaps if a sequel ever comes along we'll get the chance to see more of these innovative ideas fleshed out.

As for the Blu-Ray presentation….although other sites across the internet have given the picture quality a solid thumbs up, I'll have to be the first to disagree. This has to be one of the weakest BD's of a new film, picturewise, that I've seen yet. After a standout scene at the start of the film featuring a close-up shot of one of the subsiders, the picture quality reverted to what amounted to something not that much different from an upscaled DVD. A couple more scenes looked sharp as the film played out, but the majority of the movie had a very soft look to it and varied levels of grain from scene to scene. I have to admit this was very disappointing. On a brighter note, the sound came across great and you can't go wrong with Lionsgate's 7.1 tracks.

What the Daybreakers BD may lack in picture quality is certainly made up for in bonus content. First and foremost, you get a feature length documentary on the making of the film - a huge upgrade from the featurette that is on the DVD. Also included is an audio commentary with the Spierig brothers and special effects creator Steve Boyle, as well as a poster gallery, trailer, short film from the Spierig's titled "The Big Picture," and a storyboard/animatics film comparison. Oh yeah, a digital copy of the flick is included too. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Daybreakers is a good flick that is worth owning. Although I found the picture quality of the BD to be a letdown, the awesome BD-exclusive bonus content definitely makes this the more attractive package when compared to the DVD. Both the BD and DVD are in stores now courtesy of Lionsgate so be sure to head out to your local retailer and check 'em out!

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Paws