Kathryn Bigelow might very well be the Hollywood-Studio Machine’s most talented and least appreciated director working today.
The Hurt Locker, the latest entry in the Bigelow oeuvre, might be the finest film yet about men in the Iraq War. Not only are the performances terrific, the drama tense and the film action-packed, but the plot is new and fresh, following a team of three of the military’s least recognized heroes: bomb-squad technicians. Its frequent use of hand-held camera shots gives it a gritty, documentary-like feel, and except for cameos, the lack of easily recognizable stars imbues it with an independent-film quality that adds to the sensation of watching a magnificent piece of clear-eyed reporting instead of a studio film.
But the skill and passion that Bigelow brings to her subject here is evidenced in all her work, and most notably in one of the best vampire films ever made – Near Dark.
Think: a John Wayne Western meets Twlight, and stir in a lot more blood and sex. Near Dark is about a mid-western farm boy who falls for a girl who turns out to be a member in a coven of vampires (which she calls her “family”). They haunt and hunt on the highways of the southwest, trying to teach their newly turned Caleb how to survive by killing humans. Caleb, who isn’t quite vampire yet, won’t do it – and it’s from his resistance that the drama and action find its engine.
There are some great bits – like a particularly memorable scene where the family is escaping in a vehicle with boards on the windows to block sunlight from coming in, but holes in the planks allow laser-like beams to shoot through and burn flesh.
The massacre at the small-town bar is a particularly gruesome moment.
German electronic music group Tangerine Dream provided the soundtrack. They’re better known for the incidental music in Risky Business – and, along with the soundtracks overseen by Giorgio Moroder, Tangerine Dream’s music is quintessentially indicative of 1980s Hollywood filmmaking. Films at no other time sound anything like them.
Bigelow directed it in 1987 and co-wrote it with Eric Red. Originally, they wanted to film an old-style Western, but when funds didn’t match their level of enthusiasm, they cross-pollinated the Western with the serious vampire film to produce Near Dark.
The film didn’t do well at the box office, but it critics liked it. And now it’s got a cult-following large enough to prompt talk of a remake.
However, due to the success of Twilight, the producers at Platinum Dunes have been leery about putting serious money into a redux. Producer Brad Fuller said their film and the YA vampire series are too similar in concept – so don’t plan on seeing Near Dark with a new cast or soundtrack any time soon.
All the more reason, if you’re a vampire fan, to see this groundbreaking film!