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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  /  Near Dark
Posted by: Heretic, November 21st, 2005, 5:53pm
Anyone ever heard of this?  It's an offbeat vampire flick directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break) and written by Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red (The Hitcher, Body Parts), during the time where Bigelow was married to James Cameron.  

It shows, believe me.  The movie starts out as an interesting take on the usual vampire story, with our young hero picking up a woman who seems a little odd.  Soon, compliments of two small holes in his neck, our hero is off with a roving band of vampires, including Aliens cast members Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein.  

Our hero suffers the usual new-vampire problems: not being used to staying out of sunlight, not being willing to kill to eat, and just generally not having a very good time of things in his new lifestyle.  The movie pulls these off quite nicely, along with a love story between the poor young man, and Mae, the vampire who bit him (Jenny Wright, who's attractive and talented yet vastly underused - you may remember her from Young Guns II).  

Halfway through, things are stepped up a notch.  The vampires stop by a bar to feed, and the violence that follows is absolutely brilliantly pulled off.  I can't describe what it is, exactly, but the scene is just brilliant.  Paxton turns in one of his best performances, Henriksen is as badass as usual, and Adrian Pasdar, as the reluctant new vampire and our hero, plays the part perfectly as well.

Things don't let up from that point.  The vampires are trapped in a hotel room in daylight, and an excellent gunfight ensues, a scene which is in some ways reminiscent of The Wild Bunch or other "last stand" type scenes...very interesting.

The finale involves a big truck, vampires burning up, etc. etc...everything that you could ask for, all done with excellent style.  This is a really original vampire movie (the word "vampire" isn't said once, by the way), and that's why I like it so much.  

It's by no means perfect, but check it out.

Cameron fans may notice several little nods in both directions.  I swear the bar scene in T2 opens with the same shots that the bar scene in this movie (which came first) does.  Look for a cinema playing Aliens...and of course, it's nice to see Aliens cast members re-united.  Fans of Dollman or Trancers may be delighted to see Tim Thomerson (Jack Deth of Trancers) in a small part.    
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