"There's a ghastly humor in all this, and Bigelow brings it out without overindulging it. Faced with a nearly repulsive subject, she makes the blood flow inside it, stream out over the cuts. "Near Dark" (MPAA-rated: R for sex and violence) is probably too violent for any but hard-core horror audiences. But unlike "The Hitcher," it isn't illogically violent or artificially horrific. Bigelow's visual style--rudimentary in her earlier film, "The Loveless"--is often sensational here. She's made a film whose pop nihilism and occasional wild beauty can raise a few honest shivers." - Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times