Is it weird to say that director Kathryn Bigelow is an innovator? She deserves the title being the first woman to with the Best Director Academy Award, but she was not the first nominee, and she is best known for her genre flicks "Near Dark" and "Point Break".
These genre films are what make her an innovator. Nothing brilliant has come from the extreme sport FBI genre (Sorry Vin Diesel), but when it comes to the vampire love story genre, "Near Dark" showed Hollywood how it should be done.
Caleb is your typical Oklahoman teenager who should be thinking about signing up for agriculture classes at the local junior college. He drives his truck, raises horses, and enjoys "exciting" trips into town to act like the "King of the Hill" gang. Everything changes on one of these trips where he tries to win over the mysterious new girl in town, Mae. The only thing she lets Caleb in on is her obsession with the night.
Attached to this obsession are instincts she cannot resist which results in her taking a nip out of Caleb's neck. This leave Caleb trapped in a world that is controlled by the will of vampire Jessie Hooker. Unwilling to join these killers, he must either find a way to survive and stay with Mae or find a way to get back to his family and return to the normal.
With his family trying to track him down, hopefully Caleb will come to terms with his fate before his father and sister meet his new crew.
Anybody know where I could stream Near Dark? - Reddit
"Near Dark" is the most believable vampire adolescence films produced. It works as an action movie, a coming of age tale, and an 80's horror classic.
As long as the audience has an idea of what small town living is like, relating to the characters is easy. We understand Caleb's dilemma and Mae's rebellious nature, and we pull for both to figure this existence out. The Southern charm also gives is a feel on an American fairy tale like "The Wizard of Oz".
With that Great Plains feel, the antagonists are brilliant and the character actors involved (Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and the rest of the USS Solaco's crew) are perfect. These West Texas vampires are the right kind of decadents that Americans can relate too, and show that there should not be anything romantic about hominus nocturna.
To further make sure the audience does not respond too much to the romance, the soundtrack by Tangerine Dream gives the film an Argento-esque feel that Goblin provided for his most highly-praised films. Like "Suspiria" it turns the story into a twisted folk tale.
Great direction, story, soundtrack and ensemble cast make "Near Dark" the most under appreicated vampire films of the past 40 years. It is a great early entry in the filmography of Kathryn Bigelow, and it demonstrates her understanding of what she is filming. If you liked any of her other films or vampire movies in general, "Near Dark" is a must see.
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