Bigelow gets bloody
Near Dark
Brush up on Kathryn Bigelow's back-catalogue with this vampire classic.
Near Dark is probably one of the few films from the late '80s that couldn't feel more current in 2010. Not only does its vampiric subject matter predate our modern obsession with Twilight and HBO's True Blood, it was also the second feature directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
In 2010, Bigelow became the first female to win a Best Director Oscar (among a swag of other naked golden men statues) for her 2008 film Hurt Locker, making it the perfect time to brush up on Biegelow's back catalogue.
Near Dark re-imagines the vampire film as a kind of modern day Western, replacing the outlaw gunslinger gangs of the genre with a roving band of predatory vampires prowling the countryside. Like many of the characters in modern-day vampire lore, these bloodsucking outlaws are both repellent while also being undeniably attractive.
A far cry from his present role in Big Love, Bill Paxton stars as hemoglobin-guzzling Severen and has gone down in pop culture history as one of the sexiest vampire players of all time.
Bigelow has consistently managed to rise above her peers with her ability to play tough in a traditionally masculine world and her great aesthetic sensibility. She's done everything from cop thrillers and science fiction to war movies. Never one to shy away from violence, Bigelow's cult reputation owes much to the famous roadhouse sequence in Near Dark where the clan of vamps descend on a redneck bar, terrorising and butchering everyone inside.
Near Dark will please both your inner cinematic aesthete and horror fan with its gorgeous cinematography and Tangerine Dream soundtrack combined with lashings of blood, guts and gore.
For screening times click here.
Published Friday, 30 April 2010
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