Review - Near Dark (1987)

On this post I would like to focus my topic on one of my favorite vampire movies. When I first saw it I did not know what to think but after watching it a few more times, I finally learned to love it. The movie is of course “Near Dark” and there are a number of things that I enjoyed about this movie. It veers away from your conventional vampire movie and it is a ghoulish blend of western films, road films and the vampire mythology.

Lets look at the technical aspect of this film. The tone of the films seems to only linger around contrasts of dark blue and orange, which could stand for the cold dark night vs. the hot sun of the day. Here is an example of how lighting heavily influences this movie. Whether this is lighting or not, there is a scene where Paxton’s character gets shredded with bullets and light beams are shining through the holes in his body. That was amazing.

There are numerous tributes to Western flicks: the setting, which is a small farming town; some of the costuming that the character wear; the standoff both in the bar and with the truck. It feels as though ‘Mad Max’ also heavily influenced it and since the whole movie is very dark and gloomy… you could almost think of this movie as a film noir movie. 

The score was brilliantly composed by Tangerine Dream and it retains that 80s techno sound, but at the same time it also sounds ‘epic’ in the sense of strong bass guitars, a synthesized choir, rapid beating drums and sound effects.

This movie will always be a key favorite of mine just for the technical aspect alone. As for the vampires, are they real vampires or are they just a group of mentally and physically ill people? But that is a question that will later be answered.