Review of Near Dark (1987) by Robin W — 13 Mar 2010

Twenty-two years before she became an Academy Award-winning director, Kathryn Bigelow showcased her talents in "Near Dark", a terrific low-budget vampire western that is one of the best of its genre and has never really gotten the appreciation it deserves; this probably got a bit overlooked since it was released around the same time as the immensely popular "The Lost Boys", but this one treats its vampire story with a lot more depth and seriousness.

When it comes to presenting a teen vampire romance, this pretty much blows "Twilight" out of the water as it does not allow the love story to completely overshadow the horror elements; while the two teen leads are appealing, the film works well because Bigelow decided to borrow half the cast of her ex-husband's "Aliens", as Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein make a very memorable band of not entirely unsympathetic villains.

The film is constantly inventive and stylish and delivers a good selection of very memorable setpieces and strong imagery; it also contains an effective undercurrent of dark humour, and the typically great electronic score from Tangerine Dream gives the film a unique atmosphere.

Hopefully, Bigelow's recent success will compel more people to go back and check out this highly underrated gem.