near dark
A midwestern farm boy is lured to a group of vagrant outlaw vampires who when he discovers that his love interest is part of the group. They offer him the ultimatum of kill or be killed in this mixture of brutal action and quiet romance that is often found in the vampire genre. An interesting addition to genre is Near Dark's examination of group dynamics as the film centers on a pack with leaders and followers. The vampires in this film are now grouped together as rebellious outlaws who roam the highways at night in stolen cars. Near Dark is also one of the rare horror films with a female director, now Oscar winning Kathryn Bigelow of Hurt Locker fame. Even though the film did relatively poorly at the box office, Bigelow received mostly positive reviews from critics for a unique vampire film that mixes aspects of the Western biker movies, teenage romance and lots of violence.