In 1988, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City singled out independent horror film Near Dark, made by up-and-coming director Kathryn Bigelow, for special attention. Recognising the film’s originality and artistry, MOMA honoured the film by presenting it as part of their Cineprobe programme. Launched in 1968, Cineprobe was designed as a forum ‘for independent and avant-garde filmmakers to present their work.’ Films included in these seasons usually represented experimental and avant-garde cinema, ‘as well as narratives with new and unusual strategies.’ Near Dark was screened on the 25 and 26 April 1988 – six months after the film’s theatrical release – accompanied by a mini-retrospective of Bigelow’s earlier films, notably her short, The Set Up (1978), and her first feature, The Loveless (1981), co-directed by Monty Montgomery. The inclusion of Near Dark in MOMA’s programme – as well as its acquisition into the MOMA collection – signals its position as a genre film that pushes boundaries and challenges conventions, while equally possessing a distinct narrative and aesthetic style. MOMA’s retrospective also marked early recognition of Bigelow as a significant filmmaker and auteur.
Near Dark is a vampire film set largely in the contemporary Midwest of the USA that rejects established genre conventions in favour of its own hybrid approach. It skilfully merges the Gothic with the conventions of the western, road movie and film noir at a narrative and aesthetic level, while also introducing elements of the outlaw romance genre of They Live by Night (Nicholas Ray, 1948) and Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967). Near Dark tells the story of Caleb, a half-vampire trying to decide whether to embrace his new nature or return to his human family. It is the family of vampires who lure him into their nocturnal existence that is of central importance to the film’s innovation. They are defined by a nomadic lifestyle, anarchic behaviour, a passion for violence, an ambition for eternity, intense family bonds, and a gritty visual appearance. They are morally ambiguous and undermine the class structures that have historically defined stories of the undead. These are not aristocrats but instead they capture the allure and horror of the disenfranchised and the underclass.
The film is sumptuous in its aesthetic design, offering a nuanced and haunting presentation of its monstrous protagonists who stalk the backroads and desert landscape of the American Midwest. While it remains Bigelow’s only foray into horror to date, its innovation showcases the creativity and artistic richness of the genre without sacrificing its visceral qualities. The film’s reception by MOMA signals Bigelow’s standing as a director of significance at an early point in her career, not simply because of her visual art background, something that would be in keeping with many of the artists featured in the Cineprobe series, but because of the way in which she would from Near Dark onward re-envision traditionally mainstream genres of filmmaking.
Near Dark was co-written with Eric Red, who also collaborated with Bigelow on Blue Steel (1990), as well as writing The Hitcher (Robert Harmon, 1986) and writing/directing Body Parts (1991) and Bad Moon (1996). Near Dark was their first collaboration and was part of an arrangement between Bigelow and Red designed to launch their careers as writer-directors. They agreed they would co-write two non-commissioned screenplays, which they would attempt to finance, with themselves attached as directors to help gain their foothold within the industry. They co-wrote Near Dark and Undertow with Bigelow attached to direct Near Dark and Red to direct Undertow (1996).
While the box-office results were poor, Near Dark was generally well received by the critics, whose commentaries identified significant discourses that would surround Bigelow and the film as its cult standing developed. In particular, many critics saw its distinctive visual style and Bigelow’s generic hybridity as its primary strengths. Following Near Dark’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, Variety praised the film for achieving ‘a new look in vampire films. High-powered but pared down, slick but spare, this is something akin to a Badlands of the supernatural, a tale that introduces the unearthly into the banality of rural American existence.’ The association with Malick’s Badlands (1973) is further developed by David Edelstein of The Village Voice who, while recognising the film’s kinship with films such as The Lost Boys, saw greater allegiance to a broader cinematic tradition, remarking:
‘The terrain – and the messages about the sanctity of family – is not too distant from Lost Boys, but the approach is worlds apart. Near Dark borrows its form not from horror movies, but from classic sagas of outlaws on the lam.’
Pam Cook similarly recognised the kinship with outlaw films when she praised the film for how it imbues the vampire genre with a ‘mythic dimension, as society’s outcasts wander the land wreaking unholy vengeance.’ John Powers of L.A. Weekly saw the film as a combination of ‘Ray’s fated romanticism with Peckinpah’s poetic violence.’ The reviews repeatedly compare Bigelow to both classical and New Hollywood filmmakers such as Nicholas Ray, Sam Peckinpah, Terrence Malick and Arthur Penn – filmmakers known for working within genre while also transcending its perceived limitations.
Not all of the reviews were positive and the film received criticism for its graphic violence, described by Victoria Mather of the Daily Telegraph as ‘a repellent directorial debut by Kathryn Bigelow’, concluding with the disclaimer ‘I would like to think that we have got the worst film of 1988 out of the way in the first week.’ Caryn James of the New York Times condemned the film for its seeming stylistic hybridity – a characteristic praised by many other critics – describing it as coming from the ‘scattershot school of filmmaking’ in which ‘the result of being pushed and pulled through the confusing styles of Near Dark […] is simple exhaustion.’ Many critics took issue with the film’s extreme violence – the roadhouse slaughter being mentioned repeatedly – but for some, such as Henry Sheehan, this was a testament to the film’s power:
‘This is a movie, that while not as dishearteningly bleak as Romero’s work or as stomach-churning as Cronenberg’s, projects a truly upsetting image of revulsion and horror, and its scenes of bloodletting […] are not merely gross, but genuinely disturbing.’
Sue Heal criticised the film for its overkill in terms of violence, noting that she ‘staggered out [of the film] praying for a Bambi revival’, but she also cautioned the reader not to dismiss Bigelow’s work, commenting that the film ‘may contain disturbing and often unnecessary pints of haemoglobin but Near Dark has a beautiful, ethereal quality.’ Despite poor box office, the critics took note of this distinctive film and filmmaker, with Bigelow’s direction and genre innovation as the stand-out stars. By associating Bigelow with recognised directors from Hollywood and independent horror circles, these critics framed her as an auteur and Near Dark as a revisionist horror film. These factors underpinned her inclusion in the Cineprobe season at MOMA and contributed to Near Dark’s cult status and Bigelow’s standing as a significant new American filmmaker.
Extracted from Near Dark by Stacey Abbott (BFI Film Classics, 2020).
Reproduced by kind permission of Bloomsbury Publishing. ©Stacey Abbott
Near Dark
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Production Companies: Near Dark Joint Venture, F/M Entertainment
Executive Producers: Edward S. Feldman, Charles R. Meeker
Producer: Steven-Charles Jaffe
Co-producer: Eric Red
Associate Producers: Diane Nabatoff, Mark Allan
Production Co-ordinator: Karen Altman Morgenstern
Production Manager: Mark Allan
Location Managers: George Herthel, Wallace Uchida
Post-production Supervisor: Brent Sellstrom
Assistant Directors: Guy Louthan, John J.C. Scherer, Chuck Williams
2nd Unit Assistant Director: Ian McVey
Casting: Karen Rea
Casting Associate: Glenn F. Haines
Screenplay: Eric Red, Kathryn Bigelow
Director of Photography: Adam Greenberg
Assistant Photographers: Vance Piper, Alicia Craft
2nd Unit Photographer: Chuck Colwell
Time Lapse Footage: MacGillivray-Freeman Films, Energy Productions
Fire Opticals: Fantasy II Film Effects
Special Effects Co-ordinators: Steve Galich, Dale Martin
Editor: Howard Smith
Production Designer: Stephen Altman
Art Director: Dian Perryman
Costume Designer: Joseph Porro
Wardrobe Supervisor: Leslie Weir
Make-up: Davida Simon
Special Effects Make-up: Gordon J. Smith
Titles and Opticals: Pacific Title
Music: Tangerine Dream
Music Editor: Jim Weidman
Sound Director: Leo Chaloukian
Sound Design: David Lewis Yewdall
Sound Recording: Don Summer
Sound Re-recordings: Ryder Sound Services, John ‘Doc’ Wilkinson, Richard Rogers, Grover Helsley
Supervising Sound Editor: R.J. Palmer
Stunt Co-ordinator: Everett Creach
Dog Wrangler: Gary Jero
Horse Wrangler: Stevie Myers
Cast
Adrian Pasdar (Caleb Colton)
Jenny Wright (Mae)
Lance Henriksen (Jesse)
Bill Paxton (Severen)
Jenette Goldstein (Diamondback)
Joshua Miller (Homer)
Marcie Leeds (Sarah Colton)
Tim Thomerson (Loy Colton)
Kenny Call (Deputy Sheriff)
Ed Corbett (ticket seller)
Troy Evans (plainclothes officer)
Bill Cross (Sheriff Eakers)
Roger Aaron Brown (Cajun truck driver)
Thomas Wagner (bartender)
Robert Winley (patron in bar)
James LeGros (teenage cowboy)
Jan King (waitress)
Danny Kopel (biker in bar)
Billy Beck (motel manager)
S.A. Griffin (police officer at motel)
Bob Terhune, William T. Lane, Gary Littlejohn, Paul Michael Lane, Eddie Mulder (state troopers)
Don Pugsley (2nd truck driver)
Neith Hunter, Theresa Randle (ladies in car)
Tony Pierce, Gordon Haight (highway youths)
Leo Geter, Gary Wayne Cunningham (Caleb’s friends)
USA 1987
94 mins
35mm
Near Dark by Stacey Abbott is available to purchase from the BFI Shop
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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