Comicscontinuum.com has a recent interview with 30 Days of Night creators Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.
"When Ben and I were doing the comic, I think we were both really aware that vampires aren't scary anymore They hang out with you, teenage girls date them on TV now. They're just not scary. We've made them too human.
"So we had to strip away all that, and the idea of a creature that looks very much like us, that looks at us like cattle, like food, and that is it. That was something me and Ben really wanted to do. Make actual frightening vampires again. And then, that worked in the comic, especially with his designs and then you take that film."
"I was going for pure savagery, with just a hint of alien," Templesmith said. "The classic image of the vampire is the goth, romantic ponce. I wanted eating machines."
Templesmith further commented on how director David Slade stuck to Templesmith's style throughout the film.
"Within reason, they've taken the look of the movie from the page," Templesmith said. "The color's stripped back, the vampires look like the vampires in the book -- the integrity is there."