NEAR DARK (1987)
Updated: Dec 12, 2022
A Vampire Film that Effectively Downplays Its Status
Grade: A
In most vampire movies set in the “real world” (specifically, any such film that doesn’t feature Dracula), it is practically impossible for the characters not to mention pop culture or traditional vampire powers or weaknesses, often using movies of the past as a reference point against which they contrast the vampires they are dealing with. Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark is a rare exception. The film was released in the same year as Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys, which was very self-referential and featured numerous traditional vampire weaknesses to a humorous, almost satirical level. Near Dark goes in the exact opposite direction. It does not reference vampire culture at all, nor does it hit viewers over the head with what can and cannot affect them or what they can or cannot do. In fact, the word “vampire” is never uttered once throughout the entire film. Instead, it is a straightforward story about a young man caught up in the world of the undead, and its lack of self-awareness benefits it greatly.
The film follows a young Oklahoma farmhand named Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) who picks up a pretty girl named Mae (Jenny Wright) one night. Mae is revealed to be a vampire when she bites him. As he starts to turn, Caleb is kidnapped by Mae’s family: Jesse (Lance Henriksen), Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), Severen (Bill Paxton), and Homer (Joshua John Miller), who travel the Southwest in vehicles that they periodically dispose of and replace to keep from being tracked. Torn between his new family and the one he left behind, Caleb is urged by Mae to give into his instincts, but he has no desire to kill. Things are further complicated when his father and sister, who have been looking for Caleb, finally find him….
Near Dark features a terrific balance of character, story, special effects, violence, and action. The tone is consistently serious, never straying into hokey territory. It explores the question of how a man would genuinely (I hesitate to say “realistically” because of the subject matter) react to becoming a vampire, and director Bigelow and Pasdar answer it magnificently. In his first days as a vampire, Caleb looks physically ill from his thirst for blood. His gentle nature holds him back from killing, but his vampirism and his growing love for Mae keep him from leaving the family. He is truly a man conflicted.
Bill Paxton is the other main standout in the cast. As Severen, he is the most off-the-wall vampire in the family. He really loves killing and is always laughing or gloating whenever he does so. During a crucial moment at the climax, he stands in the middle of the road and goads a truck to run him over. After it hits him, he climbs on the hood looking disfigured (courtesy of some awesome makeup effects) and cackles maniacally as he tears it open and rips out wire after wire. Despite the movie’s serious tone, Severen’s antics never feel out-of-place; they are an organic part of the story.
The film’s technical aspects are first-rate as well. Through special effects, sunlight inflicts destructive damage on these vampires, causing them to burst into flames before exploding in balls of fire. In a well-staged action scene near the beginning of the third act, the vampires arm themselves when the police track them down to their bungalow. Since it is broad daylight, they have to avoid sunlight from bullet holes as well as aim their guns based on the general direction of the attack. The cinematography sports some beautiful images, including landscapes and shots of the vampires silhouetted against fog at night.
One thing I found weird about the film was the cure it presented for vampirism: a blood transfusion with a human. It is so strange and so simple, one has to wonder if the screenwriters merely wanted a quick fix for the hero's dilemma. It almost seems contrived, especially when one considers how many vampires in the movie's universe must have suffered for years not knowing what a simple cure lay right before them.
By dispensing with the pop culture references and supernatural elements of others of its type, Near Dark becomes a truly unique vampire movie. With these potential problems out of the way, the movie has time to explore its own world and its own interpretation of vampires, and it does it well. It is not as well-remembered as The Lost Boys, probably because it lacks the energy and humor that made the other film so popular. But Near Dark deserves more attention for these very reasons. Despite its distracting and unusual deus ex machina for its hero, Near Dark is still an outstanding entry in the vampire genre, and the fact that it isn't bound to pop culture helps make it timeless like the vampires themselves.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Producer: Steven-Charles Jaffe
Screenplay: Eric Red, Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Adrian Pasdar (Caleb Colton), Jenny Wright (Mae), Lance Henriksen (Jesse), Jenette Goldstein (Diamondback), Bill Paxton (Severen), Joshua John Miller (Homer), Tim Thomerson (Loy Colton), Marcie Leeds (Sarah Colton)
Rated: R
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