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Katherine Bigelow's mesmerizing Near Dark is a lyrical, gorgeously crafted vampire western that has acquired a cult following since its release in 1987. The undead in Bigelow's film are a tightly knit, leather-clad gang of hell-raisin' rednecks who prowl the Southwest in a motor home looking for fresh prey. When one of them, an ethereal beauty named Mae (Jenny Wright), attracts the romantic attentions of farm boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar), she spares his life, turning him into a vampire and inducting him into the clan. Bigelow, a former painter, clearly revels in the visual and poetic possibilities of both western and vampire myths, presenting a hero who is caught, literally and figuratively, between the forces of light and dark. Both deadly and alluring, the vampire gang functions as a sort of perverted familial unit. Each member is sharply drawn, with standout performances by Wright, by Lance Henriksen as the leader of the pack, and by Jenette Goldstein as his moll. The shimmering nightscapes and images of the vampires racing across flat plains in an attempt to escape the rising sun are unforgettable. And the scene in which Caleb, unable to kill his own prey, hungrily sucks blood from Mae's wrists, is breathtakingly erotic. With references ranging deftly from classic westerns to '60s biker movies, Near Dark is a near-perfect genre hybrid that stands among the best modern vampire movies. Kryssa Schemmerling

All Movie Guide

In Kathryn Bigelow's tale of vampires in the American Southwest, the creatures of the night aren't elegant, cloaked aristocrats. They're a gun-toting gang that dresses and acts like a motorcycle gang. Caleb (Adrian Pasdar), a restless young man from a small farm town, meets an alluring drifter named Mae (Jenny Wright). She reveals herself to be a vampire, who "turns" Caleb into one of her kind rather than kill him. But the rest of her "family" is slow to accept the newcomer. The ancient leader, Jesse (Lance Henriksen), and his psychotic henchman Severen (Bill Paxton) lay down the law; Caleb has to carry his own weight or die. However, he can't bring himself to kill. He manages to win the gang's approval when he rescues them from certain death in a daytime gunfight during a spectacular motel shoot-out in which every bullet hole lets in a deadly ray of sunlight. When the vampires threaten Caleb's real family, he's forced to choose between life and death. The film avoids the complex vampire mythology of such films as Interview with the Vampire. Instead, it emphasizes the intense, seductive bond that forms between Caleb and the violent but tightly knit gang. Bigelow would later utilize this powerful dramatic device in her 1991 film Point Break. Jonathan E. Laxamana

Product Details

• UPC: 012236106517
• Source: LIONS GATE
• Region Code: A
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:39:00
• Sales Rank: 25,325

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