It's been ten years since Melissa George made her mark in her first feature film -- Alex Proyas' cult favorite, Dark City. Since then, she's had some stinkers -- oh, the crap that was Derailed comes to mind -- as well as some worthy roles like the beautifully eerie Camilla Rhodes in Mulholland Drive. But now that she's finished with vampires and 30 Days of Night, The Hollywood Reporter posts that she'll get into a supernatural Triangle.

The thriller is about some people who go on a yachting trip in the Atlantic Ocean. When they're "struck by mysterious weather conditions," they move onto another ship. However, it doesn't seem like this new ship was the life-saving convenience they imagined because they "experience greater havoc on the open seas" on this other vessel. I guess they hop onto a ghost ship or something. Or, maybe modern-day pirates?! Anyway, George will play one of the passengers who has a mental disorder and "relives the harrowing experience through each of her three personalities." I guess she survives, or has died and descended into a mental hell. Christopher Smith, who last brought us the bloody team-building flick Severance, will direct the feature, which shoots this spring in Australia.

If you're excited about the latest psychological thriller, Waz (or WΔZ), then be sure to watch that trailer above (courtesy of TerrorFeed.com). I'm not going to promise that you can see much, though. Really, it has got to be the darkest preview I've ever seen -- and I'm not talking about dark in terms of subject matter. I know my computer is facing a sunny window, and there's probably a good amount of dust on my screen, but still. A scary movie trailer shouldn't only be accessible to horror geeks watching from their black-curtained basement bedrooms. If I hadn't read the synopsis provided by HorrorMovies.ca, I wouldn't have had any idea what was going on. All I would have had to say was, "Stellan Skarsgard sure does look badass with a mustache," and "boy, Melissa George is even more easily confused for Rachel McAdams in the dark."

Now that I've gotten over the seemingly poor quality of the movie (or the trailer, at least), I recall that I was once pretty interested in Waz. Last May, when Ryan wrote about the film being picked up at Cannes by The Weinstein Co., he quoted George from his interview with the actress, and her description made the thing sound very intriguing. She called it a "genius storyline" dealing how humans are more willing to sacrifice a loved one for their own survival than other animals, who are apt to sacrifice themselves for the good of "the kingdom." Yeah, that sounds good, right? Too bad the end result looks more like just another Se7en knock-off. But of course, there is a chance that it is as good as George claims. Variety's Derek Elley called it a "mightily impressive feature debut" from director Tom Shankland and Cinematical horror expert Scott Weinberg wrote on another site that it's "solid" and "one of the best [serial killer flicks] I've seen in awhile." I guess it's just a bad trailer, then?

Ever wondered what it would be like to see every vampire movie ever made, all rolled into one? If so, 30 Days of Night is for you -- it's got a little bit of everything. For Dracula-lovers, there's a hillbilly Renfield, played by everyone's new favorite actor, Ben Foster. His arrival in town at the outset, with a shambling gait and greasy-roadie haircut, foreshadows the arrival of some nameless master who he's bound to displease in some way. The vampires, when they arrive, turn out not to be Hungarian sophisticates, but feral beasts who look like a cross between a cougar and Marilyn Manson. They take their movement cues from The Lost Boys, attacking from out of frame and grabbing their prey up into space or yanking them into a dark corner. Instead of sucking blood, they tear their victims' limbs apart as easily as restaurant rolls. An apparent nod to the Blade series also creeps in, when the vamps begin speaking some erudite, subtitled language and spouting faux-profound aphorisms like "things which can be broken must be broken!"

On top of this heady mishmash of genre staples there's a nifty overarching conceit, taken from the comic on which 30 Days is based -- the location of the carnage is a remote town in Seward's Folly, where the sun doesn't shine for a full month. (Why did it take vampires so long to hear about this place? And mightn' it have been more interesting if all the world's vampires came gunning for this place, instead of a handful? But that's neither here nor there.) The vamps that do descend on the snowy Alaskan hamlet must go head to head with two pretty local cops, played by Josh Hartnett and Melissa George, and one of the best things about 30 Days is that it acknowledges straightaway that the humans are physically no match for the vampires. Those who survive the initial assault must scramble into hiding places to save their necks and what follows is a sort of 'Anne Frank vampire film', with Hartnett and George and a ragtag group holing up in an abandoned attic and waiting for the vamp patrols to move on.

I'm a Melissa George fan, although I think she's sort of wasted in most of the films she does. I'll say no more on that subject, since I'm already addressing it in my upcoming review of 30 Days of Night. Anyhow, the outspoken Aussie is making a small bit of news this morning, having told ComingSoon that, in spite of everything we've heard, Jan de Bont's Stopping Power, which was recently shut down, is completely back on and will begin shooting in March. "It's back on!" George tells the site, with typical breathlessness. "First of March. Three days into filming, we were in Berlin, they cancelled the film. It worked out so good, because I'm busy doing other things, and I could come back to shoot. HBO and I'm going away next Christmas, and then the strike happens next year, so I'm going to go away in March and do this. Look, anything can change, but it's on. It has to be on." That last part sounds like she might be sort of 'willing' the project into life, but still, she does give a solid date.

By the way, when I spoke with 30 Days of Night graphic novelist Steve Niles a couple of months back, he told me of early plans to push forward with a sequel to the film, called Dark Days, if everything went well at the box-office. Dark Days is a project that would be entirely focused around the character played by George -- is Hollywood ready to entrust her with carrying an entire action-horror film on her shoulders? I think it's a safe bet -- this is an actress with a lot of potential who could use a great, high-gloss breakout role like that. Stay tuned to Cinematical for all future info on Stopping Power and Dark Days, should they actually happen!

That last R-rated clip from 30 Days of Night was pretty cool, but wait'll you get a load of this new one. It's definitely more my kind of thing, since I prefer zombies to vampires, and the clip makes the pic look more like a zombie movie. What could be better than Mark Boone Junior driving around in some kind of chainsaw-esque tractor, slicing through multiple baddies while simultaneously blowing away others with a shotgun? Exactly. Nothing could be better. In fact, I think I like this scene better than that sequence in Dawn of the Dead where they're driving the modified bus around. But that partially has to do with my appreciation for Mark Boone Junior. He just looks like the perfect guy to be in charge of a task like this. Anyway, once again you have to prove you're 18 (or otherwise get through the sign-in page) in order to watch the clip. Or you could just wait until Friday when the movie hits theaters.

Cinematical wimp pansy editor-in-chief, Erik Davis, saw the film and loved it, even though he's probably back to sleeping with a night light. He even claims it's the most beautiful horror film he's ever seen. For those still out of the loop, the movie is based on Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's graphic novel about a small town far up north where the sun disappears for a whole month -- ripe time for a crop of vampires to go on a rampage. Directed by David Slade (Hard Candy), it stars Josh Hartnett, Ben Foster, Melissa George, my favorite supporting actor these days, Danny Huston, and, of course, Mark Boone Junior.

I'm not much of a horror buff myself, but if there is more stuff like this new clip, I'm pretty much sold on going to see it. And though I don't think I've ever needed a night light, I bet I'll have at least one nightmare as a result. It just looks like that kind of movie. At the very least, I'm sure I'd at least get freaked out the next time I'm walking around late at night in the snow. Between 30 Days of Night and the recently released The Last Winter, I'm pretty set never to go up to the arctic circle.

Let me preface this story by telling you I'm: a) a total wimp when it comes to horror flicks, and b) I slept with a night light in my room until I was at least 19. With that in mind, our friends over at Sony/Columbia Pictures emailed me the other day with a proposition: They were doing a screening of 30 Days of Night, followed by something called 'Dining in the Dark,' and asked if I was interested. Even though I'm in no way a horror buff, I'm a big fan of director David Slade (loved Hard Candy!), and was looking forward to seeing what he did with 30 Days of Night, an adaptation of the graphic novel about a bunch of vampires who invade a small Alaskan town under, well, 30 straight days of night. I wasn't quite up to speed on this whole 'Dining in the Dark' thing, but I figured -- what the hell -- they'll be candles, it'll be spooky, and we'll have a blast.

But before I tell you about dinner, let's talk about the movie. Ryan will be bringing you a full-on review of 30 Days when it hits theaters next week, but I'll get the ball rolling by saying it was pretty damn good. Visually (and I credit the novel, cinematographer Jo Willems, and Slade here), the film looked absolutely incredible. There's this one overhead shot which sweeps across the entire town and shows vampires feasting on residents that's, quite simply, brilliant. The quick cuts are fantastic, and there's definitely more than one scene where you'll be jumping out of your seat. Additionally, I'm starting to really dig Josh Hartnett. He's good in this film, and I'm loving the role choices he's taking on lately (between this film and Resurrecting the Champ). Melissa George doesn't do a whole lot for me, but she's fine here as Hartnett's estranged wife -- and I'm glad the two of them didn't talk about their struggling relationship too much while a group of nasty-ass vampires were invading the town (although there are some cheesy moments sprinkled throughout). Even so, the end (if you've read the novel and know what happens) is damn powerful. Oh, and I can't say enough about Ben Foster -- this guy is all kinds of creepy here.

After the jump: How I go from 30 Days of Night to eating dinner in the pitch black.

This is sad news for all of us who were looking forward to John Cusack in an action thriller from Jan De Bont. Apparently someone had the power to stop Stopping Power, and the planned movie has been killed, Variety reports. That someone is actually a financial backer that pulled out suddenly at the last minute. The $40 million production was scheduled to begin filming in Berlin very soon with a cast that included Jason Isaacs and Melissa George. Internationalmedia, a Munich-based company that was co-producing the movie, will be dealing with the back-out backer in court, but hasn't revealed who the backer is, though. So far at least one of Internationalmedia's subsidiaries, IM Stopping Power GmbH, which was set up specifically for Stopping Power, has had to file for insolvency.

While Jan de Bont might not be having the best luck with his other projects, it looks like his next far-fetched action title, Stopping Power, is moving along nicely. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Jason Isaacs (aka Lucius Malfoy) and Melissa George (30 Days of Night) have joined John Cusack in the action thriller. Cusack stars as a single father whose family RV is hijacked by a criminal on the run while vacationing in Germany. To save his daughter, he is forced to act as a 'decoy driver' for the escaped con, becoming embroiled in a high-stakes police chase. George is set to play Cusack's girlfriend, and Isaacs will play the criminal. That's not much of a surprise; Isaacs' resume is littered with "bad-guy" roles. Plus, if anyone can handle over-the-top villainy, it would be Isaacs; if you don't believe me, take another look at his performance in The Patriot.

Back in May, Scott Weinberg told us that de Bont was promising Stopping Power would include a 51-minute chase scene. Remember de Bont before the lifeless Tomb Raider films and the lame remake of The Haunting; this was the same director who brought us Speed. So the man does know his way around "vehicular action." The original draft of the script was written by The Hitcher scribe, Eric Red, but has reportedly undergone some rewrites from Richard Shepard (The Matador) and Skip Woods (Swordfish). With casting now in place, the production is ready to start shooting in Berlin this September. Stopping Power is scheduled to hit theaters in 2008.

Man, do I love me a good red band trailer. And when it includes Josh Hartnett slicing his way through a little vampire girl with an axe, how can you go wrong? Since this is a red band trailer (or R-rated trailer), you'll need to prove you're over 18 before watching. (Kids with older siblings know what to do.) Once you prove your age, you'll be taken to the new trailer, followed by an exclusive scene from the film. Both look outstanding, and I'm convinced director David Slade's follow-up to the very awesome Hard Candy will most likely go down as one of the best vampire flicks in a long, long time. Unlike most red band trailers, the one for 30 Days of Night doesn't feature any nudity or foul language. Lots and lots of blood? Check. Vampires feasting on human faces? Check. Yeah, this ain't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill family film.

30 Days of Night is based on a miniseries of horror comic books written by Steve Niles (who also co-wrote the screenplay for this feature version, and spoke with Cinematical's Ryan Stewart recently about the page-to-screen process). Although a number of sequels exist in comic form, there's been no word on a potential horror franchise here. Chances are folks will wait to see how this one does in theaters. If it does well, they'll most likely move onto Dark Days (the immediate follow-up to 30 Days). Summer wasn't so nice to horror, but hopefully the brisk October release date (and Sam Raimi's participation) will help 30 Days of Night rise above the rest. This first flick will revolve around a group of vampires who travel to a small town in Alaska where there's no sunlight for 30 days straight. There, they can feed on a slew of unsuspecting town folk without the threat of sunlight crashing the party. It'll be up to the town's husband-and-wife Sheriff team (played by Harnett and Melissa George) to find a way to stop these blood suckers before they destroy everything. 30 Days of Night hits theaters on October 19, right in time for Halloween.

I don't know much about Melissa George because I haven't seen the majority of films she's appeared in. Actually, I haven't seen any of the films she's appeared in. I do know that her star is slowly rising, and we'll definitely get a much better look at her when she stars opposite Josh Hartnett in the upcoming vampire thriller 30 Days of Night. Thankfully, I'm not here to announce George's involvement in a sequel to Captivity -- although the two films do share similar themes. Moviehole reports that George has signed on to star in Captive, a new thriller written and directed by Amanda Gusack. Apparently the film is shooting in Canada this month, yet I, personally, haven't heard of it (and nether has IMDb).

In the film, George will play a happily married mother who wakes up after a bad car accident to find herself a hostage in a remote waterfront warehouse. Some dude named Vince (who's also a "masked killer") is holding her, and "shocking revelations are about to turn her formerly safe and orderly existence upside down." I'm not sure what those "shocking revelations" might be, but I'd say waking up in a warehouse next to a masked killer is shocking in and of itself. As Moviehole cleverly points out, George seems fond of this type of material. Either that, or it's all she can get. Aside from Captive, she was stuck in a loony house with Ryan Reynolds in The Amityville Horror remake, she was kidnapped by organ harvesters in Turistas and we'll watch her fending off a vampire attack pretty soon in 30 Days of Night. Is it just me, or does someone like it freaky?