Near Dark (1987)

A small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is turned by a beautiful drifter.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writers:

Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Red

Stars:

Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A mid-western farm boy reluctantly becomes a member of the undead when a girl he meets turns out to be part of a band of southern vampires who roam the highways in stolen cars. Part of his initiation includes a bloody assault on a hick bar.

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Plot Keywords:

farm | vampire | blood | van | truck | 

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Taglines:

...pray for daylight.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Horror | Romance | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Near Dark - Die Nacht hat ihren Preis

Filming Locations:

Eloy, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$3,369,307 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

F/M, Near Dark Joint Venture

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 86 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The patron in the bar (Robert Winley) who is killed by Severen also played the lead cigar smoking biker in the bar in the clothes stealing scene of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Bill Paxton had a role as a punk in the clothes stealing scene in The Terminator (1984). Kathryn Bigelow was at the time married to James Cameron.

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Goofs

When Mae first meets Caleb she points out a star and observes that the light from it "might have been traveling for a billion years." No star visible to the naked eye is a billion light years away. In fact our entire galaxy is just 100,000 light years across, the stars actually visible in the sky only a tiny fraction of that.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Sleepless Nights (2002)

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Soundtracks

FEVER
Performed by The Cramps
Written by Otis Blackwell (as John Davenport) and Eddie Cooley
Courtesy of I.R.S. Records

User Reviews

One, two, four... BANG! Bullseye!

This is one of the best vampire flicks I've ever seen. These aren't your standard sharp fang having, flying, cool contact wearing, red cape sporting vampires. Rather these vampires look like nomads, leftovers from a roaming biker gang. They drive around in a trailer that has aluminum foil covering the windows to block out the sunlight. They drink blood. They spit out the bullets you shoot them with. They're a tad different than your classic vampire but different enough to keep them interesting. Fans of Cameron's Aliens take note, you have a triple score here with Lance Henriksen (Bishop), Jeanette Goldstein (Vasquez) and Bill Paxton (Hudson) teamed together again. Not too surprising being that Cameron and director Kathryn Bigelow have worked together several times on various films. Bill Paxton is hilarious in this, I have to say. Fans won't be disappointed. I really like this movie. It never gets old, the special effects/make up are pretty decent (nothing too fake looking) and the characters are more than one-dimensional, supported by satisfactory performances throughout. There's enough gore here to satisfy the modest gore-hound and it's entertaining throughout. Give this movie a shot if you're looking for something different. It's a hip vampire movie that works simply because it's not trying to be hip, you follow? Rating: **** out of *****.