Near Dark: “We Keep Odd Hours”

Set in the American Southwest with a romantic feel of the western days of yore, Kathryn Bigelow’s yarn of vampire angst is anything but elegant when youthful Caleb (played by Adrian Pasdar) falls for a cute little chippy of the night named Mae.

The only problem is that this cowboy has never met the likes of his new girlfriends “friends” and soon he begins to think that perhaps he has “bitten” off more than he can chew.

Cause & Effect

A gun-toting gang of derelict vampires show up in town and Mae, their young female companion, hooks up with cowboy Caleb. Their attraction to one another seems undeniable and Mae decides to “turn” Caleb rather than kill him.

This doesn’t come without a price, and soon Mae’s companions make it clear to Caleb that he is to live as a vampire (meaning he has to kill his own “food”) or die at their hands.

As test upon test reveal that Caleb does not have the stomach to take the life of an innocent, the vampires ancient leader Jesse (Lance Henriksen) decides they need to put him out of their misery.

Luckily Caleb maneuvers a little extra time for himself by rescuing the hell-raising bunch from certain death in an intense daylight shootout where ray upon ray of vampire burning sunlight threatens the preserving darkness of their motel room….

Oh if only it could end there, but no. Things just keep getting worse and worse for poor Caleb. Now his little sister Sarah manages to place herself smack dab in the middle of the bloodsucking vampires.

Damn!

For her anyway, because Homer, the youngest vampire of the clan, couldn’t be happier. It would appear he’s rather smitten with Caleb’s cute little sis………

That’s bound to end any alliances made, right?

Result

In an attempt to save his little sister Sarah from the hell of eternal life with Homer, Caleb faces off yet again with the vampires, only this time leaving them and Mae behind for good.

In a weird twist to the vampire lore, Kathryn Bigelow introduces the ability for Caleb to be converted back to human-ism with a blood transfusion from a human. The human in this case being Caleb’s father.

Yet again, the saga does not end here as the blood hungry brood set out to kill Caleb since he can identify and expose their existence. While Mae tries to convince Caleb to re-join them and save his own life, Homer sneaks into Caleb’s home and kidnaps Sarah, determined to make her his life mate.

In the realization of his sister’s impending fate, Caleb sets out to stop the clan once and for all and in an intensely brutal and fiery climax, there can only be one left standing.

YOU will have to tune in to see which one that will be……

Conclusion

Near Dark isn’t a horror movie in the sense of gore or fear. It actually feels like more of an atmospheric action movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat half the time, and feeling the romance of forbidden love during the other half. I’m thinking this cult classic would be a great date movie, with elements to satisfy both the male and female viewer.

And while the concept of converting a vampire back to being human via a blood transfusion is extremely far fetched, it has certain appeal and works for this movie. For me it helped retain the romanticism that Bigelow introducing with the sultry west.

Though the plot of Near Dark does not exceed at being great and might even seem weak on occasion, the movie makes up for it in the emotion and believability of the actors. This is one movie that will definitely leave an impression long after the film has stopped rolling.

Recommendation

See it. Yup. Yet again another one that is that simple.

Then come back here and let me know what YOU think. Just don’t wait to see the 2008 re-make. It would seem that is one movie that is going to remain on the cutting room floor and you are gonna be waiting a long long time………

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