Early writing/directing venture by future Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow ends up being a fascinating, but very underwhelming entry in her list of cinematic credits as Oklahoma cowboy Adrian Pasdar is bitten one night by the beautiful Jenny Wright (really a vampire). As Pasdar goes through his demonic change he falls in with Wright's small group of drifters led by Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton as they terrorize small towns and deserted roads late at night as they continue to keep their strength feeding on unlucky strangers. As day comes in they must do all in their power to stay out of sunlight or be burned beyond recognition. Nothing really new to speak of here as vampires were all over the place in the mid-1980s with bigger-budgeted and better though-out ventures (think "Fright Night" and "The Lost Boys"). Bigelow shows potential here as a relatively new film-maker, but in the end "Near Dark" is little more than a late-night cable dud which does nothing to distinguish itself from three dozen other films of the genre and the time period. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).
