100 Scariest Movie Moments: #64 Near Dark

Yet another movie with a relatively simple plot, in which I’m forced to just ask the question “did I find this film scary?” And, once again, the answer is “Hell yes!”

When I say that it's "simple, I don't mean that the same way I do for many other films, however  The plot doesn't merely provide a reason for the people to be present before a string of horrible things that happen to them. In this film, things are complicated slightly by B-plots, such as a love story and by the story of a family searching for its lost son. However, these aren’t really the major focuses of the film.

A young man named Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) tries to pick up a drifter named Mae (Jenny Wright), not knowing that she’s a vampire. It’s unclear if the writers intended Caleb to be a “nice guy” or a creeper, but he certainly does come on quite aggressively. Eventually though, Mae bites him and he’s forced to join her vampire family while his own family searches for him.

The movie is unusual in that it doesn’t treat the mere state of being immortal or undead as horrific in and of itsellf. Nor does it attempt to overtly demonize the vampires. They’re bad because they live by killing people. But the vampires as individuals can be quite affable, and Caleb doesn’t necessarily dislike them. However, they have a rule that all members of their clan have to be willing to kill, and the logic behind this is actually sound. The alternative to killing is to have another vampire kill for you to provide blood. Obviously, this seems like a coward’s way out to both the characters and the viewers.

The movie is scary because the characters’ motivations make sense. They’re basically a group of drunken rednecks riding from one massacre to another, having fun along the way. They actually seem like the kind of people you might realistically meet at an out-of-the-way bar, and I could imagine enjoying a game of poker with them. However, they’re loyal to themselves and to their own; a perfectly sympathetic motivation, but one that leads them to do terrible things.

They kill people without hesitation, and even with enjoyment. Towards the end of the film, a child vampire, Homer (Joshua John Miller), even wants to turn Caleb’s young sister (Marcie Leads) so that he’ll have a companion trapped with the same eternal youth as him. Once again, this is a sympathetic motivation, and it also ties together the story of Caleb’s family searching for him with the main plotline.

While I don’t deny that this is a bloody movie, to me, the horror comes from how humanized the villains are. There’s one fundamental truth here; the fact that we all believe we have a right to live. When it’s us or someone else, we always choose us. Therefore, when dealing with others, we can do the math. “One vampire that lives to 300 will slaughter X number of innocent people, so by ending one life, we save many more.” However, that whole equation changes the instant we’re the vampire in question.

I feel a little as though I’m missing the point of this movie. Like I should be talking about Bill Paxton slaughtering the inhabitants of a bar, or making reference to how awesome Lance Henrickson is in literally every role he’s ever played, including this one. But that’s not what I personally came away with from this film. I came away having experienced a story about life and morality which, by the way, also happened to have awesome performances and a lot of blood.

I recommend this movie. *Insert pun about it having bite.*