Near Dark Goes Twilight

While Monster Fest has come to an end here on YDKS Movies, I do have one more horror movie related item to talk about here.

In 1987, director Kathryn Bigelow made a flawed but underrated vampire film called Near Dark. The film managed to be an odd but refreshing mix of a classic vampire film and a western drama. In the movie, the word "vampire" is never ever dropped. The vampires do not have fangs. The only thing that makes them vampires is the fact that they must feed off of human blood and must stay out of sunlight.

The film showcases a pretty impressive cast with the likes of Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein (all fresh off of James Cameron's Aliens). The movie features some very tense scenes (the infamous bar room massacre and the motel escape attempt being stand outs) and even has some impressive symbolism (with vampirism working as parallel for drug addiction). Still, the movie is pretty dated and does drag in places. Also, it's ending never really fit well for me personally.

Despite these flaws, Near Dark is a respectable entry into the vampire genre of film. It's not great but it's pretty good. And it certainly doesn't need to be compared to crap like Twilight.

Unfortunately, that's what seems to be happening. On November 1oth, a Blu-ray version of the movie is being released with the cover at the top of this article. The cover blatantly tries to go for a Twilight look. It makes Caleb all white and pale, giving him the look of Edward while turning Mae into the damsel that Bella always seems to be on advertisements.

The thing is, that doesn't even make sense with the Near Dark plot. Mae is the vampire that turns Caleb. Caleb spends most of the movie sick and struggling with vampirism. He doesn't even really become a strong hero figure until the end. Mae is the one who has to be the strong one through most of the movie. Also, none of them are pale in the movie. Sure, Caleb's pretty white when he's sick at one point but they never look all Edward Cullen pale. 

Just look at the Anchor Bay Special Edition DVD cover above that was released a few years back. That's what the cover of Near Dark should look like. It captures the retro 1980's feel of the movie while also getting the ominous feeling of it across as well. It just feels right. The new cover doesn't feel right at all. It just feels like a cheap cash in on a shameful but lucrative franchise. 

I know some may not see a need for this article but I do. I just really don't like it when movies try to cash in on the success of other films... especially when those other films are terrible ones that just happen to be successful due to an idiotic fan base. The fact is, this new cover will probably sell more copies of Near Dark. I just wish it didn't. 

The fact is, Near Dark, despite its flaws, deserves better.