Near Dark

Kathryn borrowed the crew of the spaceship from Jim’s Aliens and turned them into ruthless vampires. Near Dark is a nice mix of drama, romance and vampire horror set in the American desert. The soundtrack alone brings the pain. Where did those composers get that stuff back then?! (2021-05-02)

It was actually much better than I would have expected from such a low-budget horror film by a still-budding director. The atmosphere is rather lukewarm and the vampires barely show their teeth, but the lack of pure horror moments is solidly compensated by a likeable outsider cast and an interesting story, which plays with the main character's psychological ambivalence and his difficult adaptation to ungrateful vampire citizenship, which unfortunately requires some murder and innocent blood. I would love to give it another star, but that would put it objectively on the same level as Interview with the Vampire, which wouldn’t be very fair :) 70% should be enough. (2015-08-18)

A melancholic vampire road movie that isn’t at all for teenagers playing at “children of the night". The overall qualities of this movie are so distinct that they aren’t bowled over by the rather (very) shaky ending. If you’re expecting something like From Dusk Till Dawn, you’ve got another think coming. And forget about Dracula too. There is little action and when there is some, it lacks gallons of blood and vampire powers. It’s filmed very “realistically" and in fact we don’t see any vampire fangs throughout the entire movie. Kathryn Bigelow has created her own vision of vampires. And personally I find this vision ultra pleasant. And essentially it is more pleasant than almost all the competition. (2005-08-15)

Every movie that portrays vampires as beasts, as dark characters, is a good movie. Well, more or less. I don't want to watch over-stylized metrosexuals. In this regard, "On the Threshold of Darkness" couldn't disappoint me. The effects are good, especially in the finale, they gain great momentum. The film has something to say, but gradually loses depth and becomes more of an action spectacle, which is visually good. (2013-11-20)

Three and a half stars, rather. Other than the music, I don’t see anything exceptional in Near Dark and I don’t think I will need to watch it again. The performances and the direction are good, the special effects look very nice, but there’s still something missing. 70% (2008-10-18)