Near Dark is an American
vampireVampires are legendary creatures said to subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, generally by drinking their blood. Although typically described as undead, some minor traditions believed in vampires that were living people....
/Western
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
, written by
Eric RedEric Red is a screenwriter and director, best known for writing the horror classics The Hitcher and Near Dark.Red attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated in 1983...
and
Kathryn BigelowKathryn Bigelow is an American film director, working in the science fiction, action and horror genres.-Early life and education:...
, and directed by Bigelow. Starring then little-known actors
Adrian PasdarAdrian Kayvan Pasdar is an American actor and film director. He is known for playing Jim Profit on the TV series Profit, for his roles in Near Dark, Mysterious Ways and as Nathan Petrelli on Heroes. Additionally, he directed the feature film Cement.-Early years:Pasdar was born in Pittsfield,...
and
Jenny WrightJennifer G. Wright is an American actress who made her film debut portraying the role of Cushie in The World According to Garp in 1982. That same year she made an appearance in Pink Floyd The Wall, playing an American groupie....
, the movie was released in
1987-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records.*May 9 - Actor Tom Cruise marries actress Mimi Rogers....
, part of a revival of serious vampire movies in the late 1980s. It did poorly at the box office upon release, but was viewed favourably by critics subsequently and has a sizable
cult followingA cult film is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
.
One night, Caleb Colton (
Adrian PasdarAdrian Kayvan Pasdar is an American actor and film director. He is known for playing Jim Profit on the TV series Profit, for his roles in Near Dark, Mysterious Ways and as Nathan Petrelli on Heroes. Additionally, he directed the feature film Cement.-Early years:Pasdar was born in Pittsfield,...
), a young man in a small
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
town, meets Mae (
Jenny WrightJennifer G. Wright is an American actress who made her film debut portraying the role of Cushie in The World According to Garp in 1982. That same year she made an appearance in Pink Floyd The Wall, playing an American groupie....
), an attractive young drifter.
Near Dark is an American
vampireVampires are legendary creatures said to subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, generally by drinking their blood. Although typically described as undead, some minor traditions believed in vampires that were living people....
/Western
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
, written by
Eric RedEric Red is a screenwriter and director, best known for writing the horror classics The Hitcher and Near Dark.Red attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated in 1983...
and
Kathryn BigelowKathryn Bigelow is an American film director, working in the science fiction, action and horror genres.-Early life and education:...
, and directed by Bigelow. Starring then little-known actors
Adrian PasdarAdrian Kayvan Pasdar is an American actor and film director. He is known for playing Jim Profit on the TV series Profit, for his roles in Near Dark, Mysterious Ways and as Nathan Petrelli on Heroes. Additionally, he directed the feature film Cement.-Early years:Pasdar was born in Pittsfield,...
and
Jenny WrightJennifer G. Wright is an American actress who made her film debut portraying the role of Cushie in The World According to Garp in 1982. That same year she made an appearance in Pink Floyd The Wall, playing an American groupie....
, the movie was released in
1987-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records.*May 9 - Actor Tom Cruise marries actress Mimi Rogers....
, part of a revival of serious vampire movies in the late 1980s. It did poorly at the box office upon release, but was viewed favourably by critics subsequently and has a sizable
cult followingA cult film is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
.
Plot
One night, Caleb Colton (
Adrian PasdarAdrian Kayvan Pasdar is an American actor and film director. He is known for playing Jim Profit on the TV series Profit, for his roles in Near Dark, Mysterious Ways and as Nathan Petrelli on Heroes. Additionally, he directed the feature film Cement.-Early years:Pasdar was born in Pittsfield,...
), a young man in a small
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
town, meets Mae (
Jenny WrightJennifer G. Wright is an American actress who made her film debut portraying the role of Cushie in The World According to Garp in 1982. That same year she made an appearance in Pink Floyd The Wall, playing an American groupie....
), an attractive young drifter. Just before sunrise, she bites him on the
neckThe neck is the part of the body on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The Latin term signifying "of the neck" is cervical.-Bony anatomy: The cervical spine:...
then runs off. The rising sun causes Caleb's flesh to begin to burn. Mae comes with a group of roaming vampires and takes him away. The most dissocial of all the vampires, the callous and
sociopathicPsychopathy is a psychological construct that describes chronic disregard for ethical principles and antisocial behavior.The term is often used interchangeably with sociopathy. This is a commonly made mistake. Sociopathy is no longer a correct term to use, and when it is used it actually refers to...
Severen (
Bill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, and True Lies...
), wants to kill him, but Mae reveals she has turned him into a vampire. Their charismatic leader, Jesse Hooker (
Lance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor, and artist, best known to movie and TV audiences for his roles in science fiction, action and horror films such as The Terminator, and the Alien film franchise, and on TV shows such as Millennium.-Early life:Henriksen was born in Manhattan, New York City...
), reluctantly agrees to allow Caleb to remain with them for a week to see if he can learn to hunt and become a trusted member of their group. Caleb is unwilling to kill to feed, which alienates him from the others. To protect him, Mae kills for him then has him drink from her wrist. After Caleb endangers himself to help them during a daylight police raid on their motel, Jesse and the others are temporarily mollified.
Meanwhile, Caleb's father (
Tim ThomersonJoseph Timothy "Tim" Thomerson is an American actor and comedian. Most famous for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers series, Thomerson is renowned for his work in numerous low-budget movies and his comedic television roles....
) has begun searching for the group while the police are also investigating. A young vampire in the group, Homer (
Joshua John MillerJoshua John Miller is an American actor, screenwriter, novelist, and filmmaker.-Personal life:Miller was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Irish-American actor and playwright Jason Miller , and Jewish-American actress and Playboy pin-up Susan Bernard Joshua John Miller (born December 26,...
), meets Caleb's sister Sarah (Marcie Leeds) and wants to transform her into his companion, but Caleb objects. While the group argues, Caleb's father arrives and holds them at gunpoint, demanding Sarah be released. Jesse taunts him into shooting, but regurgitates the bullet then wrestles the gun away. In the confusion, Sarah opens the door letting in the sunlight and forcing the vampires back. Burning, Caleb escapes with his family and suggests they try doing a
blood transfusionBlood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood-based products from one person into the circulatory system of another. Blood transfusions can be life-saving in some situations, such as massive blood loss due to trauma, or can be used to replace blood lost during surgery...
to attempt to cure him. The transfusion successfully reverses Caleb's transformation. That night the vampires search for Caleb because he knows their identity, and Homer still wishes to have Sarah for his mate. Mae distracts Caleb by trying to convince him to return to her while the others kidnap Sarah.
After Mae leaves, Caleb discovers the kidnapping and gives chase on horseback after finding his tires slashed. Along the way, he commandeers a tractor-trailer and encounters Severen, whom he runs over. The injured vampire manages to get into the truck's cab, so Caleb
jackknifesJackknifing means the accidental folding of an articulated vehicle such that it resembles the acute angle of a folding pocket knife. If a vehicle towing a trailer skids, the trailer can push it from behind until it spins round and faces backwards...
the vehicle and jumps out as the truck explodes and kills Severen. Seeking revenge, Jesse and Diamondback pursue him, but are forced to flee in their car as dawn breaks.
Not wanting Sarah to become another child-like
monsterA monster is any type of legendary creatures which usually appear in legend or horror fiction. The word monster derives from the latin word monstrum, meaning "omen", from the root of monere and also meaning "prodigy" or "miracle"....
, Mae breaks out of the back of the car with Sarah, getting badly burned by the sun as she runs with Sarah into Caleb's arms, taking refuge from the sun under his jacket. Homer attempts to follow but dies from exposure. Jesse and Diamondback, their sun-proofing ruined, also begin to burn. They attempt to run Caleb and Sarah over with the car but fail, also dying in the process.
Mae awakens later, her burns now healed; she has been given a transfusion and is also cured. Together, she and Caleb watch the sunrise.
Production
Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention, which at the time was strongly identified with the films of
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
and
John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
. When she and co-writer Eric Red found financial backing for a Western difficult to obtain, it was suggested to them that they try mixing a Western with another, more popular genre. Her interest in revisionist interpretation of cinematic tradition led her and Red to the idea of combining two genres that they regarded as ripe for reinterpretation: the Western movie, and the vampire movie, whose conventions largely derived from
Bela Lugosi'sBéla Lugosi was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen, well known for playing Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version...
performance in
DraculaDracula is a horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Béla Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal Pictures Co. Inc. and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
. The film was scored by the German
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
group
Tangerine DreamTangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, who also created the soundtracks for
Risky BusinessRisky Business is a 1983 comedy-drama film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It is best known for being the film that launched Tom Cruise to stardom.The film also stars Rebecca De Mornay as Lana and Joe Pantoliano as Guido...
and
LegendLegend is a 1985 fantasy film released by 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures , directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, Alice Playten, David Bennent, and Billy Barty...
.
Release
The movie premiered on 02 October 1987 in the USA, in 2009 the Lions Gate Home Entertainment released the
blu-ray discBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. Its main uses are for storing high-definition video, PlayStation 3 games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered disc...
who is include the documentary of the film "Living in Darkness".
Reaction
Part of a late 1980s revival of serious (as opposed to comedic) vampire depictions on the big screen,
Near Dark was released on October 2, 1987 in 262 theaters, grossing USD $635,789 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $3.4 million, below its $5 million budget. It received mostly positive reviews for its mix of the western, biker and vampire movie genres.
In her review for the
New York Times, Caryn James wrote, "Ms. Bigelow's too-studied compositions - Caleb in silhouette riding a horse toward the camera - clash with her unstudied approach to the characters' looks".
Jonathan RosenbaumJonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
of the Chicago Reader, conversely, was impressed by
Bigelow'sKathryn Bigelow is an American film director, working in the science fiction, action and horror genres.-Early life and education:...
first foray into big budget films with the "hillbilly vampire" movie, describing it as "beautifully shot".. As well, Hal Hinson of the
Washington Post said the intermixing of vampire legends, westerns and biker movies has an end result that's "both outrageous and poetic; it has extravagant, bloody thrills plus something else - something that comes close to genuine emotion."
Jay ScottJay Scott was the pen name of Jeffrey Scott Beaven , a Canadian film critic.Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Scott fled to Canada in 1969 as a draft dodger. He settled in Calgary, and began writing film reviews for the Calgary Albertan a few years later...
in his review for the
Globe and Mail wrote, "Bill Paxton as the undead sex symbol - is exceptional, but not exceptional enough to put across the cop-out that concludes the film".
In his book,
Monster Show: Cultural History of Horror, Film critic
David J. SkalDavid J. Skal is an American cultural historian known for his writings on horror films and horror literature.-Early life:...
highly praises the film's mix of western and horror genres, and homeless wanderings and undeath.
Richard CorlissRichard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
, of
Time Magazine calls
Near Dark "weird (and) beautiful " and "the all-time teenage vampire love story". Likewise, Richard Schickel (also of
Time) considers the film a clever variant of the vampire film genre..
Peter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
, of
Rolling Stone concurs, calling it "gory and gorgeous".
Near Dark is ranked 34 on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
' "Top 50 Horror Movies" list of the 50 best reviewed horror movies of all time.
Remake
A
remakeNear Dark is a remake of the 1987 cult vampire film directed by Kathryn Bigelow.-Concept:In 1987 two vampire movies were released: “The Lost Boys” and “Near Dark.” While “The Lost Boys” went on to a very substantial commercial success, the critically-superior film “Near Dark” bombed out of the...
from
Platinum DunesPlatinum Dunes is a production company created in 2001 by filmmakers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form.The company specializes in horror films, particularly remakes.Their web site is part of Bloody Disgusting's site....
film production company was originally planned but has since been put on hold after the release of the vampire romance film
TwilightTwilight is a romantic-fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. It focuses on the development of a personal relationship between human teenager Isabella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen , and the subsequent efforts of Cullen and his...
. Producer Brad Fuller opines, “I think that
Twilight was the same type of thing we were going for although
Near Dark was a much darker, sexier, rated R version of that. But I’m concerned that, conceptually, that
Near Dark and
Twilight are too similar in terms of a vampire movie. For now, that movie is on hold.”
Further reading
- Auerbach, Nina. Our Vampires, Ourselves. University of Chicago Press, 1995. p. 137. ISBN 0226032019
External links