Review: Daybreakers ***

Set nine years hence, in a world decimated by a mysterious plague which has transformed the majority of the population into fanged fiends, Peter and Michael Spierig's sci-fi thriller injects fresh blood into the creatures of the night.

The film retains the familiar iconography: the vampires have no reflection; humans slay bloodsuckers with a stake through the heart; and the carnivorous beasties fry to a crisp in direct sunlight.

However, there's nothing remotely camp or erotic about the Spierigs' vampires: they are everyday folk who commute to work in the dead of night and queue for coffee infused with blood.

Humans account for five per cent of the population and are captured by the vampires to be drained of their blood. In a clear nod to environmental concerns, this precious resource has almost run dry and the vampires face extinction unless they can engineer a blood substitute.

Undead scientist Ethan Hawke is a leading researcher at a world leader in blood pharmacy, run by conniving Sam Neill. Working alongside colleague Vince Colosimo, Edward struggles to create a stable, synthetic substitute.

Sympathetic to the human cause, the scientists meets human survivor Claudia Karvan who introduces them to resistance leader Willem Dafoe. They have an alternative solution to the blood crisis: cure vampirism.

The neat central premise provides plenty of scope for the Spierigs to create a believable and detailed universe but after an hour or so, the narrative runs out of steam. Special effects are slathered in blood and goo and the directors orchestrate a fast-paced chase, which sees Hawke scorched by rays of sunlight from the bullet holes in his car. Hawke and his co-stars are suitably lifeless – Neill arches an eyebrow every now and then – while Dafoe appropriates all of the best lines.