Near Dark

A compelling and stylish 80s vampire flick that beats The Lost Boys hands down in terms of character, action and gore, Near Dark tells the story of a gang of bloodsuckers who don't come from a noble line of high born vampires. They aren't rich and louche, they never hang out in pricey Gothic nightclubs, there's no great vampiric conspiracy and they don't live in plush penthouses. Near Dark is about white trash vampires, and it's all the more refreshing for it.

Set in the dusty flats of Arizona, it introduces us to a farm boy whose luck is about to run out. He meets a beautiful girl but when things get a little steamy back in his 4x4, she bites his lip. When his truck breaks down later he decides to walk home as dawn breaks...He doesn't make it. The vampire curse runs through his veins now and he's starting to smoke under the hot sun. A van races towards him, a hand reaches out...he stares into a face from hell. He's about to join a gang of low rent, good for nothing, hobo vampires as they travel across state lines feasting on truckers, tramps and the populations of seedy juke joints. Can the farm boy rise above his morals and start feeding on humans or is his destined to starve to death?

Some people have a problem with ending, which suggests the idea that vampirism is a disease curable by a blood transfusion, but I love the idea that the vampires choose to live their feral lifestyle rather than being cursed to roam the night.

Near Dark is an original take on vampire mythology. Dispensing with castles and Gothic splendour in favour of grit and the everyday realities a person would have to face if by some unlikely turn of fate they were visited with a vampires kiss.