Near Dark (1987)

Nostalgia 

     Every time I talk about a film that took place in the 80's a wave of nostalgia takes me back to my early childhood.  Since I was born in the early 80's I am considered a 90's kid or 90's teen, but it was in the 80's when I first starting watching horror.  Many often consider the 80's as the golden age of horror films ( and I definitley agree with them).  I believe I was 4 years old when I first saw A Nightmare on Elm Street, and I was hooked ever since.  When most people think of Vampire films that came out in the 80's Lost Boys and Fright Night are usually films most people associate with the decade (even non-horror fans are familiar with these flicks).  Near Dark was released in 1987 only two months after The Lost Boys was released, and is mostly forgotten due to being overshadowed by the extremely popular Joel Shumacher flick.

Production

Co-writers Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow (who directed the film, and would go on to win an Oscar       for The Hurt Locker) had initially intended to write a western, with very little interest in the western genre at the time.  The partners decided to fuse the western and vampire genre's together. The

script was eventually picked up by DeLaurenitis Entertainment Group  who financed the production.  Since they were going into bankruptcy at the time of release they were unable to market this film appropriately, which played a major role in the film being somewhat of a commercial failure (following The Lost Boys couldn't have helped).  Bigelow's friend, then later husband James Cameron reason that half of the main cast of Aliens make up the most of the family of antagonist (The role of Jesse Hooker was initially offered to Michael Biehn who turned the role down).  Despite the hit at the box office, the film was loved by critics and fans.

The Plot
The film begins with small town country boy Caleb Colton meets the extremely attractive passer by named Mae.  As things get hot and heavy in Caleb's truck Mae bites young Caleb then makes an exit.  As the sun begins to rise Caleb notices smoke to emit from his skin caused by the sun.  Mae comes back with her "family" a gypsy like clan of vampires that roam about town to town looking for "food" the proverbial long-pig if you will.  The group is led by elder Jesse Hooker ( which is a badass name if I have ever heard one, is played by Lance Henriksen).  Second in command is Severen (played by the scene stealing Bill Paxton), who is somewhat of a psychotic loose canon intent on killing Caleb.  Jesse allows Caleb to join the clan but is also upset that Caleb is hesitant to kill for his food.  Mae does the hunting in his absence and allows Caleb to feed from her blood.  The bar scene (which is my favorite scene of the film) just shows how bloodthirsty and psychotic Severin is.  In the scene he picks a fight with  some patrons of the bar and ends up slitting a mans throat with a knife that sticks out of his boot then proceeds to devour his spraying artery. Caleb's father, who is extremely concerned for his son during his "disappearance" takes off in search of his missing son.  A child vampire in the group known as Homer runs into Caleb's sister and takes a liking to her and has the intentions of turning her into one of the group.  Caleb dissaproves of this and things get hot as the father confronts the clan at gunpoint.  He turns the gun to jesse who seems to spit out the bullets shot at him.  In a move of desperation Caleb's sister opens the door letting in the sunlight as the family covers a burning Caleb in an attempt to escape from the clan.  The next scene is a far cry from your typical vampire film, Calebs father gives his son a blood transfusion which somehow easily turns him back into a human.  Caleb's sister is once again kidnapped and Caleb goes to save her and is confronted by the psychotic Severen, Caleb purposely crashes a huge tractor trailer and kills Severen.  Jesse and his partner Diamondback (who is played by fellow Aliens cast member Jennete Goldstein) flee as the sun begins to rise. Mae changes her mind while they are fleeing and takes sarah out of the backdoor of the car and jumps out while Mae's skin starts to burn, Caleb approaches her and covers her.  Homer attempts to grab Sarah but is incinerated by the sun.  Mae then wakes up with healed burns and it is revealed she was given a transfusion which saved her as well. Although i love the scene when Homer bursts into flames I felt the ending a tad rushed and the transfusion thing kind of silly, but overall the film is solid and a must watch for Horror fans. While I highly suggest watching this cult classic goodluck finding it on a streaming service.  Last I checked it was not available on any streaming platform and can only be seen by physical copy.


 

   


Fun Facts

1. A remake of the film was initially planned but was eventually scrapped since the producers thought the film theme was too close to the twilight theme (kind of ironic considering this film is basically twilight but not lame).
2. The word vampire is never mentioned in the film.
3. Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen were stopped by a police officer as they went into town while still in costume in between takes.  
4. Joshua John Miller who plays the charachter of Homer, is the Half-brother of Jason Patric, who plays Michael in The Lost Boys (both films are about a family of Vampires and was released in 1987.
5. Ranked the 21st scariest movie of all-time by Entertainment Weekly.