Vampires are done. That's the conventional wisdom, and it's wisdom with which I more or less agreed before I saw Daybreakers, the closing night film of the 2009 Fantastic Fest. Directed by the Spierig Brothers (the fellas behind Undead), Daybreakers steps boldly outside of the usual vampire boundaries and does something unique and fun, and it creates an entire world that is guaranteed to intrigue you and leave you wanting more.

The set up is simple: it's 2019, and it's been ten years since the vampire plague hit humanity. Now over 95% of the Earth's population are fanged bloodsuckers who don't have reflections and who are afraid of the sun. But as the vampire population explodes, their food source dwindles; unwise management of natural resources - in this case, the human population - has left the vampire world on the brink of serious disaster, as they only have about enough blood to feed the world for a month.

Vampires that go without blood don't die - they devolve into horrible bat creatures called Subsiders; the bestial Subsiders lurk beneath subway tunnels and in the ghettos, and as the film opens they've begun coming into even the suburbs, and even suburbanites have started to become Subsiders as blood supplies dwindle.

At the center of all this is Edward (Ethan Hawke), a hematologist employed by industrialist and blood magnate Charles Bromley (a delightfully sinister Sam Neill) to find a blood replacement. For Edward, who was turned into a vampire against his will, this is a chance to stop the farming and murder of humans. For Bromley this is a way to replenish human stock and to offer 100% natural human blood as an expensive delicacy. But since there seems to be no replacement that works - one trial leads to a wonderfully messy detonation of the test subject vamp - it all seems like there's no hope. That is until Edward runs into a band of human resistance fighters who may have discovered the cure for vampirism.

The main joy at the heart of Daybreakers is the scope of the world the Spierigs have created. They've thought this through, and while there are a couple of holes or places where you might question logic, the world feels complete. As a young nerd my favorite part of pen and paper role playing games was the world building - I loved modules that included history and government and culture of the fictional land in which our characters were adventuring. I liked immersing myself in the worlds as well as nitpicking at the reality created by the writers; the Spierig Brothers have outlined a world that would have made that young nerd ecstatic with its fullness and reality, the tangible details they have included that make this feel like a place, not like a cobbled together set.

Part of what makes that world tick is the way the Spierigs have approached vampires the way so many filmmakers have approached zombies - they see an opportunity to discuss real issues with vampirism, to create a society that mirrors and comments on ours. The way the vampires have mismanaged the human population is obviously a reflection of our own current and impending crises with natural resources, and the Subsiders represent the poverty underclass that sits invisible in every Western nation. The fact that suburbanites are becoming Subsiders echoes the mortgage crisis and the death of the middle class. And to their credit the Spierigs don't make a big deal out of these things - they just present aspects of the vampire world and allow you to draw your own conclusions, or not. This film isn't a polemic, but it also isn't just an action movie with fangs in its mouth.

But my favorite bit of social commentary may be the most subtle: it's the arrogance of the vampires. The vampires have been on top for a decade, but they all but wallow in their immortality. They have no vision for the future beyond the moment, and they don't realize that living forever is a very daunting thing. They're the ultimate Americans, not realizing how young their empire is, assuming it will go on forever as it has gone on for the last few years and steadfastly refusing to look beyond today to see the coming calamity.

I don't want to oversell the commentary of Daybreakers, but it's a huge part of what made the film work for me. The main story - Edward trying to find a cure - is clunky, and there's a side story or two that never quite gel. For those less enthralled with the world the Spierigs have created, these stunted stories could be deal-breakers. But for me they're more than made up for by excellent action scenes - many of which are wonderfully wet - and strong character work by a trio of seasoned actors. Ethan Hawke does a lot of his Ethan Hawke thing - wounded, quiet, greasy - but for me it works in the role. More interesting is Sam Neill as the bad guy with a slight conscience, and Willem Dafoe as the human survivor who holds the key to the future. Dafoe has made a weird choice to play his character with a Southern accent that comes in and out, but that almost feels intentional. His character calls himself Elvis, and has an affinity for old muscle cars, so it's easy to buy that the accent is a put on. Neill's corporate baddie, Bromley, is one of those great bad guys who always keeps his cool, and who is always one step ahead of the heroes. I wish that Neill and Dafoe had scenes together, since they're coming at their characters from such opposite ends, which I think would have created something really explosive.

While the Spierigs have computer effects in their veins - they did FX on this film, much as they did on Undead - they wisely keep much of the monster and gore stuff practical. Watching Ninja Assassin at Fantastic Fest I was completely thrown off by the torrents of digital blood. In Daybreakers the blood is almost always real and physical. The Subsiders could have been done with digital effects, but instead they're guys in big badass latex suits, and it helps create the reality and the menace of the monsters.

To me Daybreakers is incredibly impressive for a second feature. Ambitious, smart and unique, the film proves that the Spierigs have a real future as interesting genre filmmakers. And while I look forward to whatever they do next (currently planned to be a scifi remake of Captain Blood), I'm hoping they get a chance to revisit the world they've created here and explore it further. I'm ready to go back at any time.

8.5 out of 10