Near Dark (1987)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Written by Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red (who also wrote The Hitcher (1986))
Starring Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Tim Thomerson, Adrian Pasdar
This movie is fantastic! It’s a ‘vampire’ movie… only it isn’t. The word vampire is never used and almost every vampire convention is either tossed away or turned on its ear. I would also consider it a very loose western.
The story concerns Caleb (Pasdar) who becomes part of a ‘family’ of people who are infected with a ‘blood disorder’. Ok, you know what, for the sake of argument and saving myself from having to continue writing around the word… they’re vampires (although they aren’t really vampires… this is just for the sake of conversation).
Caleb get’s bitten Mae played by the beautiful Jenny Wright. Once in the fold, Caleb is taken in as hostage then as a part of the family. What follows is a road trip where the family escapes the law in their winnebago and Caleb tries to escape and reclaim his humanity.
What makes this film shine is the script (with some of the greatest dialog you will ever hear) and the performances by the cast (who were largely taken from Aliens (Paxton, Henriksen and Goldstein)). There is not a bad line of dialog in the entire film. Even cult/schlock superstar Tim Thomerson turns a believable performance as Caleb’s concerned father.
Also worth noting are two of the films most memorable set pieces. The first is when the ‘family’ descends up a dive bar and claim it as their own. The second is a police raid turned shoot out at a cheap motel that is as tense as it is blood soaked and action packed. This is what a good shootout should aspire to be.
You should run out to the store now and buy this flick, I guarantee it will get played many many times.
