Poetry…pure, uncut poetry. If I have to, absolutely have to pick a favorite 80’s Horror film. It would have to be Near Dark. It baffles me that even today this is an unknown film. I would’ve thought that after the smoke cleared, that this would have a bigger following. Never got to see this in the theaters. I just sat and waited for VHS release. Finally able to rent it from a VHS maintenance shop, it was the first movie I dubbed. For you streamers out there. That means I took 2 VCR’s, connected them with red, white cables, put the movie in one VCR and a blank in the other. I built a huge collection from doing that.
Cowboy/farmer Caleb hits on gorgeous out of towner Mae. They hit it off, and Mae bites him, which launches him into a darker world. Caleb gets kidnapped by Mae’s nocturnal family. Caleb has 24 hours to kill and prove he belongs in the family.
I’m not a huge fan of vampire films. Most are just a little too romantic, and snobbish. The vampire film that won me over was “Fright Night.” After that this sub genre seemed to improve. Released in 1987 by now Academy Award winning director Katherine Bigelow, this was just a small whisper of a Horror film. Starring 3 actors/actresses from the massive hit “Aliens” a year earlier, I would’ve thought this would’ve been a bigger film. I guess it didn’t help that it was released literally the same weekend as “The Lost Boys.” 2 different films. One took place in Santa Cruz, had a killer soundtrack, and a bunch of young up and comers. Kind of the John Hughes of Horror films. Don’t take it the wrong way, I love The Lost Boys. Near Dark was more grim. Takes place mostly at night, more southern cowboy type characters. Instead of a rocker soundtrack, had an errie, ominous poetic score by Tangerine Dream.
I always use to call it the Blade Runner of Horror. Slow build up, takes you into a darker world, and has that center piece that launches the last half of the film into chaos. First half of Near Dark focuses on Caleb dealing with the new changes he’s going through. The sickness, the hunger, the animalistic need to kill. When he still can’t get the job done, the nocturnal crew gives him one more chance to kill. They take him to a biker bar, where they slaughter everyone in the place. One of the best scenes and best performances in Horror history. Bill Paxton owns the room, and enjoys his job a little too much. Lance Henriksen embraces his leader ship role by standing guard by the entrance.
Already having a family chemistry from Aliens, Lance, Bill and Jeanette Goldstein just play off each other like they grew up together. After the bar scene it just moves like a bullet, and doesn’t stop.
A brilliant movie with brilliant performances. If you haven’t seen it, turn off your fucking “Twilight” movie and pop this in. I wish Lionsgate never changed the cover art at an attempt to attract the Twilight crowd. They should’ve used the bloody Paxton poster. After all, that was the poster that made me want to see it back when I was 12.
- G.R.E.E.N.B.A.N.K.
MORBID MOVIE MEMOIRS: VHS GENERATION 