Ethan Hawke's 98-Minute Cult Classic Sci-Fi Vampire Movie Is Streaming For Free
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In the late 2000s, vampire cinema took off, thanks to franchises like "Twilight" and "Underworld." One prevailing theme remained through it all — vampires are in the minority and hidden, with a small number of humans knowing about their existence. That is why 2009's "Daybreakers" felt like a fresh concept. Vampires are no longer in hiding, but live out in the open where humans are subjugated into being their meal tickets. Furthermore, the vampires' origins are grounded in science fiction rather than fantasy.
"Daybreakers" stars Ethan Hawke, who has starred in the mind-bending sci-fi movie "Predestination." It takes place in 2019, when a plague has made vampires the dominant civilization, with only 5% of humans left on the planet. Hawke plays Dr. Edward Dalton, a vampire scientist working on artificial blood to end human suffering (he refuses to drink human blood). He also wants to stop his kind from mutating into feral, mindless bat-like creatures, which happens when they're starved of human blood for too long. Drinking their own blood poisons them too. Dalton encounters a man (Willem Dafoe) who claims to have the cure to vampirism. Naturally, the forces that profit from the scarcity don't want that coming out.
While "Daybreakers" did relatively well, it wasn't a massive vampire hit of its era. Since then, the sci-fi dystopian horror movie has become a cult classic that you can stream for free on Tubi. The full movie takes only 98 minutes.
Daybreakers was a modest success
With a production budget of $20 million, "Daybreakers" took in $51,445,503 at the worldwide Box Office, which is roughly 2.6 times its budget. This was before streaming took off, when a movie needed to make 2.5 times its budget to be considered a success after accounting for theatre splits and marketing costs. So "Daybreakers" hit that mark and became profitable.
"Daybreakers" became more profitable when it made an estimated $17,795,033 in physical disc sales, making it a modest hit for Lionsgate despite not making a huge splash at the Box Office. With Blu-ray showing signs of a comeback, it's a great time to add "Daybreakers" to your collection for $23.01 on Amazon, where it's rated 4.6 out of 5 based on over 1,300 ratings. Blu-ray also offers better picture and sound than streaming.
On Rotten Tomatoes, "Daybreakers" scored a 69% from professional critics. The consensus reads, "It offers enough of a unique twist on the genre to recommend it to viewers." Indeed, exploring themes of a vampire civilization, where they occupy every facet of life, including homes, offices, subways, and public squares, was novel in cinema at the time. It also captured the feeling of a dystopian vampire society heading toward a post-apocalyptic event due to the dwindling blood supply. An early scene shows vampires lining up for coffee at a subway that's "Still serving 20% blood." You tend to sympathize with the struggle of the everyday vampire, making the cure angle captivating.