Stars:
Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein,
and Tim Thomerson
Writers:
Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow
Director:
Kathryn Bigelow
Feature
length: 94 minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Co-Writer And Director Kathryn Bigelow,
“Living In Darkness” Documentary, Deleted Scene With Commentary By Kathryn
Bigelow, Theatrical Trailers, Original Storyboards, Poster & Still Gallery,
Behind-The-Scenes Still Gallery, Talent Bios, DVD-ROM Original Screenplay, DVD-ROM
Screensavers
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound, and Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Gatefold Within A Glossy Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 25
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and
Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1987/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: DEG
Home
Video Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Kathryn
Bigelow and screenwriter Eric Red (The Hitcher) collaborated on this spec film
project that served as her first solo feature length directorial effort and
featured a number of cast members who had appeared in colleague James
Cameron’s “Aliens” in what would be a cross between the vampire myth and
contemporary westerns and in the process recreated and opened up the postmodern
vampire film years before Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez would produce
their “From Dusk Till Dawn” trilogy of films. The premise is simple; a young
man is taken into a surrogate family of vampires after being bitten by a
potential love interest. Among the clan are a forty-year-old man trapped in the
body of a boy from the 1950s when a woman who wanted to add a son to her family
turned him into a vampire. She had been turned around the time of the great
depression by the oldest vampire among the group who dates back to the civil
war. There is another that he has mentored who dates back to that same era or
close to it. Collectively these three played by Lance Henriksen, Jenette
Goldstein, and Bill Paxton make up the core group along with their vampire boy
and his victim, played by Jenny Wright, who has spurned him by taking the young
man, played by Adrian Pasdar, into their world.
“Near
Dark” had a short theatrical release despite good word of mouth and good
critical reviews among the NYC newspaper critics. It developed a cult following
through home video and cable broadcasts and now has finally come to DVD courtesy
of Anchor Bay Entertainment. Packaged in a shiny almost holographic cardboard
slipcase, Anchor Bay Entertainment has given “Near Dark” the deluxe DVD
treatment the film deserves with a THX certified anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1)
transfer complete with the THX Optimizer® program for proper picture and sound
calibration. The image has some grain that appears to be from the source
materials used and not a result of MPEG-2 compression. While it is a bit uneven,
most of the film looks pretty good considering how old the film is and the fact
that it was produced on a shoestring budget, I think the transfer is just fine.
Regardless this is probably the best-looking home video version of “Near
Dark” to ever exist. Both the English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround
Soundtrack and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack are very nice and nearly
identical with the DTS track having the characteristically edgier tone to it. An
English Dolby Pro Logic Surround Soundtrack is also encoded on to the first disc
along with English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as an option. Kathryn Bigelow provides an articulate feature length audio commentary
track that is more retrospective than screen specific, but never the less is
still very interesting.
The
rest of the extra features are included on the second disc. There is a brand new
47-minute documentary entitled “Living In Darkness” with brand new
videotaped interviews with Director Kathryn Bigelow, Director Of Photography
Adam Greenberg, Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe, Executive Producer Edward S.
Feldman, and Stars Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Adrian Pasdar, and Jenette
Goldstein. The documentary features some interesting background information on
the vampire characters that is only hinted at in the film as well as discussion
of a possible prequel entitled “First Light.” There is a short silent black
and white deleted scene with commentary by Kathryn Bigelow and two (1.85:1)
theatrical trailers. There are also moving storyboard galleries for 5 sequences
including the unforgettable “Roadhouse Slaughter” scene and a gallery of
one-sheet and promotional photos as well as a behind-the-scenes still gallery of
color and black and white photographs. Talent and filmmaker bios and credits as
well DVD-ROM features for both Macintosh and Windows users, which include the
complete screenplay as a PDF file and screensavers. The main menus on both discs
are nicely animated with motion transitions to standard interactive still frames
that are easy to navigate. There is a booklet within the gatefold with liner
notes by Michael Felsher, one-sheet art, and movie facts.
“Near
Dark” is available on DVD-Video now from Anchor Bay Entertainment and well
worth the investment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.