Surprisingly clever supernatural thriller focusing on the murderous activities of a group of 'vampires' (the film makes no mention of them being such, however they are afflicted by sunlight, require blood and are superstrong so draw your own conclusions). After young Caleb picks up a mysterious yet beautiful girl he attempts to seduce her. Despite her protestations she seems to not be wholly resisting him and eventually he succeeds in kissing her, when suddenly she bites him and runs from the pick-up as the sun begins to rise. As his truck runs out of gas and he too is forced to walk he begins to suffer terrible pains and an increasing aversion to the ever-rising sun. This is only the beginning of his nightmare.
For anyone familiar with the mid-to-late nineties vampire genre (From Dusk till Dawn, Vampires, Buffy the Vampire Slayer etc) several rules will have become apparent besides the normal vampire lore. Near Dark ignores all of them prefering instead to focus more on the characters as humans who still have their own personalities rather than soulless demons. To all intents and purposes they are just like everyone else with no master plan or world domination on their mind, merely the need to drink blood. As Caleb adjusts to his new life we see his unwillingness to kill in comparison to his new 'father' (Henrikson) and 'brother' (Paxton). Cared for by his 'sire' and pursued by his father and little sister a conflict of interest is only a matter of time.
Fresh from the success of Aliens, Paxton and Henrikson are excellent as the vicious alpha males killing everything in sight while elfin-like Jenny Wright and Adrian Pasdar revel in each others company and plot to leave, something which the family will not allow.
Filmed in the wide open spaces of the American South the sense of isolation and wide open spaces is well contrasted with Caleb's inability to run anywhere by director Kathryn Bigalow. You share his lack of understanding as his life radically alters and his requirements include killing, something the human part of himself finds impossible but the vampire part needs for him to survive.
Considered one of the scariest horror films of all time the gore count is surprisingly low with only the families decimation of a redneck bar keeping the death count up. As such I can heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the genre but unwilling to sit through the splatter and visual carnage of it's contemporaries |
