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Near
Dark
had always intrigued me (and probably a lot of
other horror fans who have yet to experience this
diamond in the rough) after seeing images of actors
Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, and Bill Paxton
covered with tattered, ragged clothing, their
faces bloodied and scarred, in articles in horror
magazines like Fangoria. Now, after viewing
the film several times, I can say that I know
what all of the ruckus was about. To quote Paxton's
character, Severen, after a particularly gruesome
moment: "It's finger lickin' good!"
Wide-eyed, innocent cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian
Pasdar) is shooting the breeze with a buddy outside
a local bar one night when he encounters a beautiful
girl — the oh-so-alluring Mae (lovely Jenny Wright).
Before long we're on a "date" with Caleb and Mae
to visit his family's ranch, where he shows her
his horse. The animal reacts violently to the
girl and soon the twosome are again in Caleb's
truck, driving off. Mae has suddenly grown very
concerned about the time. Caleb becomes frustrated
and pulls over, leading to the first indication
(second, really, if you count the time issue)
that this is indeed a vampire film: they kiss,
then she bites. The two part and Caleb stands
in the dusty terrain holding his bleeding neck.
Before long, he is running back home, bleeding
and... burning. The sun is rising and as Caleb
runs home he's being burned alive. That is, until
a strange-looking van (with the windows covered
in tin foil to repel the sun) scoops him up and
Caleb discovers who Mae really is, the nature
of her mysterious friends, and what he is becoming.
Near Dark is
a truly unique vampire tale. In fact, the word
'vampire' is never used in the film at all. This
is vampire lore unto itself. It's grounded in
a strange reality that has its own "rules" — one
that doesn't include crucifixes, garlic,
and stakes through the heart. There aren't even
any 'fangs' shown; people get bitten, sometimes
drained, or even eaten, especially by true fiend
Severen (Paxton, amazingly brutal here). These
vampires do combust when exposed to sunlight,
however, and it's a real trip watching the vampire
crew, led by Jesse (the brooding Henriksen), prepare
for each oncoming sunrise. Most recently the film
The Forsaken has
explored (maybe even blatantly plagiarized) this
particular vampire mythos. But Near
Dark is much more than a vampire movie.
It's got plenty of action and violence (sometimes
a lot of gore) and flamboyant performances by
all involved, notably Goldstein (as Diamondback,
the gang's motherly matron), Henriksen, and especially
Bill Paxton. Paxton's horror roots are firmly
grounded with his freewheeling, irreverent performance
as the bloodsucker who seems to love being one
of the Undead. The scene in which he pretty much
turns a bar full of country roughnecks into a
nosferatu smorgasbord is worth the price of the
disc alone.
In sum, Near Dark
is a 'cult' film in all its glory. There are plenty
of great performances, a compelling story, gore,
violence, a neat twist on the vampire legend,
and beautiful photography. I would even dare call
it classic. A word of warning: This isn't
your typical vampire film; if you're a fan of
the Hammer classics (which I am to the fullest
extent) you might be disappointed in the non-typical
lore. I found the film to be different, but confident
enough in it's own reimagining of the mythos that
I was compelled to stick with it.
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| Anchor
Bay, as usual, does a slam-bang job of delivering
the goods. The company's edition
of Near Dark
is a two-disc, THX-certified set. A gorgeous-looking
transfer is utilized, a 1:85:1 widescreen presentation
enhanced for 16x9 TVs. The sound is THX, so it's
'Lucas' perfect. Disc 1 contains a very informative
audio commentary by the director, Kathryn Bigelow.
Disc 2 is where most of the special features are
to be found. First we have Living In Darkness,
an all new 47-minute documentary featuring interviews
with director Bigelow, producer Steven-Charles Jaffe,
director of photography Adam Greenberg, executive
producer Edward S. Feldman, and stars Bill Paxton,
Lance Henriksen, Adrian Pasdar and Jenette Goldstein.
There are also deleted scenes with commentary by
the director, theatrical trailers, original storyboards
a poster/still gallery, a behind-the-scenes photo
gallery, talent bios and two DVD-ROM features (original
screenplay and PC screen savers). All in all, a
truly excellent package. 10/11/02 |
