Blood is Their Life...Darkness Their Home...Sunlight Their BANE!

Released in 1987 with a dismal performance in the box-office after the release of “The Lost Boys”, Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark” made its reputation through word of mouth and its release in HBO. The film had gained a cult following because of the way it re-invents the vampire genre and offers something fresh for horror fans. It found an ever-growing “cult” of fans that has swelled through the past few years. “Near Dark” is a simple B-horror movie that presents your usual romantic angle with the backdrop of gothic blood and violence; and of course sex…with all guns firing.
 

Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is a young small-town cowboy who spots a beautiful young woman in the outskirts of town. Mae (Jenny Wright) is just hanging out licking her ice cream (quite provocatively I may add). Caleb becomes taken by the charms and mystery of lovely Mae as he offers to give her a ride. But just before dawn, Caleb finds himself bitten by our sexy blond and being left behind. Remarkably, Caleb finds himself beginning to suffer burns under the morning sun and soon, Mae’s “family” (or “coven” if you will) snatches the young man to their own hideout. Caleb is introduced to Mae’s mysterious family (yep, familiar faces from “Aliens”) as Jesse (Lance Henriksen), Severen (Bill Paxton), Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein) and a young boy named Homer (Joshua Miller) intend to give Caleb his “rite of passage” by making a kill. These are not your ordinary folks as they go from town to town with guns blazing and making mayhem. Things are about to become complicated as the police and Caleb’s family are in hot pursuit…
 

The thing with “Near Dark” is the fact that the film plays its aces very differently. Our group of misfits (who behave like yahoos from the Old West) are given the very distinct characteristics of vampirism; and yet they never acknowledge that they are or there is no mention of the word “vampire”. They refer to their “condition” as what it is, “a condition”; one that requires adaptation to this way of life. They seem very used to their state of affairs and besides Caleb, they don’t marvel at their extra-normal abilities such as superhuman strength, immortality and being extremely difficult to kill. For them, it appears to have become as a regular way of life; they do what they must to survive, namely killing and staying away from sunlight. There are slight snippets as to how old Jesse and Severen are such as the time when they said “remember the fire we started in Chicago?” (refers to the huge 1871 fire of Chicago that has no solid explanation to this day) and that Jesse fought for the South and that they lost.
 

The film also abandons the usual vulnerability of the vampires to religious objects which are subtly hinted at with the cross at the handle of a revolver and when they stayed at a “Godspeed motel”. The only real vulnerability they have is exposure to sunlight, although Severen gave hints at cutting off Caleb’s head to kill him. The characters may adhere to the traditional rules of vampire lore but they do not fall victim to it. Sure, the film follows the trappings of vampire mythos but “Near Dark” does not bring these themes into exposition by spoon-feeding them to its audience; it challenges its viewer to fill in the blanks and to pay attention to the screenplay. Much of the film’s standard details and characterization come through bits and pieces of dialogue and touches of visual effects. This is what makes ‘Near Dark” very fresh for its time. These are obvious insufferable characters but you just can’t help liking them for their raw individualism that has reached its end point with no more need to grow or adapt. As Homer states: “…a big man in the inside and a small body in the outside…” Homer may have also turned Mae perhaps to take care of him which somewhat gives more credibility to his obsession with Caleb’s younger sister.
 

The film can also prove to be a good date movie (boy, I love a woman who loves a solid vampire flick) as we become privy to the romance between Caleb and Mae. I somewhat thought that the film uses it “love conquers all” angle quite well since there was never a moment that I rolled my eyes. You see the sacrifice Mae is willing to go through to insure Caleb’s acceptance into the family and Caleb’s dependence upon his ’maker’ that slowly and utterly turns into passion. I’ve mentioned the “love conquers all” angle which brings us to the film’s very improbable vehicle to cure this ‘condition’. Most genre fans may view the blood transfusion thing to be highly improbable and too convenient; and how exactly did Caleb think about making a transfusion from his father? It seems to be a minor vehicle to set up its resolution and keep in mind that this movie has very little 'set in stone' rules. The film does make up its own rulebook (well, at least the vampires don’t sparkle) that there is no solid answer as to why something like blood transfusion can work or not. Myself, I saw it as a metaphor as I said; “love conquers all”…even this condition. In my book, this falls as the film’s weakness but it does provoke some thought. Much as the subtle characterizations go, the film also offers no explanation to the absence of Caleb’s mother but there is a small indication that Caleb is a little bit of a rebel.
 

“NEAR DARK” doesn’t abandon all the tested elements of vampirism; the idea of immortality, biting of the neck and the vulnerability to sunlight builds much of the film’s groundwork, as well as the fantastic healing powers inherent to such circumstances. As a point of fact, “Near Dark” is very respectful of its genre; and this may have been the reason why people have become taken by its B-movie sensibilities. Kathryn Bigelow and company paid homage to the vampire genre in their own way by re-inventing and defining their own set of vampire lore with respect.
 

Highly Recommended! [4 Stars]

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