Near Dark (1987)

Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow | 94 minutes | drama, horror, thriller, romance | Actors: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, Thim Thomerson, Joshua John Miller, Marcie Leeds, Kenny Call, Ed Corbett, Troy Evans, Bill Cross, Roger Aaron Brown, Thomas Wagner, Robert Winley

Movies like ‘Twilight’ and series like “The Vampire Diaries” suggest that it’s actually quite jofel to be a vampire. You look like a young god for all eternity, women fall for your mysterious aura and if you crave a throbbing artery, just knock back a glass of cow’s blood. A life that many would sign for, whether or not in blood. ‘Near Dark’ from 1987 paints a less rosy picture of vampire life. It’s tough and dangerous, and if you have even an ounce of conscience, you’re going to die emotionally. Just look at Caleb Collon (Adrian Pasdar, the flying senator from “Heroes”), a simple farmer’s son who, after a love bite, has to go through life as a leech and it doesn’t come easy.

The vampires Caleb joins all deal with their hunger for blood in different ways. Gang leader Jesse (Lance Henriksen) and his partner Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein) have been around for a while and have accepted that as a predator you make victims. Murder is routine. The sadistic Severen (Bill Paxton) kills not only out of necessity but also out of pleasure, while Mae (Jenny Wright) does it as humanely as possible. And then there’s Homer (Joshua John Miller), who exploits his eternally childlike appearance while hunting. Unfortunately, Caleb just can’t bring himself to take a life, no matter how hard his stomach is rumbling. This results in a painful scene in which he allows himself to be fed by Mae like a spring chicken. “It’s time you started taking care of your own food,” she whispers to him. But then again, Caleb is not a butcher type, and that does not make him popular in the group. A group that he does need, because as said: the vampire existence is dangerous.

Calling ‘Near Dark’ a psychological drama is going a bit far, but director Kathryn Bigelow does have an eye for the person behind the vampire. Family ties in particular play a major role. Jesse and his partner Diamondback act as surrogate parents for their gang members, who are all lonely in their own way and seek a safe nest. In addition, there is Caleb’s real father, who, together with Caleb’s sister, embarks on a search for his missing son. Caleb comes from a family that lacks the mother, and he seems to find in the caring Mae both a lover and a mother figure. “Great, the bloodsucking Brady Bunch!”, would have shouted vampire hunter Edgar Frog from ‘The Lost Boys’, but in ‘Near Dark’ it all turns out not very idyllic. Caleb’s real-life family and surrogate family come face-to-face and the consequences are dramatic.

‘Near Dark’ combines horror, drama, road movie and romance into a stylish whole that according to many vampire fanatics deserves a place in the top ten best vampire films of all time. Bigelow films the story she herself has written with great feeling, but is also not afraid to shock her audience. Precisely because of the contrast between the warm, intimate moments and the excessive violence, the film hits like a sledgehammer, like the scene in which Mae comforts a boy who knows he will end up as a snack. Skilled camera work and the beautiful, timeless film music by Tangerine Dream do the rest. ‘Near Dark’ really only has one big flaw, and that is the denouement. There appears to be a disappointingly simple solution that solves all problems. Fortunately, by then you already feel so much for the main characters that you grant them this windfall.