Near Dark

There is a moment that kicks off the final section of Near Dark that hit me hard.

It was just two characters meeting. One of them invites the other to watch TV. Nothing much happens initially.

But if the story is honest, and you believe in the danger presented by the horror inside the movie, then two characters meeting can knock you out. 

Near Dark is a cult classic from 1987.

The Lost Boys came out the same year and got all the attention. Comparison is a mug’s game but watching this you can see why The Lost Boys is the one that passed into legend.

It has a sense of humor about itself and better special effects and one of the funniest endings of all time.

What Near Dark has though is a stronger metaphor and deeper emotions. Its got a decent romance element and some of the greasiest, most repugnant vampires you have ever seen.

Near Dark’s western elements are a ton of fun and there are some action/horror scenes that are both thrilling and disgusting.

Also, it dodges a lot of vampire lore in favor of a more simple take. No one ever says vampire in this thing and no one ever makes a stake or uses a cross.

So if you are stuck in a bar with a vile vampire family you are out of luck.

That scene suggested a group of ragged thrill killers way more than a pack of vamps.

What does work in Near Dark is sunlight. You definitely sense that Director Kathryn Bigelow and her special fx crew really liked working with fire and explosions. Lots of explosions in this one’s

Several story points and that one vampire weakness leads to an amazing shootout with the cops where sunlights bursts through bullet holes in a building endangering a bloodsucking gang.

It’s the most famous part of the movie but there is much to admire here for horror fans.

Ultimately, Near Dark’s story gives it something I don’t think I have ever seen before or since — a vampire western. 

Wait, in 1996 Robert Rodriquez directed a script Quentin Tarantino wrote in high school (with more work provided by Robert Kurtzman) that had a bit of western style to it. It was called From Dusk Till Dawn. 

That was an experiment where the first half of the flick was a crime movie and the second half was a horror film with vampires. 

I could never make it through the sequels but I think they embraced the west a little harder than the original.

Near Dark is no doubt a western from the start. But I’m not sure it successfully mixes the genres.

However, when the hero of the movie rides a horse into town to confront an evil gang and certain death … that’s a real cowboy right there.