Research Catalog
Near dark
- Title
- Near dark / Stacey Abbott.
- Author
- Abbott, Stacey
- Publication
- London ; New York, NY : Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2020.
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Request in advance | MFLF (Near dark) 21-1196 | Offsite |
Details
- Description
- 94 pages : color illustrations; 19 cm.
- Summary
- "First released in 1987, Near Dark is a vampire film set in the contemporary American Midwest that tells the story of Caleb, a half-vampire trying to decide whether to embrace his vampire nature or return to his human family. The film, an early work of the now-established director Kathryn Bigelow, skilfully mixes genre conventions, combining gothic tropes with those of the Western, road movie and film noir, while also introducing elements of the outlaw romance genre. Stacey Abbott's study of the film addresses it as a genre hybrid that also challenges conventions of the vampire film. The family of vampires who lure Caleb into their nocturnal existence is a central element of the film's innovative power: defined by a nomadic lifestyle, anarchic behaviour, a passion for violence, ambition for eternity, intense family bonds, and a gritty visual appearance. The vampires are morally ambiguous and undermine the class structures that have historically defined stories of the undead. These are not aristocrats but instead they capture the allure and horror of the disenfranchised and the underclass. The film is sumptuous in its aesthetic design, offering a nuanced and haunting presentation of its monstrous protagonists who stalk the Midwestern backroads and desert landscape. While it remains Bigelow's only foray into horror to date, its innovation showcases the creativity and artistic richness of the genre without sacrificing its visceral qualities. As Abbott describes, Near Dark was crucial in consolidating Bigelow's standing as a director of significance at an early point in her career, not simply because of her visual art background, but because of the way in which she would from Near Dark onward re-envision other traditionally mainstream genres of filmmaking"--
- Series Statement
- BFI film classics
- Uniform Title
- BFI film classics.
- Subject
- Genre/Form
- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-90).
- Contents
- "Just a couple more minutes of your time, about the same duration as the rest of your life" : making a cult vampire film -- "The sun is on the rise" : a new gothic aesthetic -- "Finger lickin" good" : genre hybridity and the action vampire -- "No you've never met another girl like me" : the sympathetic, not-so-reluctant vampire -- "Fun times" : disrupting narrative resolution and resisting the status quo.
- Call Number
- MFLF (Near dark) 21-1196
- ISBN
- 9781911239277
- 1911239279
- 9781911239284 (canceled/invalid)
- 9781911239291 (canceled/invalid)
- LCCN
- 2020005208
- OCLC
- 1159662201
- Author
- Abbott, Stacey, author.
- Title
- Near dark / Stacey Abbott.
- Publisher
- London ; New York, NY : Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2020.
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Series
- BFI film classicsBFI film classics.
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-90).
- Chronological Term
- 1900-1999
- Other Form:
- Online version: Abbott, Stacey. Near dark London ; New York, NY : Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2020 9781911239284 (DLC) 2020005209
- Research Call Number
- MFLF (Near dark) 21-1196