Near Dark
Those of the current generation enamored with the Twilight saga and are interested in seeking out vampire movies from the past will find that this 1987 film (released around the same time as Lost Boys) has an absolutely ENORMOUS amount of hype around it from cult horror fanatics, but ultimately it comes across as rather underwhelming to this viewer. It certainly boasts a good cast (including several actors from James Cameronâs Aliens), but it suffers from a thin script and questionable story structure that may be indicative of future Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow wanting to emphasize style over substance, but mostly leaves the viewer cold. Adrian Pasdar stars as a Texas farm boy who one aimless night meets a pretty country girl (Jenny Wright) who seems to be harboring a secret. As expected, she soon seduces and bites him (one of the more uneventful moments of this kind in movie history, as it barely seems to bother him) and Pasdar is well on his way to turning into a vampire himself. In the lead role, Pasdar is certainly a pretty boy, but he fails to connect with the viewer in order to feel his plight, and spends much of his screen time with a docile look complete with plenty of dirt caked on his face. The first ten minutes setting up the story donât do much to draw this viewer in, until the appearance of the girlâs vampire âfamilyâ consisting of Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, Bill Paxton, and an irritable little kid played by Joshua Miller. In particular Henriksen and Paxton make the most out of what little they have to work with, each cutting a striking figure even as most of their dialogue consists of snappy one-liners and not much else, while Goldstein and the kid barely get a chance to register at all. Then thereâs Tim Thomerson as Pasdarâs veterinarian father who embarks on a haphazard search for his son, which is mostly reduced to shots of him showing his sonâs picture to strangers and looking distressed when they walk away. Bigelow offers up some nice cinematography, with some strikingly framed shots like when the vampires approach a redneck bar, but the scene itself, while memorable for its gore, shows a real lack of a sense of urgency on the part of many characters, as the vampires start killing people therein and most of the patrons just stand there and watch, with the bartender sporting a look like someone just puked on his floor. Some have praised the film for presenting its vampires as a realistic band of roving killers rather than supernatural monsters, but even the slightest bit of insight on what makes these guys tick would have helped things along greatly. The film plays fast and loose with the rules of vampire lore (like having characters be cured by means of a simple âblood transfusionâ), with sunlight and fire being the best way to kill them, and while it is implied that they do have super-strength and are impervious to bullets, the fact that the little boy vampire is continually fought off successfully by Pasdarâs little sister calls their enhanced abilities into question (plus the fact that the sun always seems to come up about five minutes after they attack is either lazy writing or these guys are unable to buy a watch). Then there is the finale, where the clan faces down Pasdar while he protects his family, with the denouements coming not so much because Pasdar actually defeats them but more because of boneheaded stupidity (Paxton) or because it seems that they actually WANT to be destroyed (even though itâs never hinted at in the script), which is especially frustrating considering that Henriksen (who we are told has been around since the Civil War) would presumably have survival instincts second to none and not plan and carry out things in such a sloppy manner. Whilst the film does feature some pretty good gore and makeup FX (when the vampires are actually shown in action and the film doesnât cut away to something else) and a fine musical score by Tangerine Dream that brings a bit of atmosphere, itâs not enough to compensate for the lack of character development or compelling dialogue. Overall, proof that in the 1987 cult horror vampire movie race, Lost Boys is still the kingâŚ
5/10