The Watching Hour: Near Dark

USA, 1987, 94 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Archival, Cult, Horror
Language: English

35mm presentation - “A full-blooded vampire movie which gives the well-worn mythology a much-needed transfusion by stripping away the Gothic trappings and concentrating instead on a pack of nocturnal nomads who roam the sun-parched farmlands of the modern Midwest. Kissed by a pale, mysterious girl from out of town, it soon dawns on farmboy Caleb that Mae’s love-bite has infected him with a burning desire – for blood. Subsequently snatched by Mae’s vagabond pals, Caleb is gradually seduced by their exciting night-life. So, despite his reluctance to make a ‘kill’, Caleb is soon caught between his blood sister and his blood relatives – father and younger sister – who are in hot pursuit. Western iconography, noir-ish lighting, and visceral horror are fused with an affecting love story in this stylish ‘Vampire Western’, which (unlike Bigelow’s rather static debut feature The Loveless) is driven forward at a scorching pace, a subtle study in the seductiveness of evil and a terrifying ride to the edge of darkness.” – Time Out (London)

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
Principal Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, Tim Thomerson, Joshua John Miller