Believe it or not folks until this very night I have never seen "Near Dark." The main reason is because the opportunity never presented itself until recently in which I bought (a used copy of) the old Anchor Bay single disc release for $5.95. And it was definitely a good buy! The film centers around a young man named Caleb who makes the mistake of falling in love with Mae, a mysterious young woman that isn't big on horses or the sun. Yes folks, Mae is a vampire and soon she turns her new boyfriend into one against his will. Soon Caleb falls in with Mae and her nomadic (and usually sadistic) family of vampires but calls it quits when the bloodsuckers try to make a meal out of his sister and father. Caleb manages to escape from the vampire clan and actually returns to his human form after receiving a complete blood transfusion from his father (played by Tim "Jack Deth" Thomerson). And when the film finally comes to a head, it delivers a quick and extremely anticlimactic ending.
"Near Dark" is a pretty good entry into vampiric cinema though it does take a bit too long to get started, and ends far too quickly than you'd wish. Bill Paxton easily steals the show in this movie as Severen, the most violent vampire of the bunch. His performance is extremely memorable and he definitely overshadows the rest of the crowd, even Lance Henriksen, who plays the key role of Jesse Hooker, leader of the vampire clan. Another plus in this flick was the awesome makeup f/x done of the vampires! These guys suffer so much sunburn and battle damage, and the special effects team just went all out! (Bill Paxton looks pretty messy toward the end of the film and plenty of blood oozes out of his ravaged face.) The effects were easily the best part of the film! As for the "Tangerine Dream" soundtrack.... the movie could've done without it; it just didn't seem to fit! (Another case in point, the theatrical cut of "Legend" features music by Tangerine Dream which is thankfully missing from the Director's Cut.) The music was so out of place at times, that it made my buddy Chris and I burst into laughter on several occasions. Seriously in the future folks remember this little equation: Tangerine music in a film = BAD IDEA!
All in all, I would definitely recommend "Near Dark" as it is a very well made movie with some interesting concepts involving the vampire mythos. And the makeup f/x and the fantastic cast more than make up for the plodding storyline and lousy music. So I'm more than happy to announce that this movie is worthy of THREE out of FIVE 'RADS!'
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