As a lover and frequent viewer of films in general (and horror specifically), I find that my opinion of movies fall into a few general categories. There are those movies that you fall in love with from the first viewing and will always love. On the opposite end of the spectrum are those movies that you hate and no amount of retrospection will ever change that. In the middle of those two polar ends are, to be honest, the majority of movies. Now, I'll split those as well. Sometimes you find a movie that doesn't make much of an impression either way, but repeated viewings make you appreciate the nuances of the film. Sometimes, though, you find that you the more you watch a movie, the less it holds up, and your opinion of it dwindles as times goes on. This is my relationship with this movie.There are ardent defenders of this movie who will go to great lengths on the message board to insult any who dare to denounce this film. I would ask you to look at my rating. I still think this is above the average and better than a great deal of the horror films unleashed on audiences in the 80s. It's just that I've starting to see the cracks in the foundation of this as I watch it over the years.Let's start on the positives, which are what those defenders always want to praise. This movie (much like Carpenter's VAMPIRES later) does an admirable job of mixing the standard look and feel of a western film with a very horror-centric plot. You could, easily, remove the vampiric elements, give these villains black hats and still make this movie work as a western. In fact, one of the best things about the movie is the lack of generic vampire film lore. The word itself is never mentioned through the film. Though our monsters must protect themselves from sunlight, there is no garlic, no crosses, no coffins. This is certainly a much different breed of vampire.Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton are the very best things about this movie, particularly Paxton's Severin. I find myself biding the time when he is off camera, sloughing through tedious romantic moments, in order to get to the meat of the movie and the mesmerizing presence of Paxton, who plays a vampire that is truly your worst nightmare. There is no suave sexiness and no pretty boy goth drama about him. He is a killer of man, pure and simple, and delights in his destiny. The scene that is usually mentioned is the slaughter in the bar and Paxton is the glue holding this scene together. The swift brutality that he shows to the patrons and the remorseless taking of life show a glee in killing that's hard not to appreciate in a twisted sort of way.The trouble with the movie, though, is that this band of vampires are really not the main attraction. The largest majority of his movie revolves around a farm boy, who meets one of these vampires in the opening scene. In typical Hollywood fashion, they fall in love after about 2 hours of knowing each other and begin to show the sort of deep devotion to each other that takes real time to develop in real life. She draws him into their world and it is this hero that is supposed to draw our empathy, he is the sole presence in this group who feels any sort of guilt and loss for the life he's left behind and the lives that he's required to take.I can't imagine that those scenes would have worked, in this movie, with any actors, though for immediate comparison I would look to THE LOST BOYS (it's obvious counterpoint) and the romantic relationship that develops in that movie. In THE LOST BOYS it is an integral plot point, but never feels like it draws away from the action itself. The romance in this one is painful to watch at times and draws away from any sense of tension and horror that is developed. The blame for this should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the two actors, Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright. It is no small wonder that neither had a very successful Hollywood career after this movie. They are not given great dialog to work with anyways and these two clunk their way through that dialog so much that we start hoping that Severin is just going to kill this kid off and end all of our misery. Perhaps in better hands these scenes could have worked, but alas we will never know. What we are left with is a movie with tons of potential, great plot, good cinematography and some great characters, that is ultimately killed by bad casting and wooden acting. It's easy to see why Bigelow became such a talented director, as she starts off with a promising debut, but in the end I'm not sure this even makes my top ten vampire movies.

The first thing that would surprise people who set out to watch this movie is the lack of the cheesy elements of that period. I would even say that may be one reason which would turn off people from this movie. The movie doesn't have the trademark 80s style. I heard about some romance elements in the movie and I imagined it would be prominent. On the contrary, the romance elements are quite minimal and personally I don't think there is a huge amount of chemistry between the leads. But honestly that doesn't matter too much. One of the highlights are the performances of Bill Paxton, Joshua John miller and Lance henriksen. They basically save the movie from just being a mediocre teen movie to an exciting ride. The interesting thing about the characters is how each vampire has had a normal past and then they had to adapt to the new reality. They had to adapt to a situation where they needed to kill. At first it is difficult but then they start to enjoy it and finally they become killing machines who can feel no remorse, no pain. And then they are unstoppable since nothing can kill them other than sunlight. It is interesting how the main character is sometimes attracted to the new lifestyle but is not cold blooded enough to complete the transformation. Not only that, when it starts hitting close to home, he wakes up to the problems of the new lifestyle. There are quite a few scenes like the bar scene and the hotel shootout which are impressively done and Bill paxton's scenery chewing performance is most prominent in these scenes. Obviously there are elements of dark comedy but they are not too prominent (thankfully). One of the big problems that bring down the rating a little is the ending. This is what prevents the movie from being a classic. I was a little unsatisfied with the last few scenes. One would expect a brutal gang like this to finish the job with a lot more ruthlessness and with no mercy. Instead they try to drag the situation and then obviously get into trouble in the end. It is not in tune with the rest of the movie, I feel. I loved the soundtrack by Tangerine dream and as expected it really suits the tone of the movie. They were the voice of the 80s for me, so here too they do a perfect job with the dark touches. I liked it very much and it does have some classic touches but it has some flaws such as the ending.7/10

Vampire movies are the easiest kinds of horror movies to attend. We know all the rules and we know the scenerio. But it's what the director does with those two conventions that determine the film's success.We know that vampires can never go out in daylight (a rule which is based around a logic that I have yet to understand). The second thing we know is that vampires must constantly drink blood (why do they never visit slaughter houses?) This allows us the scenerio from almost every single vampire movie that has probably ever been made. Two characters are necessary: one has been a vampire since time began (no one is ever bitten in the 60s) and the other is a young virgin that the vampire bit and must now go through the agonizing process of figuring out how he/she is going to live for all of eternity living by all of the rules mentioned above.Kathryn Bigelow's 'Near Dark' takes these rules and does something neat with them. She sets a family of vampires in a van with the new guy (Adrian Pasdar) and puts them on a nocturnal trek across the southwest. Along the way we run into a redneck bar where some of the best scenes in the movie come to life (which I won't spoil with one single word). Following hot on their trail is Pasdar's father (Tim Thomerson) who thinks he knows how to cure his son.This leads to all sorts of complications that we can predict. You know what to expect but you are waiting to see the approach that Bigelow takes. This movie is fun, I enjoyed the swaggering characters, I enjoyed the plot twists and I enjoyed the preposterousness of the whole enterprise. You know what to expect but you don't expect it to come together this well.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's always fun to take a fresh look at a cult favorite, especially after a quarter century since initial release. Near Dark is best known as Kathryn Bigelow's first solo directorial effort ... yes, the Oscar winning director of The Hurt Locker (plus Point Blank and Zero Dark Thirty). But that's not why this one has a loyal following. It's actually a very stylish vampire/road trip that focuses on family. And it's one of the very few vampire movies where the word "vampire" is never uttered.Ms. Bigelow co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Red, who also wrote The Hitcher. Similarities abound, yet this one stands on its own thanks to the photography and the performances. We can't help but notice three main actors come directly from James Cameron's Aliens ... Bill Paxton, Lance Henrickson, and Jenette Goldstein. Of course, Mr. Cameron and Ms. Bigelow were in a relationship that resulted in marriage (and later ended in divorce). Near Dark lost at the box office to another vampire movie released at the same time, The Lost Boys. Having its production company go out of business provided no marketing help and Near Dark has since experienced a rabid following thanks to cable, DVD and midnight showings.The basic story has a young local (rural Oklahoma) boy (Adrian Pasdar, who is married to one of the Dixie Chicks in real life) meeting a stranger in town (Jenny Wright, who played Rob Lowe's wife in St Elmo's Fire). Their initial sparks lead to necking .. get it? Next thing we know he is being dragged into a runaway Winnebago by Paxton, Henrickson, Goldstein, Wright and Joshua John Miller. We soon enough figure out it's a traveling troupe of vampires and Caleb (the young local boy) is in big trouble.There are a couple of well known/classic scenes: the sequence in the bar where we really get to see the personalities of each of this group, and the bungalow shootout where the bullet holes in the walls allow the deadly rays of sunshine to wreak havoc with the bloodsucking clan. Additionally, you will note some beautiful shots that confirm Ms. Bigelow's background as an artist - the backlit shot of the group in the fog, and Caleb's horse riding scene.For those accustomed to seeing the "cool" Bill Paxton, they will be surprised at his frenetic wild man act. You might also recall his stint in the The Terminator as one of the blue-haired punks that naked Arnold meets on his arrival. Jenny Wright is fun to watch here and it's a reminder of her talent, and a shame that she retired/disappeared from the acting world in 1998. Others in support include Tim Thomerson as Caleb's dad and (a very young) James LeGros as the frightened teenage cowboy playing pool in the bar scene. Caleb's sister is played by Marcie Leeds, who played young Sarah (Barbara Hershey's character) in Beaches.A sure sign of 1980's horror is the electronic score provided by Tangerine Dream. Sure, the score would be much different today, but it's very much a part of the film's fabric and style. In addition to the key actors coming from Cameron's film, you will also note Aliens on the town's theatre marquee.Bram Stoker published "Dracula" in 1897 and since then it's provided source material and inspiration for an amazing number of films. Some of the best known include: Nosferatu in 1922, Bella Lugosi in 1931, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Frank Langella as Dracula (1979), The Hunger with Catherine Deneuve (1983), Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Oldman (1992), Tom Cruise in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire (1994), Robert Rodriguez' From Dusk til Dawn (1996 with George Clooney), Blade (1998), and most recently the Twilight franchise, TV's "True Blood", the excellent Let the Right One In (2008) and the animated Hotel Transylvania (2012). Next up is a NBC series with Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the title role. For the undead, it's quite a family tree of entertainment and horror.