THE NIGHT FLIER is based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name. New Line Cinema briefly released the film in 1997. Due to the intense performance of the lead Miguel (ROBOCOP, TWIN PEAKS) Ferrer, and the fact that there was no marketability to the film (no alternative rock bands in the soundtrack, no SCREAMish teenagers, etc), New Line Cinema instead premiered the film as an HBO original movie. The premise reminds me a lot of the old Darren McGavin series THE NIGHT STALKER because it deals with an old school vampire and the tabloid reporters who hunt the bloodthirsty villain (even the title is similar).

Except that Miguel Ferrer’s reporter Richard "Eddie" Dees is no Karl Kolchak. The character of Richard Dees, even though he is the main character, is a vile scumbag. And Ferrer plays this aspect to the maximum. I enjoyed seeing this type of portrayal, but I think this is what really killed the films box office potential. Richard Dees is a reporter for the trashy tabloid paper The Inside View; his motto is "Never believe what you publish, never publish what you believe". Every line of dialogue Ferrer speaks has the F word in it—no exaggeration. Credit should go to Pavia and the producers for having the balls to make the main character a unapologetic prick.

As the movie begins, a black Cessna aircraft comes out of the night sky and lands at a small town airport. A strange force hypnotizes the resident old man to clean the plane and refill the gas. The plane departs, leaving the old man drained of blood. At the offices of The Inside View scandal rag, cub reporter Katherine Blair (the cute Julie Entwistle) and Richard Dees reluctantly cooperate to get assigned the case of tracking down the "serial killer" called the Night Flier, who is responsible for a string of small town airport murders. The audience knows the killer is a vampire, the characters don’t. Through use of hypnosis and the like, the vampire avoids and outthinks the authorities.

Richard and Katherine trace the progress of the killer, and at one airport where he killed someone, they discover a flight log listed to someone named "Dwight Renfield" (can you guess where this is going?). As they continue to track the killer, clues appear that Richard and the Night Flier may have some kind of mental link. The climax takes place in an airport hanger, and in a highlight scene, Richard meets the killer in the men’s room at a urinal in front of a mirror. There is a surprising bleak ending that I cannot reveal, but is well done and memorable.

Despite a strong narrative and visual style, director Pavia leaves plot holes. We never learn where the vampire comes from, why are there maggots underneath the Cessna, what does the photograph album in the plane mean, or for that matter why does he fly that plane? Incidentally, the custom made black Cessna can be considered a character in this movie; it’s a spooky plane that inspires fear.

The vampire reflects the legends of old. He wears a cape, hypnotizes people, etc. The only untraditional thing he does is that he loves the gore, and there is plenty of it in this film. Lots of bloody wound close-ups, lots of slashed necks, and in one scene the camera pans over a man whose throat has torn out to the spine. There is a car crash aftermath scene with tons of mangled bodies. Excellent makeup effects by Howard Berger, Robert Kurtzman, and Greg Nicotero. As vile as the vampire is, he takes a back seat to the tabloid vampirism of the Richard Dees character.

SIGHT

Even though this is distributed by HBO, you can always rely on New Line to use 16x9 enhanced widescreen (1:78:1) transfer and this one is excellent. The image is very sharp and well defined. Color reproduction is vivid and without bleeding, or chroma noise. The blacks and shadow details are deep but you can see everything clearly in the many night scenes. Flesh tones looked natural in all lighting. There is a lot of blood flow in this film, and the transfer makes it all the more horrifying.

SOUND

This is a great DD 5.1 Surround soundtrack. There is a lot of ambience in the film that the soundtrack enhances. But the first hour is very dialogue driven. The soundtrack really kicks into high gear in the last act. During this part of the movie the soundtrack matches the megabuck Hollywood DVD sound mixes. The mix masterfully adds creepiness to the film. Composer Brian Keane’s score is nothing special but adds to the grimness of the film and comes across nicely in the mix. The vampires voice sounds genuinely creepy coming at you from all speakers.

FEATURES

The excellent THE NIGHT FLIER trailer is letterboxed and in Dolby Digital 5.1! The star bios are for Miguel Ferrer, Julie Entwhistle, and producer Richard Rubenstein.

CONCLUSION

One of the great things above reviewing over looked cult films, is that occasionally, instead of panning a movie, you get to uncover a worthy gem. THE NIGHT FLIER in by no means perfect, and it’s not the greatest King adaptation ever, but it has a lot to offer in terms of characters, mystery, and horror. Miguel Ferrer’s performance has to be seen to believe it. If your looking for a non-commercial, cutting-edge creature feature, with a touch of old school, then check it out. The DVD presentation is top notch.

THE CHANGELING/THE NIGHT FLYER Double Feature is available from DVDEmpire.com

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