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“It’s finger-lickin’ good!” Severen (Bill Paxton) gives an accurate description of how human blood tastes. Or so we assume. After being tossed to the side upon its initial release, Near Dark is basically a western with a horror sheen. Caleb Cotton (Adrian Pasdar) is a modern hombre who gets mixed up with a group of marauders with a thirst for blood. The Grue Crew talk about all this gem live from DragonCon with a very special guest: C. Robert Cargill, writer of Sinister, Doctor Strange and the recently released book Sea of Rust! Now *that* sounds finger-lickin’ good to us!
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 116 — Near Dark (1987)
Near Dark is notable on a lot of levels. The directorial debut of future Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, The Hurt Locker) was a curious debut. Near Dark has it all. Paxton chewing up the scenery. Vampires wandering around in a mobile home. Some kick ass fire stunts. This western aesthetic creates a vast endless desert for our heroes to wander around, looking for blood to feed on as they avoid exploding in the wake of the sun. The moment you hear those spurs coming closer, it’s not a gun you have to worry about. It’s the fangs that’ll tear out your throat.
To talk Near Dark, Thomas and Christopher are not only reunited with Doc Rotten and frequent Grue Crew co-host Bill Mulligan. No, for this live episode recorded at DragonCon, our boys are joined by C. Robert Cargill. You may have known him as the film critic “Massawyrm” from Ain’t It Cool News, screenwriter of films like Sinister & Doctor Strange or for his books like the recently released Sea of Rust. These five talk this gem of a vampire film in front of a live audience, asking the big questions. Is this peak Paxton? How much of this genre fare crept into Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar material? Did this need a sax scene to compete with Lost Boys that same year? All these questions and more are answered in this episode!
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We want to hear from you — the coolest, most gruesome fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at thomasmariani@decadesofhorror.com or docrotten@decadesofhorror.com.
Special thanks to Neon Devils for their awesome song Bone Chillin!
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Child’s Play (1988)