Had an overdue undisturbed evening of watching a film from my Cinema Paradiso subscription; the next on my list was a film from the horror/cult genre - which includes films often regarded as "Midnight Movies": Kathryn Bigelow's 1987 vampire flick Near Dark, seen for the first time.
For the first half of its 95 minutes, I found it difficult to become engaged in the story of a small-town farmer's son who reluctantly falls in with a bunch of vampires, dividing his loyalty to his family.
But then comes...the bar scene, which elevates things spectacularly. This sequence struck me as brilliantly Tarantino-esque, although it comes some half a decade before anyone would know of his name.
Although generally Near Dark is not without its flaws, there are some very intriguing themes at work which elevates this from the norm, as it were. Well worth a look.
Rating: ***
For the first half of its 95 minutes, I found it difficult to become engaged in the story of a small-town farmer's son who reluctantly falls in with a bunch of vampires, dividing his loyalty to his family.
But then comes...the bar scene, which elevates things spectacularly. This sequence struck me as brilliantly Tarantino-esque, although it comes some half a decade before anyone would know of his name.
Although generally Near Dark is not without its flaws, there are some very intriguing themes at work which elevates this from the norm, as it were. Well worth a look.
Rating: ***
