With the unfortunate theatre invasion of “Twilight” era vampires it is more important than ever to remember those classic, actually terrifying films that brought the vampire to the forefront of pop culture. “Near Dark” is the twisted love story of Caleb (Adrian Pasdar), a country-boy who gets the ultimate “love-bite.” After meeting Mae (Jenny Wright) Caleb finds himself one of the un-dead and on the run with a group of vampires.
The film’s beauty comes not only from its multi-dimensional characters but also from the snarky writing and iconography. The film opens with a close up image of a mosquito sucking the blood from a human, a wry parallel between the real world and the storyline to come. But it is the director and writer Kathryn Bigelow’s (“The Hurt Locker”) dark yet humorous dialogue that gives the film a real bite.
The character that stands out the most is Homer (Joshua Miller), a vampire turned when he was only a young boy and has been trapped for decades in a pre-pubescent body without anyone his age around (honestly, this is how Edward Cullen should feel. Think about it, he is like 300 and Bella is 18…that’s creepy). Homer is not only brutal when he needs to be but also has heart and is the character that is, ironically, the most human.
Emotion, wit and horror are all qualities that give “Near Dark” the lasting quality that many other vampire films are now missing. This movie is a definite must-see from the 80s and in general.
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