Last night Kathryn Bigelow won two Academy Awards. Not only was she the first woman to win an Oscar, but she also won the coveted prize of Best Picture for 2010. However, before she directed the war drama The Hurt Locker, in 1987 she had directed a little known vampire flick titled Near Dark.
I actually saw Near Dark in the theater in 1987. At the risk of further dating myself, I will tell you that the movie theater was the now closed 8th Street Playhouse. The same place where The Rocky Horror Picture Show played every weekend for years, with Sal Piro MC’ing. So one day after school, I headed downtown to Greenwich Village to check out this little known pic about down and dirty vampires from Oklahoma.
So while the whole Iran-Contra affair was going down in 1987, Near Dark was released. Initially it was a box office disappointment, but it deservedly lives on thanks to a cult following. Also, check out a few niffy little facts. The 1986 sci-fi hit Aliens shared some of the same cast as Near Dark. James Cameron not only directed Aliens but would later marry Kathryn Bigelow. The marriage itself didn’t last that long. In 2010, both Cameron and Bigelow were nominated for Oscars in the Best Director category. Cameron for Avatar, and Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. Bigelow won. Life can be interesting that way.
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