Review of Near Dark (1987) by Tim B — 28 Mar 2011

Countless number of times I've watched this flick and it never ceases to blow me away. Near Dark is an lesser-known but damn good vampire flick that goes places most modern vampire movies don't even dare approach.

I think one of my favorite aspects toward this one is that it stays very simple; it didn't need to bombard us with any vampire rules (Save like one) or make these killers look 'sexual' at all.

These guys were ruthless, gritty and didn't worry about romancing a human before killing them. Kathryn Bigelow's eye here was outstanding. I'm surprised the Oscars took as long as they did to finally award her.

Even with her early work, it was obvious she had a sharp eye. There's so many subtle things going on in the background of scenes that are actually accentuating what is going on in the main focus. She also loves her bluish night time scenes and plays around with the camera just enough to give a movie like this an artisitc feel, which is a huge feat in itself.

Future filmmakers should take note, definitely. Not solely relying on the visuals, there is a story here, but mind you, there's not a lot of dialogue in this either. I love it when a movie can display a story by sticking mainly to visuals and sound.

That's exactly what Near Dark did here. There was a love story at its core (an amazing one at that), and themes of loss, families sticking together & gang initiations. Add to that some incredibly intense scenes and a bit of humor via Bill Pullman and you get a well-rounded horror effort with buckets of blood and gory vampire tidbits here.

I actually remember gasping when I first saw the bar scene and even today, I can still feel my muscles tense up. Adiran Pasdar seems pretty strange in the beginning but I couldn't help but be charmed by him anyway, especially as the movie went on.

Dug him a lot. Jenny Wright was captivating. She had the perfect mixture of a blood thristy demon with a sense of innocence and sweetness to her. Perfect. Lance Henriksen plays another villain but good god, is he great at it.

Here he was extremely intense and actually scared me a little even after knowing him from so much else. Bill Paxton is another charmer in this one. His goofy demeanor blended perfectly with his badass streak.

Awesome. Jenette Goldstein made her smaller role her own and made it just as intriguing as any of the other characters. Joshua John Miller is a kid so I couldn't help but be biased toward him. Still, he did alright.

.. Together, the ensemble cast did wonders and not once did I think any of them were acting. How messed is that for a horror flick about vampires? Add to this an incredible score by Tangerine Dream and you get the best vampire flick I've ever had the pleasure of viewing and one of my all time favorite flicks.

Find it and see it.