Near Dark Review

It's a really difficult thing to explain, how one film can succeed in this regard and another can completely fail, but part of what makes Near Dark so delicious is its setting, the landscapes these characters occupy. It can't be easy, trying to deliver a part horror, part western genre blend like Kathryn Bigelow does so effectively here and the reason it works is because the picture never feels like it's filmed on a calculated and constructed Hollywood set piece. Despite telling a story revolving around vampires, Near Dark always maintains at least a hint of realism thanks to the fact that I could practically feel the dust and dirt on my skin as I watched. 

The photography throughout is aces, a unique atmosphere captured by Adam Greenberg as he manages to make the typical western terrain feel cold and lifeless, which is appropriate given the subject and state of the characters in the film. While the score is perfect for 1987, the year in which Near Dark was released, the work of Tangerine Dream continues to suit the material perfectly and honestly I think my recent infatuation with the brand new horror beauty It Follows aided in my affection of the music here. Essentially now I want all of my horror to be carried forward with the nightmarish tones of a synthesizer. 

I won't lie, I have become weary of vampires as the central piece in both television and cinema over the past number of years but Near Dark transcends any issues I may have had going in. I love the way Bigelow humanizes the characters rather than present them as mere monsters. I actually found myself viewing Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) and the rest of the traveling team of vampires as drug addicts rather than fictional creatures that literally suck the blood out of their victims, and I can't help but wonder if this really was a metaphor attempted in the film. Even the most ridiculous members of their group, like Severen (played memorably by Bill Paxton) manage to feel like actual people rather than the cartoonish concept of what a vampire is, lurking only in the shadows quietly looking to fulfill a craving. These characters are fun and interesting and in some cases continues to display an understanding of what it means to have a moral compass, and I was really able to connect with the movie because of this. 

A concern I always have for watching an 80's horror film for the first time is that the tone and material will feel dated, and in some ways this is an issue in Near Dark like some of the costume design that was clearly appealing to an audience then but seems completely silly now. I didn't let any of this bother me though because in every other way this is a genre film that continues to flourish decades later. 

Near Dark not only felt alive and memorable in 2015, I feel like I need to shower after watching despite being totally clean. Job well done, Kathryn Bigelow. Job well done.

4/5

It Follows Review

It follows.

No, seriously, it follows.

As soon as the credits hit the screen, I knew I had loved what I had seen. Actually I knew it the entire time I watched it. Horror is a genre that I don't easily warm up to and the trailers before the film were a perfect representation of why. So predictable, so obvious, all the expected tropes of generic cheap cinema scares that have no trouble selling tickets at the box office and yet they do so little to truly inspire. It Follows is different though. It Follows is special, a film released in 2015 and yet it invoked a feeling of nostalgia in me, as if it were released 30 years earlier, the type of movie I would have watched late at night with friends as a teen.

Was I scared though?

I drive home from the theater feeling buzzed, replaying my favorite scenes in my head over and over, pondering some of the subtle nuances of the movie that made It Follows a far richer cinematic experience than what was merely presented on the surface. My car comes to a stop along the way and I glance over at a man on the sidewalk, walking slowly, shrouded in darkness. The chill of the nighttime air flows through the windows and I recognize the goosebumps that covered my arms. In that moment everything was normal, yet it felt anything but.

Was I scared though?

I make the same turn into my driveway that I make every single day and my headlights make shadows dance across the neighboring homes. My heart literally skips a beat and I momentarily am engulfed with a feeling of dread as I see a man standing just off to the side. A closer look reveals there is no man there at all, but what did I see? Were my eyes merely playing a trick on me? Yeah, that's probably it. I remind myself that there is nothing to worry about, yet I have an extra bounce in my step as I head up the stairs and through my front door.

Was I scared though?

I sit here now, writing these words and I can't get the score by Disasterpeace out of my mind. So damn perfect for the material, at times it felt as if it was already iconic, like it was destined to send chills down the spines of viewers for many years to come. I can't stop thinking about the confident, stylish direction by David Robert Mitchell, especially a few specific sequences in which his camera turns slowly and with ease, at a perfect pace and rhythm to make your heart race just a few beats faster, make you wonder what will be waiting for you when it comes full circle. I can't stop thinking about the look of sheer terror in the eyes of star Maika Monroe as she saw something others could not, the way she trembled at the sight of something as seemingly innocent as an open door.

Am I scared though?

Yeah, I kinda am. 

It feels fucking great.

4.5/5