Rent Near Dark (1987)

Stylish Modern Horror - Near Dark review by GI

Director Kathryn Bigelow's first directorial effort and a great little horror film it is too. Set in the American mid west it's the story of bored rancher's son Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) who meets the mysterious and sexy Mae (Jenny Wright) who seduces him after which he is forced into the company of a vicious gang of drifters led by Jesse (Lance Henricksen). They turn out to be killers who shun sunlight, feed by drinking blood and apparently have lived long lives. So this falls into the vampire sub-genre although the word 'vampire' is never used. Many of the tropes of vampire films are absent here so there's no fangs, wooden stakes, garlic, issues with mirrors etc and the reason these people are as they are is never explained. They do have huge strength, can't be killed in normal ways and definitely avoid sunlight which becomes a major plot point. A contemporary road/horror film with the influence of John Carpenter all over it, it's bloody, great fun and has the great Bill Paxton on fine form as one of the very nasty baddies. This is a little gem of a film and highly recommended if you've never seen it.