18th October 2018 | 31 Days of “Alternative” Horror: Near Dark
The 80’s were the place to be for contemporary vampire fair. It was also the beginning of the grunge era, and coming of age romance genre in abundance. The vampire movies of the eighties were not just about being outcasts. They weren’t just about family differences; they were about the realisation that the American dream was not what we thought it would be. It was also about adolescent fixations that had become steeped with consequences. There seemed to be resurgence of these themes in the 2000s with Twilight, which tackled them in a cleaner, more entitled manner.
Near Dark follows the “sure of himself” ladykiller Caleb, played by Adrian Pasdar who after spotting a beautiful stranger wandering about his midwestern town, he becomes determined to reel her in. That woman is Mae, played by Jenny Wright. Mae asks for a ride, and in true Cinderella fashion is nonchalant about Caleb as company and more panicked about getting back home on time — or in her case, before sunrise. She does eventually fall for Caleb’s advances and in doing so, she gives him a classic, vampire kiss on his neck. As daylight looms, Caleb feels the burn, and he must now join Mae and her family of killer vampires in order to survive. That’s when the mayhem truest begins, and director Bigelow does not pull any punches.
This is Kathryn Bigelow’s second feature but first solo writing/directing assignment. It was a risky film to attempt, not only because of the vampire craze already well served, but Bigelow — who is fearless in her challenges — decided to cast two unknowns, Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright as the two leads. James Cameron had a hand in getting three actors that he used for Aliens (something of a collaborative acting package) with Paxton, Goldstein, and Henriksen playing roles within the killer vampire family. This wasn’t enough to save Near Dark, which performed poorly at the box office. If there were a straining point to note, it would be the movie’s visual range. Most places looked the same, tainted with the same bleak brush, but it doesn’t help when you are telling the story of vampires who only come out at night, are not wanting to be seen. Perhaps light is what’s sacrificed to a life of darkness.
The reason why we come back to Near Dark is down to the trinity of known stars chewing the sets with their outrageous appearances (Goldstein‘s hair should have its own credit.) and the manner from which they menace and ultimately destroy the places they dwell. Feeding time is not as clean cut as you would find in European horrors, with guns, knives, fire and general chaos in a blood splatters that go beyond the use of a single napkin for cleanup. Gone are the times where vampires live in castles, have elegant soirées with a very strict formal dress code — or florid and eccentric as seen in Interview with a Vampire. Vampires are either night owl socialites or castle bound recluse, with skills in music, a taste for art and manners that are considered of the highest standard.
Movies like the Female Vampire and Coppola’s Dracula also proved that vampires leaned to experimental sex rituals that sometimes — but not always involved having a bite to drink. Near Dark may have been the extreme in being contrary to the rules, but it was most definitely the trendsetter for future excursions into “grunge-vampirism”. Think From Dusk Till Dawn and contemporary vampire hunting movies Blade and naturally, the cleaner teenage vampire to show that became Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Near Dark is in a neo-noir league of its own.
Written by: Stephen Radford
website: stephenradford.com
Next: 19th October: The Unseen
