Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Admirable film.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I decided to watch this film when I noticed it mentioned as one of the Top 10 vampire films. Uhm...no... The film is rather slow moving and not much vampire activity here either. The farmer's son (Adrian Pasdar) probably deserved to be turned into a vampire because he was so utterly forward and tripling around the drifter (Jenny Wright) like a rabbit sniffing a carrot!! It was annoying, actually, and I couldn't wait for her to bite him to get it over with. From there the film is really more of a drama about a father searching for his missing son. It was a very 'different' vampire film in that sense. I also found the film too much in the dark. Ya, I know, I understand the vampire concept, but I still want to see what is happening. The vampires in the film are also very dysfunctional, very neo-noir-ish.

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.

Kathryn Bigelow's dusty, ambient vampire western is a timeless classic for me, and a lived in genre entry with stellar performances, razor sharp writing (Eric Red power), and confident direction from Bigelow, at her very best when working in the pulpy realm of action, crime and horror. Once again Tangerine Dream contributes wonderfully atmospheric work (they seem to be a running theme with the movies I watch, can you tell I like them?) that compliments the bloody spectacle on display. Aimless young cowboy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is transfixed one desolate night by a eerie, gorgeous drifter girl (Jenny Wright) who's passing through his small town. She takes him on a night ride into the outskirts of town, and in a delirious make out session beneath the stars, bites his neck, changing him into one of her kind (the word vampire is never actually mentioned throughout the film). She takes pity on him and convinces her roaming pack of fellow blood sucking no,ads to try and take her in as one of their own. They are led by ruthless, violent patriarch Jesse (Lance Henriksen, a spectral force of enigmatic intimidation), his girl Diamondback (Janette Goldstein) and young Homer (Joshua Miller). The real standout, however, is Bill Paxton as Severin, the loony toon psychopathic whack job of the group. There's a blood freezing, prolonged sequence where the clan terrorizes an interstate roadhouse, and Paxton cuts loose and raises all hell, proving his talent to bring an audience their knees with his good ol boy ferocity. Caleb is very reluctant when forced to feed on innocent humans, and keeps relying on Mae to give him blood from her own veins, refusing to resort to predator instinct like the others. Meanwhile, his farmer father (Tim Thomerson, always welcome) and little sister search for him across the southwest. There's some truly memorable set pieces here, the bar scene I mentioned earlier, a smouldering climax on barren highways, and a sickening sequence where a blood deprived Caleb feverishly tries to purchase a bus ticket home. Bigelow infuses her love for visceral action and vivid characterizations together with the melodic nature of the story, resulting in a broad,backwater fable that's equal parts brutal and beautiful.

Vampires in cowboy country? No, this is not some western, but a tale of drifters in the west that just happen to be children of the night.Kathryn Bigelow directed a winner her with familiar stars such as Adrian Pasdar from Heroes, who falls in love with a vampire played by Jenny Wright. Don't get excited. Wright keeps her shirt on unlike her previous skintastic appearances in Pink Floyd the Wall, The Wild Life and The World According to Garp.The drifters? How about Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein from Aliens. Cool, huh? One thing I have never seen in a vampire movie is the transformation back to human. This was a first. Of course, it had the usual fire and explosions after sunlight hits.An interesting twist on the usual and a fun flick.