It's Caleb Colton's lucky night. He just met a beautiful blonde girl named Mae. After a little get-to-know-you, it's off to the pickup truck for some necking. Unfortunately for Caleb, Mae takes a bite and runs when the sun starts coming up, leaving him with a bleeding neck and a nasty case of blueballs.. If that weren't bad enough, his truck won't start and he's feeling kind of sick. His lucky night just went to hell.

Shortly after, Caleb is kidnapped by a group of people straight out of his worst nightmare. They are ready to kill him when Mae intervenes, showing the group that he has been bitten by her. They suddenly relent, but that doesn't make Caleb feel any better. This is the beginning of his terrifying trip through the backroads of America.

This is quite possibly the most under-rated vampire movie ever made. Considered for a time to be a lost film, it has been found, and has finally gotten the fan response it should have received when it first came out. This is definitely the best vampire film I have ever seen. It is completely original, has very memorable characters and a mostly believable storyline. I say mostly because the ending is a little off, but the rest of the movie is fantastic.

The group is a strange kind of family, brought together by a common bond: blood lust. Besides the soft spoken Mae, there is Homer, the grown man trapped in a young teenagers body. Diamondback, the tough and sexy alpha female. Jesse, the hard-bitten, unofficial leader of the group. And finally Severen, the epitome of bad-ass cool.

Being an independent film, you can imagine the budget constraints this film must have had. It does not show at all in this movie. The effects are beautiful. There is not a ton of gore, but enough in the right places to keep you satisfied throughout the movie. Downside, is that Mae does not get naked at any time in this movie.

The actors each gave their characters the stylized look they felt needed to play the role, and they look great. Diamondbacks bleached hair with the roots showing. Scarred Jesse with his gaunt body and gnarled fingers. Severen with his urban cowboy leather pants and spurs.. They each are each supposed to come from a different era, and they pull it off nicely.

A group of vampires on a killing spree is normally nothing original in a vamp movie. But with a great script and an even better cast, this movie stands alone with all the others in this genre at it's feet. What helps set it apart is the lack of vampire rules. Crosses, stakes, holy water all these things aren't even an issue in the movie. Other then a healing factor and above average strength, these people don't have any vampire powers. The word vampire is never even mentioned through the entire movie.

I really believe that originality should count for something. In the last eleven years, there have been many shitty vampire movies that Hollywood has dumped on the market. Since the classic Bram Stokers Dracula, almost all have stolen half their scripts from Stokers story. Other then blood and sunlight, this movie takes no liberties at all. For any fan of vampires, I tell you.. This movie cannot be topped.

9 out of 10 unshaven bikers

Caleb lives in a shit town and drives a shit truck. He sees a girl eating an ice cream on a street corner in the middle of the night. Instead of automatically assuming she’s a vampire, he decides to go mack on her. One thing leads to another and he eventually gets nabbed by the fanged hottie. On his way home after the incident, he gets abducted by an RV full of vampires and whisked away to a vampire safehouse. Meanwhile, his family witnesses the abduction and begins a quest to retrieve Caleb back. The vampires don’t really care for their new initiate, but give him a chance to survive, provided he learn to kill and fend for himself. Things don’t go as planned with this situation however. In addition, a love interest starts to form. This, my friends, is Near Dark.

Near Dark is a pretty good vampire flick. It’s got a well-known cast (at least for today) in Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and others. Henriksen is a stud in anything he does. Paxton has some goofy-ass lines, but is a mean SOB (particularly in the bar scene slaughterfest). In fact, the whole vampire clan has some pretty terrible dialogue. Apparently it’s common practice for dialogue writers in Hollywood to not reread their dialogue for absurdity after they write it, especially back in the 80’s.

The movie flows pretty well. There’s some pretty good gore. No skin. The dialogue can get hokey at times, but the acting is good overall. The ending is fairly original, as is how the sunlight affects the vampires. To summarize, check this movie out. It doesn’t get as much acclaim as other vampire movies form the 80’s, but it’s good nonetheless. I give it 7 out of 10 goofy scenes where bar patrons keep attacking the meek vampire minding his own business instead of the ruthless killer vampires raising hell.