Near Dark (35mm)

Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark takes the vampire movie on the road, combining horror with the landscapes and iconography of the Western and the nighttime world of neo-noir. Released the same year as The Lost Boys, Bigelow’s film offered a grittier take on the vampire revival of the 1980s, following its nomadic bloodsuckers through bars, motels, and empty highways of the American Southwest. The cast notably reunites Aliens actors Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, and Jenette Goldstein.

Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen (Bill Paxton). Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family. Also starring Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, Tim Thomerson, Joshua John Miller, and Marcie Leeds.