trange Days director Kathryn Bigelow made her name with this 1987 bloodsucking take on the traditional western. Frequently hailed as the greatest vampire flick of all time, it gave a flagging movie sub-genre a visceral and imaginative adrenaline shot, earning itself cult status in the process.
Any self-respecting goth will know the stylish tale like the inside of their coffin, yet Near Dark deliberately contradicts the conventional folklore of Bram Stoker et al. Essentially, it's a fucked-up and effortlessly cool love story, with Adrian Pasdar's simple country boy Caleb falling for the angelic-looking Mae (Jenny Wright), only to discover she and her ultra-violent 'family' are claret-quaffing fiends. There's no fang nonsense
or lame crucifix aversions, just lean, mean, gory grit, as the vampires slaughter their way across America's Midwest.
Precisely how far stars Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen went for their art is revealed in a superb documentary, Living In Darkness. This is the highlight of a fairly anaemic package of extras, but which also includes a fascinating director's commentary from Bigelow.
MORE ENTERTAINMENT
