“It’s a pretty kick-ass cast and, of course, I’m in it,” laughs Diora Baird, reflecting the humorous personality she wields like a sword. She’s talking to Shock Till You Drop about the upcoming release 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, hitting DVD and Blu-Ray on October 5. In equal parts, she’s right in her sentiment. Fans of the David Slade-directed comic book adaptation 30 Days of Night, which hit cinemas three years ago, will be interested in the cast director Ben Ketai has pulled together, but they’re also interested in seeing Baird wear another hat other than the damsel in distress.
“I play Amber. She’s not in the comic book [written by Steve Niles],” Baird elaborates. “She annoys Stella [Kiele Sanchez] and Paul [Rhys Coiro] during their hot, sexy romance at all times. I’m just the bad attitude young one of the group. I’m there to bump heads with Stella. Create a little bit of friction.”
Baird is also joined by Harold Perrineau. The quartet (Sanchez, Coiro, Perrineau and Baird) make up a vampire-killing crew who set out to find Lilith (Mia Kirshner), the bloodsucker responsible for the Alaskan massacre that occurred in the first film.
“It’s different in the sense that they stayed as true as they could to the comic, they deviated a bit from the comic in the first one. I know with Stella, they wanted to stay as true as they could. There’s no snow this time and it takes place in Los Angeles even though we shot in Vancouver. I love when we’re shooting outside and it starts to hail. I was freezing my ass off,” Baird laughs.
No amount of bloodshed could warm the actress up, even though there was plenty of red to spare. “I think it’s going to be much more gory than the first one, if that’s possible. They shot this as if it was a war film. I think the director wanted to give it that gritty feel like 21 Grams and The Kingdom, two films you never think about when you might be making a vampire film, but it’s interesting. They’re monsters in this, they’re scary.”
And apparently tough to kill. Garlic. Stakes. Screw the old school methods of defeating a fanged fiend in the 30 Days of Night universe, as Slade first showed us in 2007. “Here they’re freakin’ on steroids,” Baird says. “What I loved about the first movie is that it was so edgy and realistic. Not romantic at all. This is the nemesis of Twilight. This isn’t that type of vampire movie. You don’t want them to suck your blood and that’s what’s so awesome about it. It shows them in their truest form.”
With turns in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Night of the Demons, and even the horror-rooted comedy Stan Helsing, it appears Baird is deliberately trying to make a name for herself in the genre, but the actress insists nothing is planned. “Things happen the way they happen, I’ve always done stuff in the comedy world and it’s funny how things happen. I take movies as they come. One brief period after Texas Chainsaw I said I would never do another horror film because it was so hard. I’m such a pussy watching that stuff too. That’s probably why I’m cast in these movies, because of my reaction. It’s not hard to imagine someone chasing me around.”
This fear was palpable on the set of Dark Days.
“There was a point on this movie where I was so freaked out and everyone thought I had a problem. But I was just like, this is the way I am, I wig myself out. It’ll effect me for weeks after the shoot. I was in a weird state of mind after Chainsaw. In this film, I’m more of a fighter, I was surprised. I’m like, so I’m running and I turn around in slow motion and I’m in a bikini, right? No? I’ve never worn so many clothes in a movie before, it was awesome,” she enthuses. “I didn’t shave my legs for weeks…added for extra warmth. I felt super lucky to be able to do this movie. I just kept thinking, can I pull this off? We’ll see. After I did this, I thought I could be an action star.”
Sony’s direct-to-video sequel 30 Days of Night: Dark Days is headed to DVD and Blu-ray on October 5th, and while I can’t fully get behind any sequel that tries passing off Nikki from “Lost” as Melissa George, I’m curious to see where this is going to go. And today we’ve got a look at the final, revised cover art for you.
DVD Active got the following scoop: Both the DVD and Blu-ray™ + DVD combo pack contain special features, including filmmaker commentary and The Gritty Realism of Dark Days, a new featurette that provides an all access behind-the-scenes exploration of the production design, make-up effects and cinematography used to create the gory war on the vampires. The Blu-ray™ + DVD combo pack is also enhanced with an exclusive Blu-ray interactive featurette, Graphic Inspirations: From Comic to Film, which compares and contrasts the visuals of the graphic novel with the imagery from the film, with discussion by director Ben Ketai.
Synopsis: It’s been a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow’s population was decimated by vampires during its annual month long sunset. Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Kiele Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist. Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Rhys Coiro, Diora Baird and Harold Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Mia Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on her sleepy Alaskan town. With nothing remaining to live for, and nothing left to fear, Stella joins their mission and ventures into the uncharted underbelly of Los Angeles where she pushes herself to the most extreme limits to stop the evil from striking again.
While at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we had a chance to sit down with the folks behind 30 Days of Night: Dark Days – producer J.R. Young, director Ben Katai, and stars Rhys Coiro, Kiele Sanchez, and Diora Baird – and by doing so, we dug up some interesting things about the sequel for you to sink your teeth into. Dig it!
Co-written by Ketai and Steve Niles, Dark Days stars Kiele (A Perfect Getaway) Sanchez (who takes over the role of ‘Stella’ from actress Melissa George from the original 30 Days of Night), Mia (De Palma’s The Black Dahlia) Kirshner, Rhys (“Entourage”) Coiro, Diora (Night of the Demons) Baird, Harold (“Lost”) Perrineau, Troy (A Marine Story) Ruptash, and Monique (Cabin in the Woods) Ganderton.
Synopsis:
It’s been almost a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow’s population was decimated by vampires during its annual month-long sunset. Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist. Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Coiro, Baird and Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on Stella’s sleepy Alaskan town. With nothing remaining to live for, and nothing left to fear, Stella joins their mission and ventures into the uncharted underbelly of Los Angeles where she pushes herself to the most extreme limits to stop the evil from striking again.
New ‘30 Days of Night: Dark Days‘ stills have been released and added to the gallery. Cannot wait to see this movie. Click on the previews below to view them.
The schedule for the Friday, July 23 programming of 2010 San Diego Comic Con International has been released, revealing that the day will be filled with a lot of discussions about the works in superhero, sci-fi and horror genres. On this early weekend, Sony Pictures will get more spotlight as they bring not only one but two of their upcoming releases.
7:30 P.M.-8:30 P.M.:30 Days of Night: Dark Days (Room 7AB) – Director/co-screenwriter Ben Ketai, graphic novel creator/co-writer Steve Niles, stars Keile Sanchez, Diora Baird, and Rhys Coiro, and producer J. R. Young are on hand for an exclusive sneak peek, panel, and Q&A session.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced plans to bring the direct-to-video sequel “30 Days of Night: Dark Days” to Blu-ray Disc on October 5th. The release will be in a Blu-ray & DVD “combo pack” with tech specs of full 1080p Hi-Def video in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound. The film was directed by Ben Ketai, stars Kiele Sanchez, Rhys Coiro, Diora Baird, Harold Perrineau, and Mia Kirshner. This is the sequel to the graphic novel “30 Days of Night” which was turned into a film in 2007. The title is not yet available for pre-order over at Amazon but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. Bonus materials are set to include the following listed below.
PS3 Wallpaper Theme
Filmmaker Commentary
Vampires Exist: The Gritty Realism of Dark Days
Blu-ray Exclusive: Graphic Inspirations: Comic to Film
Diora Baird has been cast in the sequal to the 2007 horror film 30 Days of Night, which will be called 30 Days of Night: Dark Days. Read the article below for more information.
Bloody Disgusting just got the exclusive drop on the first official casting for the Ben Ketai directed 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, Columbia Pictures and Ghost House Pictures’ direct-to-video sequel to the Steve Niles adaptation from 2007. Filming officially kicked off TODAY and beyond the break Bloody Disgusting has your official cast. Enjoy!
Here’s the casting breakdown for you guys, exclusive to Bloody Disgusting:
Rhys Coiro, who plays the infamous Billy in “Entourage” and takes on a major role in Screen Gems’ Straw Dogs remake, takes on one of the lead roles.
Mia Kirshner of The Black Dahlia and Party Monster) plays the lead vampire villain “Lilith”.
Also starring are Harold Perrineau (“Lost”, 28 Weeks Later), the beautiful Kiele Sanchez (A Perfect Getaway, Insanitarium, “Lost”) and genre vet Diora Baird (Night of the Demons, Texas Chiansaw Massacre: Te Beginning, Stan Helsing). Rhys Coiro and Monique Ganderton round out the cast.
Coiro starred in The Unborn and the forthcoming remake of Straw Dogs. Ganderton is the stunt double in tons of horror movies ranging from Joy Ride: Dead Ahead to Underworld: Evolution, White Noise 2: The Light and the forthcoming The Cabin in the Woods.
Plot crunch: After nearly a year of struggling to expose the truth, a desperate and lonely Stella decides to join a group of rogue vampire hunters to seek revenge on Lilith, the powerful vampire responsible for the attack on her Alaskan town…
“It’s a pretty kick-ass cast and, of course, I’m in it,” laughs Diora Baird, reflecting the humorous personality she wields like a sword. She’s talking to Shock Till You Drop about the upcoming release 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, hitting DVD and Blu-Ray on October 5. In equal parts, she’s right in her sentiment. Fans of the David Slade-directed comic book adaptation 30 Days of Night, which hit cinemas three years ago, will be interested in the cast director Ben Ketai has pulled together, but they’re also interested in seeing Baird wear another hat other than the damsel in distress.
DioraBaird.org 
