Post by Tara ntula on Jun 29, 2008 16:04:02 GMT -5
Just watched this little gemmy gem yesterday and felt compelled to do a write-up.
For the few of you who haven’t watched, Near Dark follows Caleb, a young, hickish cowboy who gets bitten by the girl he is trying to seduce, and is forced, in the aftermath, to join her gypsy vampire faction as they wreak havoc (and fire) on the American southwest, while his family is tracking the vampdits and trying to bring him home.
I love this movie. It’s dark, fun, stylish and completely earns its title of cult classic. It sails through multiple genres (horror, western, action, family drama, hell, even romance) seamlessly. As a viewer, you feel torn between wanting to join this blood-sucking, Texas-roaming clan of heartless, yet fun ghouls and rooting for their gory, much deserved demise. My first time viewing of this was when I was very young and my only memories of it were Diamondback’s scary, bleached hair and the igniting of a life long fear of Texas. I watched it a few years later and liked it, but never really appreciated it. Enter the third viewing, and….whoa. This film perfectly juxtaposes the glamour, exhilaration and the intense draw of being a creature of the night against the pure, without-a-conscience evil associated with such a life. The cast was wonderful, in my opinion, particularly the pre-Heroes hero Adrian Pasdar as the just-turned vamp with a conscience, torn between love and family, good and evil, normal food and blood. Also, count me in as a fan of Bill Paxton’s cold, psychopath Severen, a character who deserved more screen time. As someone else mentioned recently, the ending is a slight letdown
Critics hailed this movie (92% on rotten tomatoes) and I see there is, ugh, a remake in sight. I see that it’s often compared to The Lost Boys, and while I can see the comparison, this is the much better film. I can see it having much replay value and I would easily call it one of my favorites, if not favorite, vampire movie. Near Dark is near perfect. 8/10.
For the few of you who haven’t watched, Near Dark follows Caleb, a young, hickish cowboy who gets bitten by the girl he is trying to seduce, and is forced, in the aftermath, to join her gypsy vampire faction as they wreak havoc (and fire) on the American southwest, while his family is tracking the vampdits and trying to bring him home.
I love this movie. It’s dark, fun, stylish and completely earns its title of cult classic. It sails through multiple genres (horror, western, action, family drama, hell, even romance) seamlessly. As a viewer, you feel torn between wanting to join this blood-sucking, Texas-roaming clan of heartless, yet fun ghouls and rooting for their gory, much deserved demise. My first time viewing of this was when I was very young and my only memories of it were Diamondback’s scary, bleached hair and the igniting of a life long fear of Texas. I watched it a few years later and liked it, but never really appreciated it. Enter the third viewing, and….whoa. This film perfectly juxtaposes the glamour, exhilaration and the intense draw of being a creature of the night against the pure, without-a-conscience evil associated with such a life. The cast was wonderful, in my opinion, particularly the pre-Heroes hero Adrian Pasdar as the just-turned vamp with a conscience, torn between love and family, good and evil, normal food and blood. Also, count me in as a fan of Bill Paxton’s cold, psychopath Severen, a character who deserved more screen time. As someone else mentioned recently, the ending is a slight letdown
(blood transfusion = a cure all? WTF?).
Critics hailed this movie (92% on rotten tomatoes) and I see there is, ugh, a remake in sight. I see that it’s often compared to The Lost Boys, and while I can see the comparison, this is the much better film. I can see it having much replay value and I would easily call it one of my favorites, if not favorite, vampire movie. Near Dark is near perfect. 8/10.