Just watched the movie from learning about from an RLM review and I gotta say they nailed its appeal. In this film vampires aren’t sex gods or brooding lovers…they’re bloodthirsty monsters that are forced to kill to survive. However, due to their unique situation of being unable to age, allergic to the sun and have to eat humans to live, their‘s a certain sadness to their life.

I think the character that exemplifies this the most is Homer. In the film he’s a sadistic, disturbingly cold child who has no qualms with killing, smoking or drinking. He has almost no humanity to him or at least you’d think that at first. Homer explicitly states every night he’s an old man in child’s body and how it just doesn’t suit him. In reality, Homer is incredibly lonely as evidenced by him kidnapping Sarah and desperate to make her turn. Since he can’t age, he wants to someone his age to as a romantic partner to live with forever. He failed to gain that with Mae and now he seeks to start over with Sarah.

But Mae‘s my favorite character. Her actress, Jenny Wright, did a wonderful job in my opinion. She’s not a truly despicable person like the others. She‘s just a regular teenage girl who wants to fall in love and be accepted by others but is forced to kill to survive. What makes me enjoy Mae’s character is how much internal struggle there is in her, clearly caught between the will to survive, will to be accepted and the will to be a good person. She’s so likable but troubled I really do end up falling in love with her towards the end. She‘s complex and endearing, not sacrificing layers to her person while still being the heart of the film.

But that’s not to say the other cast isn’t great. In the RLM re:view, Rich pointed out how accepted the others are killing humans. How Jesse’s apathetic to murdering and bored with life but wants to fill the void by turning people, bill Paxton’s character thoroughly enjoys killing and the blond chick…eh, she‘s just crazy I guess. It’s amazing to me that with SO MUCH vampire media out this one is the one that not only vibes with me the most but comes across as the one that is the most feasibly what would happen if vampires existed.

Another thing that RLM pointed out in their review of the film that I think elevates this FAR above most vampire movies is that ”Near Dark” has no romanticization of vampires once-so-ever. They’re blood sucking killers who have to live like vagabonds and never see the light of day. It’s so real and authentic compared to the kind of ones that Twilight fangirls swoon over.

If you haven’t watched the film or their review I recommend watching “Near Dark” first before diving into their review where they break down the appeal. I loved Rich and Jay’s discussion about the concept of living forever being a downer and how the vagabond Vampires we see in the film are parasites who can’t do anything with their lives. It’s great symbolism of the very first image in “Near Dark” being a mosquito being swatted at. Unlike vampires in other, more romanticized media, they’re nothing but parasites preying on humanity and doing nothing with their own lives. It’s such a down-to-Earth and gritty reinvention, deconstruction of the vampire mythos.