31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Near Dark

Near Dark (1987)

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Staring Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton

            Caleb Colton (Pasdar) meets a pretty girl named Mae (Wright).  This attractive drifter gets along with Caleb just fine.  But then she bites his neck.  Caleb flees and as the sun rises, his skin begins to crackle and burn.  He is rescued by Mae and the group she travels with, a rag tag outlaw gang.  It is a small family of sorts consisting of the father figure Jesse (Henriksen), mother type Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), creepy uncle Severen (Paxton), and little brother Homer (Joshua Miller).  They bring along Caleb and Mae shows him the ropes.  They kill, steal, and drain people of blood.  The more Caleb sees, the more he knows he has to leave.  But Caleb is like his captors now: he needs blood and has some particular issues with the sun.  How can he escape their clan when he is one of them?

            A vampire movie and a western blended together to great effect, Near Dark is an awesome experiment in combining genres.  All the troupes of both genres are at play, influencing each other and changing your expectations along the way.  There is an ambush at the gang’s hideout which follows a traditional western movie.  The authorities show up and start shooting into the building, catching the outlaws of guard.  But then the vampire movie comes into play.  The gang is not in a lot of danger with bullets, but the holes they make in the walls bring in sunlight.  Suddenly, the familiar stuff makes for something new.  All the action scenes are done very well, showcasing Bigelow’s expert handle on action. 

The scares are also handled very well.  There is a scene in a bar highlights what makes these characters terrifying.  They kill everyone in the place methodically, taking their time to thoroughly frighten each victim before the grisly end.  The cast does great breathing life into their characters.  The two shining examples would have to be Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton.  Henriksen’s Jesse is a confident hunter and leader, instilling fear in all around him.  Paxton is at his best with Severen, behaving like a raving maniac that feeds on scenery. 

            For the vampire enthusiast in search of something new, find a copy of Near Dark.  It takes the monsters seriously and remembers to give them a human face.  It balances action set pieces and scares quite well.  The word "vampire" is never mentioned.  Also, it has a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.  All of that and so much more make Near Dark a must for any horror fan.

9 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: The Hunger

The Hunger (1983)

Directed by Tony Scott

Staring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon

            A couple watches people at a Bauhas performance.  They seduce another couple and take them back to their New York townhouse.  The couples switch partners and the hosts slash open their guests with ritualistic daggers.  This is the life of Miriam and John Blaylock: classy couple and immortal murderers.  The two live a quiet life of music lessons and blood drinking.  The routine is derailed when John begins to age.  Miriam’s lovers all have the same problem: they will live forever.  Their bodies will decay and atrophy, trapping their alert minds in helpless husks.  John is losing his hair and getting wrinkles, but soon it will be much worse.  They both seek the help of geriatrics researcher Sarah Roberts, who has been making some advances in finding ways to reverse aging.  Things might be too late for John, as he is growing old at a rapid pace.  Miriam is getting ready to say goodbye to one lover and looking for his replacement in Sarah. 

            The Hunger is Tony Scott’s directorial debut, but you would not know it from the deft handling of the material.  Before he learned to love green-tinted lenses, Scott liked to vary his color palette.  The movie takes a bluish hue, with occasional splashes of vibrant red.  The darkness is pitch black and the lights are nearly blinding.  The quick edits that would later define his visual style are used well here.  They tell parallel stories and add symbolism into the mix with lovely craftsmanship.  The acting is wonderful all around.  Catherine Deneuve plays Miriam as a dangerously seductive, high priestess of love.  David Bowie owns his role as Miriam’s husband, John.  He is intense and desperate as a man who realizes his time is quickly running out.   Susan Sarandon imbues enough curiosity and satisfaction in her turn as Sarah to make her attraction to Miriam authentic. 

            The only real complaint against this movie is its favor of substance over style.  The visuals are gorgeous and the editing shows creative flair, but the story is kept somewhat thin.  No explanation is given for Miriam’s vampirism or how it differs from her lovers.  There are suggestions of its source and just how old Miriam truly is.  All these things are shown rather well, but they are not exactly satisfying answers.  They are quick images of scenes that reveal a deeper story in need of excavation.  These things would cause more trouble if it were not for the film’s ability to wrap you in its stylish charm. 

            The Hunger is a story about the costs of life, love, and death.  Equally erotic and forbidding, the film tries to convey what it is like to be consumed by something that can never be satisfied.  Plus, David Bowie ages seventy years in about thirty minutes of film.  That is hard to top. 

8 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: The Lost Boys

The Lost Boys (1987)

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Staring Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Jami Gertz, Jason Patrick, and Kiefer Sutherland

            Michael and Sam Emerson are moving with their Mother from Arizona to live with their Grandfather in California.  Their new home, Santa Carla, is crime ridden and graffiti layered.  The town boardwalk is the center of all commerce and life in Santa Carla.  But, at night the boards take on an edgier tone.  This night life attracts Michael and Sam, but the locals are far more interesting.  Michael pursues a girl named Star, who hangs out with a motorcycle gang.  Sam befriends comic shop employees and amateur vampire hunter The Frog Brothers.  The Frogs give Sam a head’s up: his brother is hanging with vampires.  Unless he wants to lose Michael to the undead, Sam has to act quickly.  He does not think a thing of this until Michael starts acting strangely.  With vampires infiltrating the Emerson’s home life, it may be too late for them to leave Santa Carla.

The Lost Boys is a good vampire movie, but it makes for a far better 80s movie.  There are some minor issues with the acting.  Corey Feldman seems to think Edgar Frog should sound like Batman, trying to emulate a gravely drawl.  Corey Haim can never get beyond being the annoying younger brother and after a while that does wear on you.  But those are only minor complaints.  Kiefer Sutherland makes good on his role as David, leader of the vampire gang.  Sutherland lays on the mysterious charm and predatory vibes in equal strokes.  And Barnard Hughes emerges as the scene stealer.  His turn as the Emerson boy’s grandfather is endearing and humorous. 

            The effects, even for today, are pretty well done.  The actual vampire makeup is the hyper accented facial structure that we have seen plenty of times after this film.  It looks good and makes the vampires appear more like predators.  The clothes are over the top, conjuring some of the most ridiculous fashion statements to come out of 80s cinema.  It is only distracting if you forget when this movie was made.  Also, the point of view shots used for vampire flight make for an interesting angel.  It keeps the visual of demon-faced teens flying around until the end.  It makes the image of their flight a little more frightening. 

            As a horror movie, The Lost Boys works pretty well.  It is competently made and can effectively deliver some chills.  As an 80s movie, The Lost Boys is outstanding.  Only in movies from this era can the Corey’s be seen as film gold.  The minor gripes can be largely ignored because the movie is just fun and a little cheesy. 

7 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Dog Soldiers

Dog Soldiers (2002)

Directed by Neil Marshal

Starring Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, and Liam Cunningham

            A couple camping in the Scottish Highlands are having a lovely vacation.  That is, until they are slaughtered in their tent under a full moon.  Later in the same location, a group of British army soldiers enter the area to participate in a weekend of war games.  The main protagonist, Private Cooper (McKidd), and the rest of the squad are expecting a nice weekend of roughing it in the countryside.  Not everything is going as planned.  The squad cannot find their participants in these exercises, a British Special Forces unit.  Eventually they find what is left of the Special Forces camp.  There is blood everywhere, equipment destroyed, and all their weapons remain.  The squad does find a lone survivor in Captain Ryan (Cunningham), who has some bad history with Private Cooper.  Ryan is barely making sense, saying that some kind of beasts attacked his men.  The squad prepares for the worst, but they are not ready for what is coming.  They are attacked and driven to hide in a country house by something no one anticipated.  Now, this squad has to survive a siege of werewolves until sunrise. 

            This movie never got a theatrical run in the states, which is both bad and good.  It is bad since Dog Soldiers absolutely deserves to be seen.  But, it is good because having no previous knowledge of this movie can make your first viewing an even better surprise.  Dog Soldiers is a visceral gut punch of a horror flick.  There is no letting up, lines and bullets fly so fast it is easy to miss what is going.  The story is tight and filled with some great twists.  Werewolf traditions are played with, people die in some truly gruesome ways, and several characters change sides all before the climax.  You never do know what will happen next to these characters.  The dialogue is outstanding, bursting with some of the best gruff military talk I have ever heard in a movie.  In particular, Sean Pertwee’s Sergeant Wells has some killer lines that are expertly delivered.  All the actors involved did a wonderful job and really help sell the predicament the characters are in. 

The makeup and effects are simply fantastic.  These baddies do not look like the weird hairy guy or the cat-like people of many previous werewolf films.  They have snouts, beady black eyes, and some formidable stature.  The wolves in this look just as movie werewolves should; pretty close to a believable combination of man and dog.  With a mixture of costumes and animatronics, the werewolves are credibly terrifying.  The gore of Dog Soldiers should be mentioned, because I have not seen anything this bloody and gooey since Dead Alive.  All of it is fairly convincing, but bits and pieces of people are thrown about everywhere in this film.  People lose their arms, their heads, and their guts frequently.  There are scenes where the aftermath of someone’s evisceration is literally coating the floor of a set.  The gore is so over the top it is ridiculous. 

In all absolute honesty, you need to watch this movie now.  Horror fans will get a kick out of this refreshingly vicious werewolf story.  Horror newcomers and casual fans will be bowled over by the film’s unrelenting pace and violence.  This is one the best horror films of the 2000s and one of the best werewolf movies ever made. 

9 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: The Howling

The Howling (1980)

Directed by Joe Dante

Staring Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, and Christopher Stone

            LA TV reporter Karen White (Wallace) is assisting the police with a plan to capture her stalker, serial killer Eddie Quist.  She meets Quist in a porno theater where he tries to show Karen his true self.  Before this can fully transpire, Quist is shot by the police in front of Karen.  Suffering from amnesia, Karen’s therapist recommends that she and her husband Bill (Stone) stay at his country resort for treatment.  This facility is called The Colony and it houses some strange subjects.  Everyone there seems to be very connected with one another and there is definitely something wrong.   A wolf-like creature bites Bill and he sneaks off from Karen.  After doing a little investigating, Karen finds that this colony has a dark secret just under the surface.  People are not there to recover; they are there to be with their own kind.  Karen is going to find what she was trying to forget and what the resort is trying to hide are one in the same: werewolves do exist.  

            Werewolf movies do not always have the best record for quality and effectiveness.  That just makes this all the better because The Howling is actually quite scary.  Both terrifying and silly, it balances horror and humor to great effect.  The absurdity and uncomfortable nature of many of the films scenes make for a wide streak of dark humor.  You should not be laughing at the sudden werewolf attack in the middle of an exposition scene, but it takes you by surprise and elicits a few chuckles.  There are a ton of little references to classic werewolf movies and pop culture littered throughout, making it a rewarding watch for any horror movie buff.  Those looking hard enough can find a cameo by Joe Dante’s former employer and Hollywood schlock legend, Roger Corman.  The creature makeup and effects are awesome and still hold up.  The beasts are frightening and vividly detailed, but also expressive.  It makes for some great performances by the actors under the wolf skin.  Joe Dante manages to get a decent performance out of nearly everyone involved.  The only weak link in the cast is Christopher Stone, who plays Bill a little too indifferent to what is happening.  If you are looking for something a little different, The Howling is an excellent choice.

9 out of 10