[7]

Director Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days, The Hurt Locker) serves up a stylish, brooding vampire tale set in the southwest. I dig Bigelow’s tone, atmosphere, and terrific casting. Bigelow tapped into the Aliens ensemble to cast Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, and Jenette Goldstein as a family of nomadic vamps. Paxton and Henriksen bring much-needed energy to the somber storytelling in a pair of fearless, over the top performances. Aside from a great bar scene, the movie is unfortunately low on action and scares, and die-hard vampire fans may take issue with Bigelow’s use of blood transfusions as a convenient plot device. The two leads, Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright, are easy on the eyes and Tangerine Dream’s synth score gets under your skin.