Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Scott LeBrun This adaptation of the Martin Cruz Smith novel (scripted by Steve Shagan, Bud Shrake, and Smith himself) is actually pretty faithful to the source material. Ultimately, it's not quite as satisfying as Smiths' story, where the characters were given more depth. But it's still a striking and interesting (if not great) film, an unusual mix of animal horror, human drama, and Indian mysticism. The actors in all of the major roles are pretty good, and director Arthur Hiller - a man known more for mainstream comedies and dramas such as "Love Story" - does his best working within a different genre. It's true that the film doesn't have very much suspense, but the animal attacks are NOT that badly done, despite the presence of some chintzy effects. At the very least, what "Nightwing" has to recommend it is beautiful New Mexico scenery and a solid score by Henry Mancini.Nick Mancuso stars as Maskai policeman Youngman Duran, faced with sudden and mysterious deaths of animals and humans alike. An Englishman named Phillip Payne (David Warner) knows the score: the culprits are vampire bats, and he's the man to take care of the problem. Apparently eradicating this species is his life's work (one would think that animal rights activists would take exception to such a pursuit), because he believes that they embody evil. Yeah, I know, pretty thin for a motivation. Making life difficult for Duran is local mover and shaker Walker Chee (Stephen Macht), a man who's made it *his* mission to acclimate himself to the white man's world, and who's giving an assist to a mining company.Overall, this isn't bad, even if lacking in style. It's fundamentally a decent story that's capably told. Mancuso is engaging in the lead, and Warner delivers his lines with total conviction, no matter how silly his character may be; the film benefits from his presence. The lovely Kathryn Harrold is appealing as Youngman's white love interest Anne Dillon, George Clutesi (who was in another Indian themed horror film from the same year, "Prophecy") is memorable in the small part of old priest Abner, and the great Strother Martin, in one of his final film roles, is a joy to watch as always as the bigoted trading post operator Selwyn. Among the supporting cast are character players Ben Piazza, Donald Hotton, Charles Hallahan, Alice Hirson, and Pat Corley."Nightwing" is definitely worth a look for the curious.Seven out of 10.

Vomitron_G How many movies about killer bats do you know of that are actually any good? With "Nightwing" I believe I may have stumbled upon one that's actually a bit better than the generic "Bats" (1999), one I deemed to be the best (as in: all others were worse) I've seen so far. Mixing Indian mysticism & science clashing with economical progress in a creature feature about the 'desmodus rotundus'; in other words: an unusually large horde of vampire bats out for flesh & blood. While not exactly on par with, let's say "Jaws", it's still a far better film than its measly 4.2/10 would have you believe on here. The acting is a bit of a mixed bunch, but we are presented a variety of pretty likable characters, each serving their purpose to the well-balanced plot. Well-balanced, that is to say: there's not too much killer bat action, actually, but one massive nightly attack on a bunch of campers around the 45 minute-mark stands out as a memorable bloodbath and remains a horrific highlight of the movie. David Warner is excellent as the determined scientist that tracks down vampire bats and kills them (that's pretty much his mission in life, and he takes it very serious). The plot does an admirably effective effort to explain things as well as making the threat of the vampire bats tangible and we're talking a fairly large-scaled production here. Henry Mancini did a nice job on the score and legendary Italian SFX artist Carlo Rambaldi also made a fine contribution in the Visual Effects department. If you're into these type of eco-horror movies from the late '70s, "Nightwing" might make up for a fun double bill with, for instance, "Prophecy" (1979). Or if you're looking for another seventies flick were the desmodus rotundus steals the show, check out "Chosen Survivors" (1974).

Scarecrow-88 "They came just after dark. Thousands of them. They filled the sky."Nick Mancuso stars as a deputy of the Maski Tribal Police, faced with a major crisis along with other tribes in the surrounding territories: migrating vampire bats have a colony hidden in a cave somewhere in one of the desert mountains, thirsty for blood and attacking animals such as horses and sheep. David Warner is a vampire bat specialist who follows the bats, exterminating colonies when he finds them. He'll need Mancuso's assistance (the bats are hidden in a cavern somewhere in Maski Canyon, holy ground for Mancuso's tribe) to find the bats so he can kill them. The bats leave a stench of ammonia on those they kill and are carrying the bubonic plague. Stephen Macht is a vocal leader of another tribe, having brought white man's progress to his people, needing Mancuso to talk the Maski into allowing an oil company to come into their area to drill. This movie isn't just about killer bats on the warpath, but explores the customs, beliefs, and plight of the Native American people within a certain area. I must say that I was divided about this film. While I liked the cast a hell of a lot and thought the idea of centering your story around Native American characters (and an English scientist who hunts vampire bats) was refreshing for a "when animals attack" creature feature. That said, I found the bats themselves primarily campy looking and the movie is a bit overlong (there's a solid 80 minute movie here stretched out twenty more minutes). The attack sequence where Christians are swarmed and bled is less horrifying as it is unintentionally funny because the bats look so fake. The performances, however, for the most part, make up for many of this film's deficiencies. I did kind of roll my eyes, truth be told, at the end when Mancuso begins to see "ghost Maski" led by Abner, even communicating to him as the dead spiritual leader stands on an old Native American city inside a cavern where the bats rest during the day. Mancuso talking to Abner about "closing the circle" and keeping him from killing everybody so that the Maski people can rise anew like a Phoenix from the fire. Kathryn Harrold (The Sender), as usual, is really good as Mancuso's white love interest, a doctor who plans to attend college at Baylor University so she can gather greater knowledge and return with a better understanding on how to help the Native American people. Warner is a quality addition (no surprise) to the film, a more practical, logical man within an environment of superstition and customs he must contend with, his vampire bat hunter equipped with technological means and the expertise to catch and kill those bloodthirsty vermin. Macht, as a Native American with designs on cashing in on oil so that "his people can have clinics and schools", appropriately casts doubt on his real motivations for securing the trust of the Maski tribe. Strother Martin steals his scenes (was there any doubt?) as an old missionary-turned-store owner who married an "Indian woman" and spawned a daughter he begs Mancuso often to marry (Strother has primarily two scenes, one where he speaks disappointingly to Christian tourists about how the Indians hate him, with a wad of chew in his mouth). Martin does seem to believe in many of the beliefs from the Maski tribe, evident with how reluctant and worried he is to follow Mancuso onto Holy Ground where Abner was buried. The New Mexico locations will take your breath away and really add a lot to the film. I can't say that "Nightwing" is anything that great, but worth a watch for the cast and setting. As a creature feature, however, not that special.

zmaturin "Nightwing" is two movies crammed together into one. Or story begins at an Indian Reservation where two factions are butting heads over the future of the tribe. One set of characters wants to preserve the ancient rituals and religion of the community, while others want to build new schools and hospitals to bring the tribe up to date with the rest of the country (One thing all the characters have in common, though, is their terrible haircuts). The controversy is centered over a mine where oil has been discovered- should they allow the oil to be tapped to provide precious funds to the struggling Native Americans, or should it lay undisturbed, as it holds some sort of relevance to the Indian priests in the area?All this seems to be fodder for a satisfying drama, but suddenly Englishman David Warner shows up and warns everybody of a vampire bat invasion (Although Warner is a stranger to the vicinity, he can relate to it's people because he too has a terrible haircut. Warner would go on to sport even worse hair in "Quest of the Delta Knights"). So now we've got a standard nature-gone-wild thriller in the middle of our technology-vs.-tradition drama. The two stories are tied together thusly: Apparently an old Indian mystic named Uncle Abner has summoned the bats to stop the oil drilling. Actually, he claims his plan is to kill everyone in the world, but he might a little overzealous. What do you expect of a mystic named Uncle Abner?Anyway, the bats go around infecting people with Bubonic Plague, and we're treated to some hilarious bat attack scenes. One stand-out sequence has the bats attacking some goofy campers. One nerdy guy panics and locks himself in his van. Another panicky nerd climbs under the van for safety just as nerd # 1 starts to drive away- splat! David Warner eventually locates the bats in scenes that were later copied frame-for-frame by the Lou Diamond Phillips' stinker "Bats". It turns out that their hideout is in the same cave where the oil is- D'oh! David's plan is to kill them with cyanide gas, but he fumbles around, drops it in the oil, and ends up hanging from a rope for a couple of hours, so the beefy sheriff with the worst hair cut of all saves the day by lighting the oil on fire. This kills the bats and also somehow renders the oil source unusable for the developers, which begs the question: Why didn't Uncle Abner just light it on fire himself instead of going through the trouble of summoning killer bats?The movie ends with the mountain looking like an L. Ron Hubbard book cover and the initial conflict isn't really resolved, so I envision a sequel in which the ambitious Native American's build a casino which is invaded by vampire prairie dogs.