Review of Near Dark (1987) by Bryan W — 25 Dec 2008

I picked up Near Dark for $4 the other day, mainly because it's got Bill Paxton on the cover with a mashed-up face, but also because I enjoy director Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 sci-fi noir Strange Days.

Near Dark is a vampire movie, but without most of the typical vampire movie staples, meaning no fangs, no bats, no crucifixes etc. and that works. It's fun to be in on a secret that even the character don't fully understand. Unfortunetly, the film's plot never opens up as much as it should. The story follows Caleb, who falls for Mae, a young vampire who "turns" Caleb. The plot then follows Caleb's journey with Mae and her adopted vampire family as they kill and hide from the sun.

I would have liked to see a bigger picture, with more vampires across the country, but this is a low-budget flick so Bigelow can only tell a small-scale story. What she does she does well, Caleb is interesting, although Paxton steals most of his scenes with an almost too over-the-top performance. He seems to be the only actor who fully embraces both the camp and horror elementsof the script.

Near Dark isn't near-perfect, far from it, but it's a very fun vampire flick with a slight twist.