No longer are vampires draped in dark capes, heavy facial foundation and
hair sleek back from the widow’s peak. Surprisingly enough,
the infamous arch enemy of all vampires never surfaces. You heard me right.
There are no cross toting , holy water throwing, stake through the heart slayers
to speak of in Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red’s film Near
Dark.
Kathryn Bigelow’s makeshift family of blood suckers sets up shop in a slow mid-western town.Mae (played by Jenny Wright) happens to be the ideal bait that would lure prey, I mean men, in a town where hormones run rampant at first sight of an unfamiliar feminine face. Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is her unsuspecting prey, who falls victim to the accidental venomous bite, that slowly deteriorates his mortal soul and infuses the loss of appetite for food and the intolerance to sunlight. He finds himself abducted by Mae’s marauding family after she has informed them of her actions. He now has to prove himself to the nocturnal group by feeding or die. Not only does Caleb have to contend with the thought that he must murder innocent people in order to stay alive, he also has a conflict with two other members in the group (Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen) who are not exultant with his presence after he refuses to conform to with their ways.
Caleb's initiation period expired during a bar scene. The patience of the group has run thin after he lets, what could have been his first real vampire meal, run into the night. Because they are portrayed as a band of criminals, they have to be on the look out for the police. He does, however, have a period of redemption in the movie when he saves the family from the perils of death by rescuing them before disintegration from the sun set in.
This movie is brilliantly engineered to dispel the myths of once gothic
vampirism. Bigelow weaves several genres into one movie about something that
is never mentioned --- vampires. The movie seems to infuse western, horror
and romance and addiction all rolled into one superbly creative film.
In this modern sensation, vampires seems to harbor traits to that of drug addicts. This is mostly pronounced in Caleb as he suffers the affects of being strung-out from not feeding.
Near Dark is quickly becoming a cult classic. It did not stay many weeks in the theatre during 1987, but it is now available on DVD or VHS for home viewing. If you are a true fan of vampires or horror in general, this movie should not be missed.
Review By Tanya Rivers
