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Thanks for the memories!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I expected a lot more from Kathryn Bigelow and with three of the leads from Aliens, which came out the year before I thought this was gonna deliver.The story is pretty lame and it might have worked better with more experienced actors playing Caleb and Mae.Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Jenett Goldstein were all so much better in Aliens. Lance wasn't psycho enough as Jess. And Michael Biehn would have been a better choice as Paxton's Severen, as he can play psychos much more convincingly. The kid playing Homer, is laughable and doesn't fit in with the others.Jennet Goldstein was only ever really good in Aliens. She's just not a very good actor. The effects were decent for a movie with a budget, smaller than The Terminator, but Kathryn Bigelow is no James Cameron when it comes to directing action and violence.Maybe you're thinking the comparison is unfair and Bigelow has certainly made much better movies after this. But not comparing would be impossible. Because not only were Bigelow and Cameron once married, she also uses half the cast from Aliens and Aliens even plays in a cinema in this movie.Have I seen this movie 20 years ago, I would have loved it. it delivers in violence and effects, except the scene where Homer starts to burn In the sun. This was before cgi and the flames were literally animated and painted on to the film.As far as vampire movies go, I've seen worse than this and much much better. If you enjoy vampire flicks mixed with R-rated action, I suggest you skip this and watch the first Blade and the two first Underworld movies instead.

Considered something of a modern day classic in the vampire genre, NEAR DARK immediately dispels many of the myths we have come to associate with the bloodsucker. There are no traditions in this film; no crosses, or garlic, or even fangs. No robed figures in shiny black capes, no widow's peaks. No fake Transylvanian accents. The vampires here (the word "vampire" is not even mentioned in the film) are simply a pack of marauding murderers, compelled to drink human blood. The only indication that they are the traditional vampires of lore is the way they burn up in the sunlight (done to very good effect here).Now, I don't know about you, but the film for me is much more realistic - and therefore frightening - than many other vampire films I have seen. The Christopher Lee Dracula movies are my favourite vampire films, but let's face it, they're so far removed from contemporary times that they just aren't scary at all. But the vampires in NEAR DARK are ferocious killers who enjoy playing with their victims before they move in for the kill, and that makes them all the more horrible.NEAR DARK is as much a romance story as a horror, as the plot centres on the two leads and their relationship. Adrian Pascar and Jenny Wright are both effective performers and their love is totally believable. Along for the ride are four other actors and actresses of note. Firstly, Jenette Goldstein as the 'mother' of the vampire family, putting in a similar gung-ho performance to her role as commando Vasquez in ALIENS. Also added into the mixture are Lance Henriksen, who has appeared in countless horror films and who is now quite well-known for his role in Chris Carter's MILLENNIUM. Henriksen plays a typical character, an evil and twisted, yet noble, murderer. Tim Thomerson, star of hundreds of straight-to-video schlock features, has a small role as Caleb's dad, but the star of the show has to be Bill Paxton. Paxton, now something of a mainstream hero, appeared in lots of films in the horror genre in the '80s and this is one of his best roles. He steals the picture every time he's on screen and his portrayal of the twisted psychopath is truly memorable. Interestingly, Paxton, Henriksen, and Goldstein have all teamed up from 1986's ALIENS. There's a lot of violence in this film, especially in the bar scene where a man's throat is slashed open by a spur on someone's shoe, and excellent special effects in the form of the vampires burning.The only criticism I would level is that the film has such a powerful plot (you're watching all the time to see what happens next) then there is no particular reason to watch it again. However it is a very good contemporary vampire film which treats vampirism as something akin to drug addiction (a theme used quite often, watch THE ADDICTION for example). If you're looking for something different to the usual fang-and-cape crusades then this '80s slice of anarchy is definitely for you.

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.

Steamy vampire flick with terrific moments and memorable characters, including Jenny Wright as a shyly sensuous vamp who seduces farm boy Adrian Pasdar into her clutches. She bites him and, not yet transformed, he joins the family: a gang of rogue RV-riding bloodsuckers including Lance Henriksen as the brooding leader and hopped-up scene-stealer Bill Paxton as a bad boy brawler.The vibe throughout is spooky and intense, the starkly rural daytime setting giving a Spaghetti Western feel while the shadowy night shots channel Film Noir. But the camarawork, although making good use of light and shade, keeps too close on the actors, feeling more like a Gothic photo album than a suspenseful motion picture.Some of the music, seeming placed throughout to fill a soundtrack album, hinders what should have been more timeless otherwise. But an ultra-violent scene within a red neck bar, and a finale on a desolate street straight out of a demonic HIGH NOON, makes this a uniquely bloody ride.Although not as conventionally entertaining, there's a murkier depth than its successful competitor, THE LOST BOYS. And while Pasdar is a dependable – though somewhat wooden – lead protagonist, the best moments concern Paxton's daredevil lunacy or Jenny Wright's docile-doomed expressions as each inevitable dawn draws in.Perhaps NEAR LIGHT would have been a more fitting title, as these vamps are continuously playing time with loaded dice.