Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 16:36, 4 February 2009

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (February 2009)

Near Dark
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Kathryn Bigelow
Written by	Eric Red Kathryn Bigelow
Produced by	Steven-Charles Jaffe
Starring	Adrian Pasdar Jenny Wright Lance Henriksen Jenette Goldstein Bill Paxton
Cinematography	Adam Greenberg
Edited by	Howard E. Smith
Music by	Tangerine Dream
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release dates	October 2, 1987
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5,000,000
Box office	$3,369,307

Near Dark is an American vampire/Western horror film, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, and directed by Bigelow. Starring then little-known actors Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright, the movie was released in 1987, part of a revival of serious vampire movies in the late 1980s. It did poorly at the box office upon release, but was viewed favourably by critics subsequently and has a sizable cult following.

Plot

The protagonist, Caleb Colton is a young man in a small Oklahoma town who one night meets Mae, an attractive young drifter. Shortly before sunrise, while kissing, she bites him on the neck and runs off. Caleb discovers that the rising sun causes his flesh to burn. As he suffers with his father and sister looking on, Mae and her group of roaming vampires pick up Caleb and sweep him away from his family's home. Severen and Diamondback are inclined to kill him, but a romantically inclined Mae reveals she has made him a vampire. Jesse Hooker, the leader of the gang, reluctantly declares that Caleb will remain with them for a week to see if he can learn to hunt and be trusted as one of the group.

Caleb cannot bring himself to kill, even at the cost of his own survival, which alienates him from the gang. Unwilling to permit Caleb to be killed by her companions, Mae repeatedly kills for him, and allows him to drink from her wrist. Jesse and the gang are only temporarily mollified when Caleb puts himself at great risk to rescue them from a police raid on their motel during daylight hours.

Meanwhile, Caleb's father searches for the group of drifters, and canvasses the surrounding towns for news while the police conduct their own investigation. When the young vampire Homer sees Sarah at a roadside motel, a standoff develops. Homer wishes to transform the girl into a companion for himself, but Caleb demands that she be allowed to leave unharmed. While the gang argues over what to do, Caleb's father arrives, demanding at gunpoint that Sarah be released. Jesse challenges him, and when Caleb's father fires the gun, Jesse responds by regurgitating the bullet and wrenching the gun from his hand. In the confusion of the moment Sarah opens the door and flees, forcing the vampires to hide from the sunlight streaming into the motel room. A burning Caleb chooses to return to his family, and jumps into his father's truck. He suggests a transfusion to his distraught father.

In the darkness of the barn, Caleb's father transfuses his blood into his son's veins; this reverses Caleb's transformation, and he is again human. That night, Mae and the rest of the vampires come looking for Caleb, knowing he can identify them and the threat they represent. Homer remains fixed on the idea of turning Sarah into his mate. While Mae distracts Caleb with conversation outside the house, the others slip inside and kidnap Sarah. When Mae ascertains that Caleb cannot be convinced to return to her, she flees, leaving Caleb to discover the kidnapping.

Realizing Sarah is gone, Caleb goes after her. The gang has slashed his tires, so Caleb must ride one of the family's horses into town. He encounters Severen, who he runs down in a commandeered tractor-trailer. The vampire is only injured and climbs the front of the cab toward the driver's seat. Caleb forces the truck to jackknife before jumping clear, killing Severen in the ensuing explosion. Now intent on torturing and killing Caleb, Jesse and Diamondback pursue him, but as dawn breaks, they return to the car and flee toward the receding dark. Mae is not only reluctant to see Caleb hurt but realizes that she cannot permit Sarah to become another child-like monster. While the vampires drive away from Caleb in the first rays of morning, Mae breaks out the back of their station wagon, pulling Sarah with her. Mae is badly burned by the sun as she runs with Sarah into Caleb's arms, and Caleb covers her smoldering body with his coat. Desperate to keep Sarah for himself, Homer leaps out of the car to follow her and is destroyed in a fiery explosion. With no shelter from the sun nearby, Jesse and Diamondback are beginning to blacken and burn. In a final effort, they turn the car around and attempt to run down Caleb and Sarah, but the car veers off the road and explodes as they become completely engulfed in flames.

In the final scene, Caleb open the door to the Colton family barn where Mae lies hooked up to transfusion equipment, her burns fully healed. As morning sunlight spills into the barn, Mae's initial reaction is fear, but she has ceased to be a creature of the night and Caleb comforts her with the reassurance that she need no longer fear the sun.

Cast

Production

Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention, which at the time was strongly identified with the films of John Wayne and John Ford. When she and co-writer Eric Red found financial backing for a Western difficult to obtain, it was suggested to them that they try mixing a Western with another, more popular genre. Her interest in revisionist interpretation of cinematic tradition led her and Red to the idea of combining two genres that they regarded as ripe for reinterpretation: the Western movie, and the vampire movie, whose conventions largely derived from Bela Lugosi's performance in Dracula. The film was scored by the German electronic music group Tangerine Dream, who also penned the soundtracks for Risky Business and Legend.

Reaction

Part of a late 1980s revival of serious (as opposed to comedic) vampire depictions on the big screen, Near Dark was released on October 2, 1987 in 262 theaters, grossing USD $635,789 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $3.4 million, below its $5 million budget.

In her review for the New York Times, Caryn James wrote, "Ms. Bigelow's too-studied compositions - Caleb in silhouette riding a horse toward the camera - clash with her unstudied approach to the characters' looks". Jay Scott in his review for the Globe and Mail wrote, "Bill Paxton as the undead sex symbol - is exceptional, but not exceptional enough to put across the cop-out that concludes the film".

Near Dark is ranked 34 on Rotten Tomatoes' "Top 50 Horror Movies" list of the 50 best reviewed horror movies of all time.

Remake

A remake from Platinum Dunes was originally planned but has since been put on hold thanks to the similar vampire film Twilight; says producer Brad Fuller, “I think that Twilight was the same type of thing we were going for although Near Dark was a much darker, sexier, rated R version of that. But I’m concerned that, conceptually, that Near Dark and Twilight are too similar in terms of a vampire movie. For now, that movie is on hold.”

See also

• Near Dark (soundtrack)

References

1. http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/the_new_cult_canon_near_dark
2. Newman, Kim (1988). Nightmare Movies: a Critical History of the Horror Film 1968-1988. London: Bloomsbury. p. 36. ISBN 0-7475-0295-1.
3. "Near Dark". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
4. James, Caryn (October 4, 1987). "Near Dark, a Tale of Vampires on the Road". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
5. Scott, Jay (October 2, 1987). "Vampire myth spawns new terrors in seductive demons of Near Dark". Globe and Mail. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
6. "Top 50 Horror Movies". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
7. Empire: Near Dark Remake Is Off

External links

• Near Dark at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• Near Dark at Rotten Tomatoes
• Near Dark at Box Office Mojo
• Bright Lights Film Journal essay

• Misplaced Pages introduction cleanup from February 2009
• Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from February 2009
• 1987 films
• 1980s horror films
• American films
• English-language films
• Vampires in film and television
• Western films
• Western-horror films
• Chase films