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1987
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NEAR
DARK
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STARRING:ADRIAN
PASDAR,JENNY WRIGHT,LANCE HENRIKSEN,BILL PAXTON,JENETTE GOLDSTEIN,JOSHUA
JOHN MILLER,TIM THOMERSON, MARCIE LEEDS
WRITTEN
BY KATHRYN BIGELOW & ERIC REED
PRODUCED
BY STEVEN-CHARLES JAFFE
DIRECTED
BY KATHRYN BIGELOW
GENRE:HORROR/ACTION/WESTERN
RATED:AUSTRALIA:R/UK:18/USA:R
RUNNING
TIME:95 MIN
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In
1987 The Lost
Boys and Near Dark, two contrastingly different
yet highly entertaining vampire movies were released. Near Dark
tells the story of local boy Calep (Adrian Nasdar) who falls for beautiful
drifter Mae (Jenny Wright) and gets more than he bargained for when
she bites him on the neck, turning him into a vampire. Kidnapped by
Mae's family, Calep has one week to prove his worth to his new family
while his original family try to locate his whereabouts.
The movie has a unique take on the vampire genre. Writer/director
Kathryn Bigelow has merged to very different genres with great effect,
with the movies western elements bringing a great sense of fun. While
The Lost Boys
stays true to the rules and traditions of the vampire myth (vampires
turn into bats, no garlic, no crosses etc.), Near Dark does
away from these restrictions with the exception of two; sunlight kills
and you must drink blood to stay alive. Even the word vampire and
all its equivalents (nosferatu, the undead) are not uttered once nor
are any fangs shown.
The characters that make up Mae's vampire family are a twisted bunch
of misfits lead by Jesse (Lance Henrikesn), the elder of the group
who is so old that he fought for the south in the American Civil War.
Diamondback (Jennette Goldstein) is Jesse's wife and surrogate mother
to Homer (Joshua John Miller, who ironically is the step brother of
The Lost Boys
star Jason Patric), an elderly man trapped in a young boys body. Rounding
off the group is the psychopathic Severen (Bill Paxton). Together
they travel around America always wary of the sunlight, feeding off
the blood of the innocents during the night, the 'family' more than
willing to kill as shown in brutally violent scene where the patrons
of a red neck bar are massacred.
Adam Greenberg's cinematography is excellent, as is the score by German
band 'Tangerine Dream'. Acting wise the performances by Adrian Nasdar
and Jenny Wright can be wooden at times, and I clearly remember cringing
when the family of vampires introduce themselves to Calep thanks to
the actors' cheesy delivery. But the chemistry between the Aliens
three of Henriksen, Paxton and Goldstein (so called because they were
all apart of the James Cameron classic) is self evident, with Lance
Henriksen and Bill Paxton in particular delivering great performances.
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