I just watched Near Dark. I was a little confused because I thought it was a horror-comedy, but instead it was a vampire Western. In a world without any sort of pop-culture vampire knowledge, given that no one says the damn word.

It was a pretty neat take on vampires, though. Very grounded, not stylizing or glamorizing vampires but just sort of...following a group of dudes who happen to drink blood and incinerate in sunlight.

P-C -

That movie came out my first year in college. I went to a double-feature (my first college date ever! I felt like such a grown up girl).

My date and I were casually discussing the tv show "A Different World" (yes, I am OLD) before the first movie began and he told me that he thought the actresses were so hot on ADW that he wanted to (and I quote) "fuck every one of them on the show."

Due to that comment and other things, I decided that this guy wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I'm a trooper so I decided to stick with the double feature. I loved ND (the first movie), but the second movie I still cannot see again to this day: The Living Daylights. I'm not sure if the movie is as bad as I remember, but damn if the conditions under which I saw the film made me really hate that movie. I don't think I saw another James Bond flick until "Casino Royale" two years ago.

Heh, le nubian. Definitely doesn't sound like a cup-of-tea guy (as opposed to Teacup Guy, who he also does not sound like).

The kid in Near Dark was really good. I totally bought his character. Come to think of it, why aren't there more kid vampires? That don't act like kids, that is (hello, Anointed One).

Come to think of it, why aren't there more kid vampires?

Like...Kirsten Dunst's first movie role?

I don't think I actually saw that movie. But good one. Still, you don't see them as often as you see the other vampire archetypes.

Still, you don't see them as often as you see the other vampire archetypes.

That's true. But I think the Claudia character was such a strong one that it sort of precluded imitation. Not least because Rice based the character on her daughter who died young and would never grow older. That death was the whole inspiration for her vampire books. So there's a weird emotional weight in her character in the books.

P-C -

I found out later that he developed an addiction to marijuana, dropped out of college and delivered pizzas (to the campus) for the next few years so he could hit on much younger undergrads.

So yeah - definitely not my cup of tea.

Come to think of it, why aren't there more kid vampires?

In movies, or in books? Because it's a pretty common trope in vampire novels. Tho' I think Claudia from Interview With The Vampire was the first really noticeable version of that trope.

(Mind you, now that I think about it, other than Claudia, Little Timmy Valentine from Vampire Junction, and, er, whatshertoes in the first Anita Blake novel, I can't think of many other examples of vampire children. But vampire kiddies are a VERY common trope in vampire games. Every one I was ever part of had someone playing a vampire child.)

I love Near Dark. Well, except for the ending. But whenever I get too exasperated with the current strain of oh-so-sensitive not a predator your love can change him! -type of vampire fiction (gaaah, most vampire romance novels), I reach for Near Dark.

The kid in Near Dark was really good. I totally bought his character.

He was even scarier as a sociopathic pre-teen in The River's Edge.

And, of course, Near Dark gave us Adrian Pasdar pre-Profit. And half the cast of Aliens (though it was post-that-movie).

I also really liked Jenny Wright. She just seemed to disappear after this.

Funny trivia bit about the kid (Josh Miller)- he's Jason Patric's half-brother.