Sam Neill’s Underrated Vampire Movie Is A Must-See Film On Prime Video

The tragic news has broken that legendary actor Sam Neill has passed away at the age of 78. Across his career of more than five decades, Neill had been a star in everything from some of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood history to some of the most well-received smaller indie films. He showcased an impressive level of versatility and he’s an actor who no movie lover can ever forget. Neill’s most famous role, of course, was as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, a role he reprised just a few years ago for Jurassic World Dominion.

However, when looking back at Sam Neill’s storied career, it’s great to find his more underrated and lesser-known projects. Those aforementioned indie films or the movies that didn’t rake in huge box office numbers, as well as some that were even met with lackluster reviews, yet deserved better. For every Event Horizon, Peaky Blinders, and The Hunt for Red October, Neill’s career includes Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Apples Never Fall, and The Piano. Each of those projects is worth checking out and each shows you just how good Sam Neill was as a performer.

When it comes to Sam Neill hidden gems, though, a standout is 2009’s Daybreakers, a vampire flick that’s currently available to stream on Prime Video.

Daybreakers Has A Cool Concept For A Vampire Movie

The entire idea behind Daybreakers is an interesting one that allows it to stand out from other movies in the same genre. The story takes place in a futuristic world (though it’s only 2019) where vampires are the dominant species. Despite their status in charge of everything, there is concern about how little human blood remains in the world, so a vampiric corporation sets out to hunt down and capture the remaining humans. During that time, they’re also researching a substitute for human blood if needed.

The main plot during all this centers on a vampire hematologist who has his work interrupted by a group of human survivors. The twist is that the group is led by someone who is a former vampire and has a cure that could save the human species. While the idea of a vampire cure is nothing new, everything from the futuristic setting to the hunt for a blood substitute to the corporation getting involved makes for a unique experience and a cool movie.

Sam Neill’s Daybreakers Character Is Different For Him

For the most part, people think of heroic figures when their minds go to Sam Neill. Dr. Alan Grant is basically the protagonist of Jurassic Park, which is one of the biggest and most popular films of all time. Alan Grant was a lot of things and heroic is one of his biggest traits. In The Hunt for Red October, he’s second in command to Sean Connery’s lead and in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Neill plays a caring foster father who protects his foster son when the authorities come for him.

In Daybreakers, you get a totally different kind of Sam Neill character. He portrays Charles Bromley, the owner of the Bromley Marks corporation. They’re the largest provider of human blood in the world and Bromley is a ruthless man. He was diagnosed with cancer before the plague, so he became a vampire to extend his life. It cost him his relationship with his daughter, yet he shows no regrets and wants to use the blood substitute to become the richest man in the world.

Not only is Charles Bromley a different kind of character for Neill, but he also represents an intriguing look at how some CEOs act. Power and wealth matter more to him than anything, including his family and what’s good for the world.

The Cast Of Daybreakers Is Phenomenal

As great as the late Sam Neill is in Daybreakers, he’s far from alone. In fact, despite not having a huge budget, the film boasts a very impressive cast. The main character, the aforementioned vampire hematologist, is played by Ethan Hawke. He’s an interesting character because he has sympathy for humans and doesn’t feed on them, instead living off animal blood. That makes him an ideal vampire for the human survivors to interact with.

The group of survivors is led by former vampire Elvis, played by the legendary Willem Dafoe. He’s kind of a mirror to Neill, as he’s known for portraying antagonists, yet is a hero in Daybreakers and provides a lot of the screenplay’s comedic elements. That’s not what Dafoe is most famous for, yet he makes it work masterfully. There’s also a solid supporting cast that includes veteran TV actor Claudia Karvan, For All Mankind’s Michael Dorman, and Isabel Lucas of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fame.

Daybreakers Might’ve Been A Victim Of Its Era

Robert Pattinson as Edward & Kristen Stewart as Bella in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Despite only having a budget of around $20 million, Daybreakers still didn’t succeed at the box office. It only pulled in around $50 million, which is a disappointing number. However, it could be argued that Daybreakers just came out at the wrong time. Although vampires were certainly wildly popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s, people were flocking to see a different kind of vampire tale. The Twilight Saga was a massive franchise, while The Vampire Diaries was a hit TV show, yet both were focused on teen romances over horror or action.

True Blood was also a hit from the era and was certainly not shy about violence and blood, yet there was again a romantic element at its core. Vampire projects that were designed as horrors tended not to perform as well, with Daybreakers joining the likes of 30 Days of Night and several Underworld sequels as relatively forgotten films. Even into the 2010s, Fright Night and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter underperformed.

It could’ve simply been a case of an oversaturated market, as there were just too many vampire projects popping up everywhere for people to keep up with. Regardless of what made the underrated Daybreakers flop and end up as a forgotten film, the people who find it now on Prime Video can appreciate the hidden gem. It’s also a great way to look back on Sam Neill’s outstanding career and honor one of the best actors of our generation.