Near Dark (1987)

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writers:

Kathryn Bigelow (written by) and
Eric Red (written by)

Release Date:

2 October 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Killing you would be easy, they'd rather terrify you...forever.

Plot:

A young man reluctantly joins a travelling "family" of evil vampires, when the girl he'd tried to seduce is part of that group.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Immortality | Vampire | Child Vampire | Bar

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Adrian Pasdar	...	Caleb Colton
Jenny Wright	...	Mae
Lance Henriksen	...	Jesse Hooker
Bill Paxton	...	Severen
Jenette Goldstein	...	Diamondback
Tim Thomerson	...	Loy Colton
Joshua John Miller	...	Homer (as Joshua Miller)
Marcie Leeds	...	Sarah Colton
Kenny Call	...	Deputy Sheriff
Ed Corbett	...	Ticket Seller
Troy Evans	...	Plainclothes Officer
Bill Cross	...	Sheriff Eakers
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Cajun Truck Driver
Thomas Wagner	...	Bartender
Robert Winley	...	Patron in Bar

Runtime:

94 min | Sweden:86 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Portugal:M/18 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (2003) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 (1987)

Filming Locations:

Casa Grande, Arizona, USA

Company:

F/M

Trivia:

While shooting in the desert, Lance Henriksen relieved the boredom between takes by hopping in his car and taking short drives through the desert, still in costume and often staying in character. According to Henriksen and Bill Paxton, the two were stopped by a policeman who became so unnerved questioning Jesse about his speeding that the officer became visibly uncomfortable, stepping back and placing his hand on his firearm. The obviously flustered officer decided to send them on their way rather than write them a ticket.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Caleb is running from the motel and burning in the daylight at one point you can see the pipes running up the back of his jacket making the smoke.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Caleb Colton: [crushing a mosquito] Dumb suck.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Mao Game (1999)

Soundtrack:

THE COWBOY RIDES AWAY

"We keep odd hours."

Near Dark is the definitive vampire road movie. It's the most realistic and non-traditional portrayal of vampires in my mind. They're cruising the country...you know, just bored. And wouldn't they be bored? I mean if you live forever, wouldn't you run out of things to do? They spend their time getting in and out of trouble. And that's all they do. I love it. The cast (Aliens anyone?) is top-notch. Adrien Pasdar is as underrated as they come. He plays our likable hero who gets involved with our gang of vamps by accident. Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein (all from Aliens), Jenny Wright, and Joshua Miller are all perfectly cast as the nocturnal family. Miller, oddly enough, is Jason Patric's half brother and Near Dark was released just a few weeks after The Lost Boys. Henrikson is appropriately evil and Paxton's Severen character is highly quotable and memorable. Tim Thomerson and James Le Gros also put in an appearances. Eric Red's script is every bit as cool as his earlier road movie, The Hitcher. Kathryn Bigelow will go down in my book as having directed the best vampire flick that I can think of.

Note for genre buffs: The word vampire is never used in the film.