Armed with eye-candy stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George, plus a midnight-all-the-time premise, 30 Days of Night is a great set-up for high-definition viewing. The two headliners live in an Alaskan village where there is a month of no sunlight every year—a prime setting for dark-loving, blood-sucking vampires. This Blu-ray version excels at making the background pop, as the contrast between black skies and white snow is really spectacular. And vampires are all the more frightening with high-def’s ability to emphasize their glistening saliva as they devour people’s necks.

Shelf Talk: A horror movie infused with recognizable talent gives 30 Days a good shot at success on DVD and Blu-ray. But 30 Days comes after a long string of monster torture flicks, such as franchises Saw and Resident Evil, potentially leading to some tiring of the genre. Also, the sole bonus feature exclusive to its Blu-ray format—a comparison between graphic novel art and finished film scenes—might lead people to balk at paying a premium over the standard-def edition.