Customer Reviews

Near Dark [VHS]

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Near Dark is one of those great movies that it seems no one has seen. I hope this deluxe DVD will change that.

Near Dark suffered in it's initial theatrical release due to it's resemblance to The Lost Boys. They share a storyline (Hapless young man falls for a girl who turns him into a Vampire, and he's forced to deal with her crazy running buddies.), and even a release date; Lost Boys blew Near Dark right out of theaters, but Near Dark found an appreciative audience on video, and deservedly so. The cast is uniformly great, especially Lance Henrikson and Bill Paxton as the lead Vamps. The script, by Director Kathryn and Eric Red, is perfect- we learn little tidbits about the history of the Vampires, but we're always kept at arms length from them. We see them as alien and threatening, and they see us a food. Bigelow does a great job, especially considering it was her solo directorial debut. The only gripe I had is the Vampirism "Cure" which seems like a Deus Ex Machina, but that's a small quibble. The Tangerine Dream score also made some scenes seem really cheesy...FAR from their best work. I think an orchestral score would have been much better, but budget constraints....

The 2-DVD set is beautifully packaged, with a die-cut inner package inside the box, and a great looking (and informative!) booklet. The film looks great; As usual, Anchor Bay does great work on their DVD transfers. It also has a commentary track from Director Bigelow, which is kinda dry and technical. Disc 2 has tons of storyboards, a weak deleted scene, a new 47-minute documentary, cast & crew bios (Very extensive!), still & ad galleries, and tons more.

Near Dark is one of those films that has flown under the radar for FAR too long, and I can't recommend it highly enough!

I find that usually, vampire tales - whether filmed or written - have to have a large dose of grandeur and mystique to the vampires to make them work (the "Underworld" movies; "Blood: The Last Vampire", various successful incarnations of Dracula, etc.) Even "From Dusk Til Dawn", which was anything but a traditional take on the vampire, had the creatures so monstrously impressive and in some cases so exotically alluring (ex. Salma Hayek), that Dusk sort of fit the bill too, in some weird way.

The ploar opposite of the 'grand' depiction of the vampire is one that was very prevelant in the 90s and still turns up quite often today. The 'lowlife' vampire, with many of the supernatural aspects played down, the charisma and the mystery often missing, very human in appearance at all times, riding around in beat-up old cars and vans, and spending the daylight hours in cheap motels or the basements of bars instead of in eerier, more impressive haunts. Most of the movies in this vein I haven't really cared for (although "The Forsaken" - heavily influenced by the movie I'm now writing about, was a pretty good watch) But one movie in this vein - and I believe it was the first of its kind - really stands out, and that's "Near Dark".

Basically, a farm kid (played by Adrian Pasdar) of about - what, maybe 18 or so? - falls in love with a girl (Jenny Wright) of his own physical age, before learning she's a vampire. Wanting to be free of the vampiric curse, the pair is aided by the boyfriend's father in an attempt to become human again, which leads them into conflict with her 'coven' - a clan of not particularly awe-inspiring, but scary, believable and highly dangerous vampires led by Lance Henrikson in one of his best roles. Well-made, gory, and emotionally-driven (romantic, even) "Near Dark" flies right to the top of its class and carries a feeling of authenticity with it - the diner scene nails the 'injecting the horrific into the everyday' theme to perfection. "Near Dark" is a total success.

"Near Dark" is one of those obscure cult movies that was overshadowed by a bigger budget, better looking cast, & special effects - the likes of the blockbuster film "Lost Boys".

However, this is one of the few vampire movies, save for Romero's "Martin" not to use the word "vampire" nor have any fangs, mirrors, crosses, garlic and the ordinary lot.

Young Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) meets Mae ( a young, Jenny Wright from "St. Elmos Fire" and "Garp"). Passion ensues and Mae "nips" Caleb.

Uh oh! As Caleb starts to "turn" in the sunlight of early morning, he is hijacked in a rickety Winnebago by vamp family, Mae, Jesse (Lance Henriksen), Jesse's woman for eternity, Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), their little pseudo-son, Homer & savage & sadistic vampire, Severen, played perfectly and to the hilt, by Bill Paxton.

Caleb tries to fit in but just can't seem to get the "killin' part down".

His father, Loy (Tim Thomerson) and little sister, Sarah (Marcie Leeds from "Beaches") are searching for Caleb. Will they find him in time? Watch for yourself and find out!

Another cool thing that I noticed is when Caleb staggers through town, before he goes to the bus stop to try and get home, the cinema behind him is showing "Aliens" which also featured Paxton, Henriksen and Goldstein.

If you like vampire movies like Lost Boys or Bill Paxton, this is highly recommended!

Happy Watching and Unpleasant Dreams!

This is one of my all-time faves.I own it already but need another copy in case something should happen to mine.I first saw this movie years ago;and had to have it.
The lines that the cast uses are hilarious-altho it wasn't meant as a comedy,it has it's moments.All in all,my fave Bill Paxton flick.

A young good ol' boy (Pasdar) meets a beautiful down-home girl (Wright) and spends the night wooing her. At the break of dawn, the girl becomes increasingly worried, and the boy asks for a kiss. She obliges with a passionate, tonguey display, and then she bites him on the throat.

With this, the fantastic neo-vampire western Near Dark begins. The cast is an '80s/early '90s sci-fi fan's wet dream (well, almost), featuring Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein, who collectively appeared in Aliens, Alien3, The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Almost all your basic vampire elements are here: throat-biting, blood-sucking, fear of daylight, eternal life, etc. However, the bloodsuckers don't have fangs, capes, or pale white skin (which actually doesn't make much sense), and there's never any reference to not having reflections. Instead, the vampires are basically modern southern folk, but obviously with a dark side. It is made quite apparent throughout the film, however, that they have been around for quite some time, as it is mentioned that they started the great Chicago fire and that one of them fought for the South in the Civil War. The vampire clan includes Jessie (Henrikson), the oldest (on the outside) and the wise leader of the group; Diamondback (Goldstein), apparently Jessie's girlfriend (of many years); Severen (Paxton), the leather-clad bada*s of the group; Mae (Wright), the innocent young female of the group; and Homer (Miller), a young boy on the outside but the oldest of them all on the inside.

These characters offer plenty of fun interactions and one-liners, but this is no horror comedy. There is a considerable amount of very bloody violence, including a scene (probably the most memorable one in the film) where the clan visits a bar and subsequently murders all of its patrons. To give you an idea of just what kind of violence we're talking about here, I'll just say that Jessie orders a beer, and when the waitress brings it out, he says "Just the glass." The waitress' throat is then slit, and Jessie drains her blood into the glass like it's on tap during happy hour.

The acting is competent and the cinematography is gorgeous (and very similar to that of The Terminator and Aliens). Director Kathryn Bigelow creates a bleak landscape for the film, filling the sky with either blue/green night, purple/red sunset, teal/orange sunrise, or dessicated daylight.

Near Dark is a notable and very well-made horror film that stands the test of time. But guess what, a superflous remake is in the works! I bet it'll be absolutely fantastic!

8/10

Released at the same time as The Lost Boys; Near Dark was seemingly doomed to cult status obscurity. However, Anchor Bay decided to go all the way with the release of the film on DVD, and now has never been a better time to see this undiscovered gem of a film. When Oklahoma boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) falls for sweet Mae (Jenny Wright), he gets much more than he bargained for with just one kiss, and one bite. Soon enough he's in over his head with her and her crazed running buddies (including Lance Henriksen as the group's leader and Bill Paxton in one of his best roles as the group's deadliest member) who drink fresh blood and avoid the sun at all costs. I know what your thinking, but in Near Dark the "V" word is never mentioned; not once. In fact, most of the usual mythology that goes along with the vampire genre isn't featured here; instead the film is part horror, part western, and thanks to director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, K-19: The Widowmaker), the film works. All in all, Near Dark is a true undiscovered gem of a film, and is definitely worth checking out.

A film like this only comes once. Yes, I might agree that it has similarities with other movies but it is a great ride.
Young modern cowboy Caleb meet young vampire girl Mae and is introduced into the fold. To stay he must kill.
From the first shot of a mosquito buzzing on Calebs arm towards the end showdown and the last freezeframe, Near Dark is a masterpiece on it's own. Kathryn Bigelow (the director of Point Break and Strange Days) cut her teeth on this vampire-something flick, together with screenwriter/director Eric Red (The Hitcher, Cohen & Tate). In the cast I am with delight able to watch such good and often underrated actors as Lance Henriksen (Millenium), Jeanette Goldstein (Aliens), Bill Paxton (Titanic) as three parts of the vampire family. But I do not forget the two stars, both Jenny Wright and Adrian Pasdar make characters that I really care about.
So, what is Near Dark? A beautiful dark love story.
One of the best things about Near Dark is showing the vampires (if that is what they are? we are not told but they drink blood and they get sunburned.) as pretty normal people (they don't fly around hissing with fanged teeth).
And then it's the music by Tangerine Dreams (Firestarter) which is just perfect.
It's one of my favourites, as a vampire flick and as a film.
Every time I see this film it gives me goosebumps when Jenny Wright says:
"Look, the night, it's so bright that it will blind you."

I'm not going to reveal the content of this film in my review. Suffice it to say, it is a good twist on an old genre and is worth watching. Slightly on the gory side, but not over the top. I saw it on HBO shortly after its release in 1987.

This is an absolutely gorgeous Blu-Ray transfer. Images were clear and sharp. Even with all of the night scenes, I did not notice any significant artifacting. Unless you read the case, you would not know this film was made in 1987. And, the photographic quality of this film is amazing for something that was made with a budget of only $5 million. They definitely put time and effort into the transfer and it shows.

I would highly recommend adding this Blu-Ray edition to your library.

Now, if the rest of the studios out there would just make all of their transfers this good....

Kathryn Bigelow creates strange, note-worthy movies such as 'Strange Days' (1995), and
'Near Dark', a delicious slice of Southern Gothic... with a vampiric twist. 'Near Dark'
is one of the better examples of 1980's postmodernism - it knowingly plays with allusions
to popular culture and genre conventions in the same way 'The Lost Boys' or 'Vamp' does,
though in a decidedly darker vein. Bigelow has used tantalising slices of different genres
to create a dazzling montage of traditional horror, spaghetti westerns and biker movies.
Unlike other tongue-in-cheek vampire films of the era, 'Near Dark' is an intense cinematic
experience that raises genuine emotions - the audience feels for the plight of farm boy Caleb
(Adrian Pasdar), or for the victims the vampires taunt before killing.

Set in Southern farm country, almost entirely populated by rednecks wearing sweaty Stetsons
and varying colours of check shirt, it tells the story of Caleb. On the surface, it is a

'boy-meets'-girl' narrative - he sees the sweetly gamine Mae (Jenny Wright) standing in front
of a sweet shop, eating an ice cream, and things quickly progress. When Mae gives him a love
bite that smarts, the rising sun burns, and he is snatched into a Winnebago with blacked-out
windows, his nightmare is only just beginning. Led by Jesse (Lance Henrickson), who is quietly
spoken and charismatic, the brood travels across the USA, leaving carnage in their wake. Like
a bloodthirsty, dysfunctional, poor white trash family, they bicker, get sentimental over past
times and slaughter without compunction. Bill Paxton is especially good as Severen, who is more
than slightly crazy, as is Homer, the vampire child who is in fact the eldest.

The film is punctuated throughout with graphic violence, and does not shy away from portraying
the vampire as a monster. There are no Anne Rice Brat Princes here. The vampires do not have
fangs and few apparent supernatural powers - they kill with guns and knives. The feeding frenzy
designed to initiate Caleb and wean him off his reliance on Mae's blood is a masterful exercise
in tension and brutality. When cornered in a Mexican style stand-off with the local sheriffs,
gunfire punching holes through walls that allow in deadly sunlight, the vampires respond in
typical fashion. The imagery here is excellent, contrasting dank, fetid shadows with shafts of
pure, hard sunlight. Throughout the film, the relationship between Mae and Caleb is touching,
although Pasadar plays him a little too generic corn-fed farm boy for credibility. Their story
is about teenage love that lasts for forever - they will never age or die, but their love is
destructive, almost incestuous in its need. Caleb almost kills Mae by feeding only on her.

The climax of the tale is spectacular, satisfying the audience's need to see the evil punished
and the good redeemed. Although accomplished in cinematographic terms, the film has not stood
the test of time and will seem a bit cheesy to a contemporary audience. It is worth watching
for the 'cure' for vampirism and the wonderfully deranged characters in Jesse's 'family'. So
next time you see a strange, cute blonde girl eating ice cream in the dark... leave her be!

Copyright (c) 2001 Helen Murphy
All Rights Reserved

Yeah, people will see the cover of the new Blu-Ray release of the 1987 cult vampire western and invariably draw comparisons to Twilight. It's not. This is a new cleaned up, HD 1080 re-release of Near Dark. It does not contain as many features as the 2002 DVD release, but it does have:

Commentary with Katheryn Bigelow
Living in Darkness: Making of Near Dark documentary (47 minutes long)
Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Bigelow
Trailers
Widescreen
5.1 DTS-HD

I dont own the original 2002 DVD release, but based on comparisons this has much crisper sound and picture than the original, so I have purchased this one. Shop around for best price (although Amazon has the second lowest price available right now, next to Wal-Mart).