Bet on Bigelow.
After reaching the end of the road on our Underseen or Underrated?” theme with the queer, DIY aesthetics of Death Drop Gorgeous, we then returned to our regular programming with an analysis of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom and a Spring Break celebration with Alexandre Aja’s 2010 schlock-fest Piranha 3D. Now we head back to the ’80s to discuss Kathryn Bigelow‘s vampire western Near Dark!
In the film, cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar, Heroes) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright, I, Madman) 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, Aliens). Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.
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Episode 172: Near Dark (1987)
Black out your car windows because we’re driving through the American West with Jesse Hooker’s gang in Kathryn Bigelow’s seminal vampire Western Near Dark (1987). Joining us for the trip is Kyle Adam Foster!
Join us as we dive into all the hoops Bigelow had to jump through just to get this film made (a woman doing “man movies?” Who’da thought?!) before diving into the film’s bungled release, which led to its commercial failure and “flop” status.
Plus: an in-your-face AIDS allegory, questionable blood transfusions, Bill Paxton worship, an uninteresting central romance, and that awesome bar fight set piece. Near Dark has it all, folks!
Cross out Near Dark!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re sticking with vampires but going overseas as we look at the bullying at the center of Let the Right One In!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 165 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing the 10th anniversary of Joseph Kahn’s Detention, as well as Hulu originals Master and Deep Water, Robert Eggers’ The Northman and a 25th anniversary audio commentary on Anaconda!
The post Glass Ceilings and An(other) AIDS Allegory in ‘Near Dark’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.