Diamondback

Diamondback is a fictional vampire and one of the main antagonists featured in the 1987 horror film Near Dark. She is played by actress Jenette Goldstein.

Overview
The woman known as Diamondback is a creature of mystery. Her true name is unknown, but at some point in her life, she was killed and turned into a vampire. Diamondback traveled with several other vampires including Jesse Hooker, who was her lover, a brutal thug named Severin, a child vampire named Homer, and a neophyte vamp named Mae. Diamondback was present when Mae turned a young man named Caleb Colton into a vampire, but she did not trust Caleb to adapt to their natural killer instincts.

Character notes



 * Diamondback is the fifth character credited in Near Dark.


 * Diamondback is one of five vampires featured in the film. She is one of two vampires who are female. She is one of four vampires who are killed by the end of the movie.


 * Diamondback takes her name from a species of rattlesnake known as a pit viper. It is so named because of the diamond-shaped pattern upon its back.


 * Luke most vampires, Diamondback had an aversion to sunlight. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation would cause her skin to blister, and ultimately disintegrate her.

Actress notes

 * Playing the role of Diamondback is actress Jenette Goldstein's second film role. It is also her second work in the horror genre. She previously played a soldier named J. Vasquez in the sci-fi/action movie Aliens, directed by James Cameron. Cameron became the husband of Near Dark director Kathryn Bigelow in 1989. They divorced in 1991.


 * Jenette Goldstein reunited with two other cast members from Aliens for this film: Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton. In Aliens, Henriksen played the android Bishop, while Paxton played a space marine named W. Hudson. In Near Dark, these actors serve as the vampire cohorts to Goldstein's character.