Near Dark Movie Review

Near Dark (1987)

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Written by: Eric Red & Kathryn Bigelow
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein
Rated: R
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Plot
A small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.

Verdict
This kid is turned into a vampire and has such a subdued reaction. He has a sister just to create a conflict between he and the vampires to fill time in this movie. I like the ideas in this movie, but exploring Caleb's emotions and the pull of the vampires versus his families would have given this a foundation that would make the events of the movie mean something.
Skip it.

Review
The writers intended to make a western, but they couldn't secure financing and pivoted to the resurgent vampire genre instead.

Caleb (Adrian Pasdar), a teen in a small town, quickly becomes infatuated with an out of town girl Mae (Jenny Wright). They hang out all night but as morning approaches she becomes frantic. He doesn't know what's wrong, but we do. She turns him into a vampire, though he doesn't know it. When people are turned, they never do oddly enough. Even as he's smoldering in the sunlight Caleb thinks he's just sick.

Adrian Pasdar, Bill Paxton play Caleb, Severen

Mae's group of wandering nomad vampires picks him up. What's surprising is that he's not concerned that he's been changed. You'd think his reaction would be stronger, but he accepts this rather quickly and joins them. Caleb doesn't seem to have any qualms with abandoning his family. He does refuse to kill, letting Mae kill for him and feeding off her. The nomad group wants to get rid of him, disliking that he's not contributing to the group. Vampires must hunt.

Lance Henriksen plays Jesse

I don't know if I would have picked up this is a western without reading the original intention, but it does capitalize on the genre. This strange gang rides into town and recruits a local. Caleb has to audition for this gang, but he finally manages to prove his worth. The gang runs into Caleb's family, which creates drama, but Caleb never seems to miss his family. He's happy to follow Mae and the vampire leader Jesse (Lance Henriksen). If he had some remorse about having to leave them behind, that would give the confrontation more impact. He left them with little regret. He doesn't seem all that concerned about this new life as a vampire.

I don't recall another movie using a blood transfusion as a cure. How does Caleb's dad even know how to do that? Caleb later drives a tractor trailer and causes it to blow up. How'd he do either? You have this kid whose life is turned upside down, but he never acts like it's a burden or an improvement for that matter. There's a complete lack of emotion. Characters are able to perform whatever feat necessary despite the lack of credibility.

The entire plot is a lot of nothing. Why do the vampires care about Caleb's sister, other than it creates a conflict to fill time for this movie. It's a neat idea, but the emotional stakes are completely lacking.