Released fang-to-fang with The Lost Boys in 1987, Kathryn Bigelow's moody, sensuous vampire-Western died a nasty death at the box office. Near Dark's resurrection soon came about on video, though, and this welcome DVD release confirms it's now making a strong bid for immortality - - unlike Joel Schumacher's frivolous teenagers-of-the-night pic.

The tale of a farmboy, Caleb (Adrian Pasdar), who's smitten with, then bitten by nomadic bloodsucker Mae (Jenny Wright), it follows his uneasy acceptance into her makeshift clan as they roll across Oklahoma in a blacked-out bus.

Seductively lensed, sparely scripted and superbly performed - - Bill Paxton's remorseless Severen just about nicks it from Lance Henriksen's gaunt patriarch - - this does away with Gothic nonsense to offer a modern take on the undead myth. Plenty of movies have tried to do the same since. Few have come close.

DVD Extras:

Bigelow's commentary mixes background information with on-screen interpretation, albeit in a dreary monotone, while the deleted scene shows Caleb and Mae lolling in a field. Yawn. But the real deal is the 50-minute doc Living In Darkness, a talking header that rounds up all the main players for an affectionate yak.