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The Story: Good-looking country boy Caleb Calton gets more than he bargained for when he unknowingly gives a beautiful vampire hick girl a ride back to some friends.

The opening shots of Near Dark are truly amazing. The first ten minutes completely build up the intensity and atmosphere for the duration of the film. While Caleb takes strange but sweet Mae (Jenny Wright) to her destination in his old beat up truck, the dark sky begins to turn bluer by the minute. As the sun draws closer to rising over the desolate dirt road, Mae's time begins to run short. She becomes quite persistent, almost frenzied, begging Caleb to hurry; while in the background the brightness of day unfolds. In the middle of the long, blank dirt road, he stops the truck and takes out his keys. The sun has almost given full delivery to a new dawn now. In order for Mae to make it back before it's too late, she must kiss Caleb. With a few seconds of reluctance, their infatuation grows upon each other; and within a few more seconds, Caleb will never be the same.

Caleb's human deterioration is absolutely genius. His transformation is practically immediate, as he tries to make it back home to his sister and father by foot. As he moves towards the house, stumbling almost without direction in a nearby field, his legs give out from under him causing a collapse. Slow to recover, he gathers himself from the ground and makes it back on the road to his house, only to be grabbed by an unknown arm and thrown into a Winnebago. This is when Caleb's destiny is realized. The reality of his future existence is shaped before him. And the gang gives their introduction. He is given a week to prove himself to them. If he doesn't succeed in his job, his new life will be simple and short-lived.

Director Kathryn Bigelow's intelligent visualization of countrified vampires is a well-respected offbeat classic. Back in 1987, when this motion picture surfaced, it set the standard for modern day vampire stories; and still does to a degree. Bigelow's undead team of murderous leeches perform their job much different from the traditional bloodsucker. Near Dark contains no scenes with long pointed fangs, garlic necklaces or stakes through the heart. Not a single frame contains a hero with a cross in hopes of sending the devilish spawn back to hell. However, one essential ingredient is weaved into the story. The vampires dread one customary factor, sunlight.

Near Dark carries a truly inventive tone, with unusual characters and a restrained setting. For the duration of the movie, our cast is trapped in either a vehicle with aluminum foil covered windows or a rundown motel. All of these type scenes are shot up close, giving off a trapped appearance. The sequences of night let the camera roam free, much like the evil of the film. A truly great example of this is a view of the vampires as they come up a dark hill, as the camera provides this sight for us from afar. A faint light silhouettes them as they come over the rise like a group of pure, walking terror. This shot is remarkable. It's moments like these that live proudly off of style, or mood, other than communication between personalities. The music provided by Tangerine Dream has a unique behavior of it's own, piercing certain scenes of the film with perfection. The score fits the drama entirely, with suspenseful measures at the correct moment.

The acting is controlled efficiently from everybody in Near Dark. The gang of vampires consists of four, aside from Caleb and Mae. The head vampire is Jesse, played by Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead, Aliens). He truly conquers this role, as the oldest of the group, as well as the most knowledgeable. His appearance and the expressions given off to the camera are compelling and dreadful simultaneously. The woman by his side is known as Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein). She was in fact turned into a vampire by Jesse years ago. With spazzed out white hair and the grave look on her face at all times, she is just as fear giving as Henriksen. Joshua John Miller plays Homer, whom is the perception of a man living in a child's body. Once Mae has found interest in Caleb, Homer becomes merciless and jealous; for he was the one who turned Mae into a night creature. He now wants a companion of his own, and at the same time wants vengeance against Caleb; because he feels Mae was stolen from him. This is quite a unique role, played very well by Miller. Although technically, he's got the mind of an adult, his behavior is distorted due to being stuck in a young boy's body.

Bill Paxton (Predator 2, A Simple Plan) gives one of his greatest performances ever as Severen, the craziest bloodsucker of the bunch. His goal is not only to take apart the living, but also to humiliate them before they die. He is also the most comedic element here. Severen's greatest moment takes place at a bar, which is swiftly turned into a tavern of death. While hunched over a victim leaning against a jukebox, he looks up before sinking into the neck and says "I hate em' when they ain't been shaved". After feeding, he looks back up simply to burp and drool blood for the viewer's eyes. This is one of the best shots of the film, showing precisely how grim Paxton's character is, while accomplishing humor as well.

Near Dark is one of my all time favorite vampire films and definitely hasn't lost its touch over a life span of fifteen years. It actually gets better with time. Kathryn Bigelow's wonderful work doesn't live off of lots of blood and gore, but instead relies on a smart story and brilliant characters. Many films pay some deal of respect to this gritty portrayal of what the life of a vampire is like (notably The Forsaken). If you have never been fortunate enough to view the exceptional work of art, you are sadly missing out on possibly the best vampire films of the 80's. Highly recommended.