This is one of the best vampire movies that you will ever see. This off-beat actioneer is part Western and part gangster thriller with some unusual vampire stuff slung in for good measure.
A youth falls in with a group of vampires who roam the southwest in a recreational vehicle. Pick-up truck driving Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) gets picks up by a cute little blonde, Mae (Jenny Wright) who literally puts the bite on him. As he stumbles home, Caleb starts to smoke because he has become a vampire and the sun is rising. The vampires come roaring up in their RV and pick him up. Initially, they do not have high regard for him. Mae defends him and the leader of the group, Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen), allows him to join them. Two other vampires in the group, Severen (Bill Paxton) and Homer (Joshua John Miller) want to kill him, but Hooker relents. They decide to give Caleb time to prove that he his worthy of joining them. Loy Colton (Tim Thomerson) is Caleb's father and he takes his daughter Sarah (Marcie Leeds) and hit the road in search of Caleb.
Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow of "The Hurt Locker" helmed this atmospheric, fast-moving horror yarn, but we never hear the word 'vampire' uttered. Neither do we see any vampire fangs. Hooker has been a vampire since the American Civil War and he fought on the losing side, while Severen is a lot younger. Nevertheless, Severen remembers the great Chicago fire that they started. Mae, who infected Caleb has only been a vampire for four years. Ironically, she was turned into a vampire by the smaller member of the group, Homer, who is the age of a little boy. Two scenes stand out in this taut vampire film. First, the scene in the bar where Severen slashes the throat of the bartender as he prepares to brandish a shotgun is cool. If you look closely, the cowboy who escapes from them is none other than James LeGros, The second best scene occurs with the authorities catch the vampire clan holed up in a motel and blast it out with them. This scene could have been lifted from the Arthur Penn classic "Bonnie & Clyde." During this scene, Caleb proves his worth when he breaks out and gets a vehicle for the vampires to escape from the law. Bill Paxton has an explosive death scene. The orchestral score for "Near Dark" was performed by the legendary German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. The western setting and the use of Colt .45 revolvers gives NEAR DARK a western flavor. The scene where the father gives his son a blood transfusion and cures him is interesting, too.
"Near Dark" is not your usual, run-of-the-mill fangster saga. If you love to watch vampire movies, this is one that you must see!
A youth falls in with a group of vampires who roam the southwest in a recreational vehicle. Pick-up truck driving Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) gets picks up by a cute little blonde, Mae (Jenny Wright) who literally puts the bite on him. As he stumbles home, Caleb starts to smoke because he has become a vampire and the sun is rising. The vampires come roaring up in their RV and pick him up. Initially, they do not have high regard for him. Mae defends him and the leader of the group, Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen), allows him to join them. Two other vampires in the group, Severen (Bill Paxton) and Homer (Joshua John Miller) want to kill him, but Hooker relents. They decide to give Caleb time to prove that he his worthy of joining them. Loy Colton (Tim Thomerson) is Caleb's father and he takes his daughter Sarah (Marcie Leeds) and hit the road in search of Caleb.
Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow of "The Hurt Locker" helmed this atmospheric, fast-moving horror yarn, but we never hear the word 'vampire' uttered. Neither do we see any vampire fangs. Hooker has been a vampire since the American Civil War and he fought on the losing side, while Severen is a lot younger. Nevertheless, Severen remembers the great Chicago fire that they started. Mae, who infected Caleb has only been a vampire for four years. Ironically, she was turned into a vampire by the smaller member of the group, Homer, who is the age of a little boy. Two scenes stand out in this taut vampire film. First, the scene in the bar where Severen slashes the throat of the bartender as he prepares to brandish a shotgun is cool. If you look closely, the cowboy who escapes from them is none other than James LeGros, The second best scene occurs with the authorities catch the vampire clan holed up in a motel and blast it out with them. This scene could have been lifted from the Arthur Penn classic "Bonnie & Clyde." During this scene, Caleb proves his worth when he breaks out and gets a vehicle for the vampires to escape from the law. Bill Paxton has an explosive death scene. The orchestral score for "Near Dark" was performed by the legendary German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. The western setting and the use of Colt .45 revolvers gives NEAR DARK a western flavor. The scene where the father gives his son a blood transfusion and cures him is interesting, too.
"Near Dark" is not your usual, run-of-the-mill fangster saga. If you love to watch vampire movies, this is one that you must see!