# Near Dark (1987)

### reviewed by
David Nusair

    Near Dark (Reviewed on Feb. 10/99)

Starring Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton, Adrian Pasdar

In "Near Dark", director Kathryn Bigelow takes the vampire myth and does something completely different with it. She makes them likeable. It's not too often that we find ourselves rooting for people who kill indiscriminitely.

This family of vampires is lead by Jessie (Lance Henrikson) and early on in the film, he explains to the newcomer (Adrian Pasdar) that they don't kill for fun, rather to survive. One wonders why they couldn't just feast on criminals instead of innocent civilians, but that issue is never addressed. Bill Paxton is also on hand playing the fun-loving, "rebel" vampire who has a penchant for finding creative ways of dispatching his victims.

"Near Dark" is a fun movie. I don't think it was intended to be taken too seriously. And as with Bigelow's other films, it has a real sense of style. There's a rumour that she didn't even direct this, rather her husband-at-the-time Jim Cameron did. I don't think this is so, however. Cameron prefers a more clinical style, where he shoots more from a distance, so that the audience never really connects with the characters. Bigelow, on the other hand, takes us right in there, so that we are face-to-face with these people, which pretty much forces us to associate with her characters to some degree.

Also, as with "Blue Steel" and "Strange Days", "Near Dark" features very strong female characters. The character of Mae, for example, is initially thought to be rather timid and meek. But, as the movie progresses, we see that there's more to her than meets the eye. Sure, she's not as "out there" as Bill Paxton's character (as with most of Paxton's early roles, he steals every scene he's in), but she is as strong as any of the other "family" members, both physically and mentally.

Of course, none of this would matter if the film wasn't any good. Fortunately, this isn't the case. "Near Dark" is about as fast-paced as movies come, and even when it does slow down for scenes of exposition, we're always interested in finding out more about this bizarre family of vampires.

"Near Dark" may not be as accomplished on a techinical level as something like "Blue Steel", but it certainly displays Bigelows flair for visceral thrills. And fans of Bill Paxton should certainly check this one out, since he's pretty much playing Hicks from "Aliens", except as a vampire.

"Near Dark" isn't anything terribly deep or thought-provoking, but it's a good way to spend an hour and a half.

    *** out of ****

    --
    David Nusair                                         http://www.reelfilm.com"I like your nurses uniform, guy." |
    "These are O.R. scrubs."           |          THIS SPACE FOR RENT
    "Oh, are they?"                    |
    --Rushmore--                       |

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