The Night Flier is an Original Vampire Movie with a Great Story.
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It is a shame that The Night Flier did not get the recognition that it deserved when it came out in 1997. Hopefully this review can help turn that around.
Written by The B Movie Specialist
Ronnie Angel
April 16, 2007
Release: 1997
Directed by: Mark Pavia
Written by: Jack O'Donnell and Mark Pavia
Story by: Stephen King
Starring:
Miguel Ferrer as Richard Dees
Julie Entwisle as Katherine 'Jimmy' Blair
Dan Monahan as Merton Morrison
Michael H. Moss as Dwight Renfield
I have said it before and I will sure as hell say it again. One of the most important things necessary for a horror movie to be a good horror movie, especially nowadays, is originality. To this day one of the most original vampire movies, maybe even horror movies I have seen is The Night Flier.
The Night Flier is an interesting little semi-underground side note in horror movie history. The movie follows the exploits of a "man" named Dwight Renfield (nice Dracula references by the way Stephen King!) who has a bad habit of making midnight snacks out of caretakers at lonely out of the way airfields along the east coast before taking off in his all black single engine Cessna airplane. One of the great teasers of the movie is that you do not actually see Renfield for most of the movie, just brief glimpses of him which heightens the suspense factor.
Now enter Richard Dees, played in an excellent role by the underrated
actor Miguel Ferrer (Hot Shots part Deux!). Dees is
a very angry, cynical, sarcastic, flat out depressing reporter (let us
just say he’s an asshole) for a Weekly World News type
magazine called Inside View. His boss (played by
none other than Dan Monahan aka Pee Wee from Porky’s!)
assigns him the task of investigating the legend of “The
Night Flier” and instructs him to go to any sleazy
underhanded lengths to get pictures and a story.
Dees has an airplane similar to The Night Flier’s plane and travels to America’s rural airfields to investigate this mysterious rumor of a dark figure that brings death wherever he lands.
Unbeknownst to Richard Dees his boss assigned the new girl at the magazine the same case and is forcing them both to compete for the right to author the front page story. Dees is not happy when he finds out. As the two journalists get closer and closer to the truth about the legend of the Night Flier Renfield begins giving warnings to Dees to stay away. Of course he does not listen.
A series of cat-and-mouse games by Renfield along with the exhaustive pursuit of the exclusive story leads to one of the very best, for my money, endings I have ever seen in a horror movie. The first time I saw The Night Flier I was floored.
Stephen King really shows his skill at writing a good story with The Night Flier. The Night Flier serves as a great morality shift, focusing more on Dees and his demons than the murderous habits of Renfield, making Renfield into more of an antihero than a villain. Renfield seems to be trying to get Dees to do the right thing while at the same time murdering random people. Quite a strange but interesting picture is woven by The Night Flier.
It is too bad The Night Flier didn't get the attention it deserved when it was initially released. Now, after reading this review, you know that The Night Flier is a horror movie that should be checked out…and knowing is half the battle. Questions or comments about The Night Flier? Contact us!
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