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Movies & TV

Near Dark

NEAR DARK (Maple, 1987) D: Kathryn Bigelow, w/ Adrian Pasdar, Lance Henriksen. Rating: NNNN DVD package: NN Rating: NNNN


We probably wouldn’t have From Dusk Til Dawn, 30 Days Of Night or countless lesser efforts had Near Dark not shown the way. It’s the first movie to successfully locate vampires in a western setting, trading the traditional Gothic mists and billowing cloaks for arid plains and stetsons. It’s the first to portray its fiends as a wolf pack, ditching Dracula’s mindless slaves for more dynamic relationships.

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It changes the story, too. The undead heroine, Mae (Jenny Wright) puts the bite on naive young Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) and brings him into the pack. Can he escape his destiny?

Pasdar and Wright are decent actors with unusual roles – he’s not a hero, she’s not a damsel in distress – but the baddies blow them off the screen.

Bill Paxton has the gaudy role, a happy shitkicker who revels in murder, but Lance Henriksen’s quiet watchfulness reveals a more dangerous character – remorseless and powerful. Director Kathryn Bigelow calls him “majestic” in a lacklustre commentary that too often descends to describing what we’re watching.

More recent fangfests can boast splashier spectacle, but the creativity and energy packed into Near Dark’s redneck bar demolition, motel shoot-out and climactic duel give them a wicked punch that’s more effective than most CG efforts.

EXTRAS Director commentary, deleted scenes with optional commentary. Widescreen.

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