Review of Near Dark (1987) by Kent H — 08 Jul 2008

[size=3]Near Dark[/size].

[size=3]1987[/size].

[size=3]Directed by Kathryn Bigelow[/size].

[size=3]Near Dark isn't a 'perfect' film, It's climax is a standard Hollywood ending, But what comes before it is so lovingly made and engrossing, I'm well to whistle and pretend the film's ending isn't quite as out of place as it actually is. Near Dark is wonderfully evocative, The opening is soothing with a touch of sinister ambiance as some strange, exciting girl talks about the sounds of the night, while she seduces him. Jenny Wright is as eccentric as the script calls for, And she's gorgeous throughout the entire film. The core of Near Dark is where the bulk of the film's best scene gain tension from, if Caleb Colton wants to survive as this new being, he must kill to gain acceptance, but he still has distinctly human attachments and a moral center, so As Caleb Colton reluctantly travels, he becomes an interesting take on a popular arch type, A moralist who does nothing when vicious acts happen in front of his own face. The added touch of Vampirism adds to the urgency of Colton's situation and his moral conflict. [/size][size=3].

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[size=3] Within the film, director Kathryn Bigelow creates her own set of Rules in regards to the thematic content, the vampires themselves and the parallels in the ?family group? of vampires, contrasting the lack of differences between vampires and humans all the while setting them apart from humans with traditional and non traditional Vampire rules, such as sunlight, it doesn't instantly kill them, but it does kill them slowly, lighting them on fire and melting their skin. But the most interesting aspect of the vampire ?family? is the care that goes between the group, As the film progresses it becomes more and more tense, until the bar scene, which is famous for a damn good reason, Bigelow lets the scene run slowly, letting it crawl under your skin, the delicious slow burn of Fever is one of the best music cues I've ever heard in a film.. Bill Paxton is fantastic in the film, his performance is wonderfully slimy, and just plain mean, his famous throat cutting in the bar scene always seemed like a perfect example of what his character is. Paxton is like a cruel child nearly all the time in the film. Later in the film, Bigelow decides to reform the western genre with a strange but not inappropriate turn of events. Taking the moralist and making him into the forced action hero makes for some explosively climactic sequences. I particularly like the take on the duel sequence, Lance Henrikson in a car versus the Hero running away on the road, Herikson's grin before he goes is refreshingly unorthodox, he's not unhappy for death, he's lived with death a long time and he finally got a worthy opponent. The finality of the film is disappointing and really the film's only flaw, but it also provides an interesting contrast to the beginning of the film, It begins in the night, almost like entering a dream and it ends in the morning sun, when Mae (Wright) wakes up to find the sun again not as an enemy, but as something else, a bright, new day, like waking from a dream. I'm happy to call it one of my favorite films.

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