| | | | Near Dark
(1987) |
o-written and directed by talented director (and accomplished painter) Katheryn Bigelow, Near Dark was, along with "The Lost Boys", one of the movies that revolutionised our modern perception of vampires.
Kathryn co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Red, who had previosuly penned Rutger Hauer's "The Hitcher". A mutual friend introduced Bigelow to Red and suggested they colloborate on a script. The friend believed both writers shared a synergy in storytelling... With a little extreme violence thrown in for good measure!
Incidentally, Bigelow and Red colloborated on two scripts. The first was called "Undertow" which it was agreed Red would direct. The second was "Near Dark" which, unexpectedly, found a backer first in the form of Edward Feldma of F-M Entertainment, the producers of "The Kindred". "We sent it to him on Thursday," said Bigelow. "We got a called from him on Sunday. He loved it."
No longer were vampires the lone, gothic romantic gentlemen with a gift for seducing beautiful young virgins.
Now they were viscious gang members who lived on the fringes of society terrorising all that they came across. The vampire gang mythology was born, with members living their nocturnal lives to the full with drugs, sex and violence always on the menu. The idea, according to Bigelow, was to strip down the "gothic underpinnings that surrounded vampires like holy-water, bats and then merging that with the classic elements of a western or road movie."
"It was a deliberate choice. We thought since we were reinventing vampires in a way, it would be a disservice to categorize them. And what are they, really? Modern-day pirates or cowboys. Nocturnal creatures. They`re people you pass on the street when you walk through dark alleys.
-The showdown, the shootout, the Midwest setting. We turned them into modern gunslingers traveling these deserted highways."Kathryn Bigelow, Co-Writer/Director |
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Near Dark is as a result actually the much darker, brooding brother of "The Lost Boys". It retains much of the mythology, but sets it in a much darker, edge of society, outlaw backdrop rather than "Lost Boys" more glamorous comic book west coast world.
Possibly the secret to the success of the movie, is Bigelow's refusal to pay too much interest to the vast amount of existing vampire lore. One of the concepts that was present in the original Bram Stoker story was the idea that a vampire can be returned to normal by a process Stoker called 'bloodletting' where the subject is given a transfusion of normal mortal blood. Bigelow used this as a central premise in Near Dark to give the opportunity of 'inter-racial' relationships where love can overcome all...
"I only read Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and Anne Rice's 'Interview with a Vampire'. Stoker gave me the idea of reclaiming victims by draining them completely, almost to the point of death, and then infusing them with 'healthy` blood.
What was appealing was the notion of redeemable vampires who give up the ability to live forever for mortality. Yet they're tainted by that knowledge. I wanted to explore that idea while putting an erotic charge into the material, sexualizing the violence.."Kathryn Bigelow, Co-Writer/Director |
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In the cast we have Lance Henriksen, who always adds the right amount of weirdness to his roles. A young Bill Paxton ("Aliens", "Twister", "Titanic") also stars.
The movie definitely has that 'weirdness' that seemed only possible in that era...
 Don't forget that Near Dark is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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Definitely an unspoiled (uncommercial) classic of the highest order. Many people may not have ever seen it. I urge you to catch it whenever you can.
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The novelist Anne Rice claimed that the writers of Near Dark 'borrowed' ideas from her Vampire Chronicles series.  -Thanks to Elissa
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"Near Dark" director Kathryn Bigelow was married to James Cameron, director of "Terminator" and "Titanic" from 1989 till 1991.
Near Dark was released in New York City and Los Angeles, in October, 1987.
Incidentally, the word "vampire" is never mentioned in the movie once. -Thanks to HonkyTonkBlues13
Joshua John Miller is also in the fun 80s film Teen Witch, as Robyn Lively's brother Richie. The early nineties film, Class of 1999, in fact the sequel to the 80s flick Class of 1984, also features Joshua John Miller, who plays a brother, again, Angel Culp. He is credited as Joshua Miller only. -Thanks to Micheala Loves 80s
Kathryn Bigelow later directed "Point Break" (1990), "Strange Days" (1995) and, more recently "K-19, The Widowmaker".
In the scene where Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is wandering the streets after being turned, he passes a movie theater that is showing "Aliens" which was directed by James Cameron, Kathryn Bigalow's future husband. -Thanks to Claire
Joshua John Miller (Homer) was also a serious contender for the lead role in the 1987 supernatural horror movie "The Gate". Sadly, he didn't get the part, which instead went to actor Stephen Dorff. -Thanks to Phatpants
Lance Henriksen has said that "Near Dark" is his personal favorite of all his films. High praise, considering the number of movies on his resume! -Thanks to Elissa
Watch out for James LeGros in one of his first roles. You can see him as the billiard player in the bar-scene who jumps through the window.
Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton can also be seen in James Cameron's "Aliens" (1986).
Beautiful Jenny Wright had her first movie role in Alan Parkers "Pink Floyd: The Wall" (1982) as one of the groupies of Pink (Bob Geldof). -Thanks to Peter Baldinger
One of the extras in the bar scene (The one that "buys" a shot for Bill Paxton) is the same actor that grounds out a cigar on the chest of Gov. Arnold S. in "Terminator 2". -Thanks to HonkyTonkBlues13
Near Dark lead actor Adrian Pasdar went on to play miraculous phenomena investigator Declan Dunn in the hit TV series "Mysterious Ways" -Thanks to Phantom Planet
Joshua John Miller who played "homer" is the half brother of Jason Patric who played "Michael" in the "Lost boys" which was the other vampire gang movie of 1987. -Thanks to Danielle Millar
In the bar scene, Jenny danced with a terrified teenage cowboy. That terrified guy was a young James LeGros who also played Mark Albert in Ally McBeal. -Thanks to Rob Ace
Director Kathryn Bigelow and stars, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen and Jenette Goldstein would all appear in the 1988 music video "Reach" by Paxton's band Martini Ranch, which also included members from Devo and the B-52s. Beyond that, Bigelow directed Paxton in the video for New Order's "Touched By The Hand Of God". -Thanks to John Edward Kilduff
Right after the massacre at the bar, where the guy starts running away from Caleb, he passes a big billboard that says "Because Clean Hay Pays". If you look at the bottom right hand corner of that billboard there are the words "Bill -N- Louise" spraypainted in black. That's referring to Bill Paxton and his wife Louise. They hadn't been married very long when this movie was made. -Thanks to LaTissa Miller
Adrian Pasdar (Caleb Colton) stars as Nathan Petrelli in the smash hit TV series "Heroes", he was also David Bradley in a couple of episodes of "Desperate Housewives". -Thanks to Phatpants
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Near Dark DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Near Dark or 80's Horror classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Lost Boys ..... Fright Night ..... Hellraiser ..... Shining ..... Poltergeist ..... Scanners ..... American Werewolf In London ..... Night of the Creeps ..... Nightmare on Elm Street ..... Paperhouse ..... One Dark Night ..... Re-Animator ..... Prom Night ..... Mausoleum ..... Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama .....[More]
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One of the technical challenges of Near Dark was to realize several extended sequences where the vampires burn-up in daylight. Special effects makeup artist Gordon Smith devised a prosthetic makeup which concealed tubes on the faces of actors. The tubes were also hidden under the clothes of the performer and were connected to a device that smoked tobacco under pressure, carried on a harness. Each actor had a valve to shut off the system if they got sick or nauseous...
Shooting started November 17, 1986.
The Director of photography was Adam Greenberg who had previously done "The Terminator". He was given instructions to create his night scenes with warmth and appeal, part of the tremendous impact of Near Dark. Said Bigelow: "Adam has an extraordinary eye and an amazing gift for night photography. He uses a real classic lighting style. I wanted the blacks to be sort of velvet black and not a blue black, not washed out, but a solid, incredibly seductive night. Once we hit on the look we stuck to it."
Kathryn Bigelow actually wanted to do a Western but no one would finance a Western so she pitched a vampire Western instead and got the money. -Thanks to Dave Williamson
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|  |  |  | | Near Dark
Locations |
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The movie was shot on location in Oklahoma; Casa Grande, Arizona; Los Angeles and Coolidge, Arizona.
The semi blew up on Coolidge Ave and Main Street in Coolidge az, and bales of cotton were seen on the back roads- Kenworthy Road or Vah Ki Inn. [Thanks to Jeff]
Can you help? Do you know any of the Arizona filming locations used for Near Dark? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[STEREO or SURROUND]](dd2.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
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Comments: THX, DTS 2 disc set |
| | | | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
| Our
Comments: THX, DTS 2 disc set |
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Music was provided by Tangerine Dream & has been available on CD on the Varese Saranbande Label. May be difficult to find now. Use our search feature to locate it.
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Soundtrack Available:
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