Customer Reviews

Nightwing [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nightwing has to be the best Horror/Adventure film I have ever seen. The main star is an Indian reservation law enforcement officer, Deputy Duran. His job and life around the desert reservation was always boring and uneventfull until people start dying from a particular cause in the form of both bites and plague. The old man, Abner, who was kind of like a godfather to Duran, has babbled about an ancient Indian curse that was to end the world. When he is killed by the very thing that he told about and many others keep dying, Duran has to spring in to action with the assistance of a strange British scientist who has dedicated his life to the extermination of the problem, Vampire Bats! This is an extremely exciting movie which also carries valuable information about the nature of beliefs and customs of the desert indian tribes. I would recommend this movie to anyone who can appreciate a true classic!

The meaning of the title of this 1979 film becomes clear when we learn that an Indian reservation in New Mexico has been invaded by vampire bats. This situation is complicated by the fact that, in the best tradition of rampant stereotypes, there is oil underneath the tribe's sacred burial grounds and a soulless oil company is out to get it no matter what. The oil is actually in a cave, which is how we work the bats into the story, because companies drilling for oil rarely hit bats. Standing in the way of progress, besides all those bat puppets, is Youngman Duran (Nick Mancuso), a reservation cop, who is basically the only person in the film with both brains and ethics. David Warner is Phillip Payne, the bat expert who shows up to provide the characters and the audience with any and all necessary exposition until the climax, when he comes up with a plan for saving the day because these might be vampire bats, but instead of sucking blood they are spreading Bubonic plague.

Based on the novel by Martin Cruz Smith, the script by Steve Shagan and Bud Shrake is fairly faithful to the original story and wants to evince political consciousness, but resorts to stand Hollywood conceptions about what life is like on the reservation, which is most painful when it portrays the debate between those who want to preserve tradition and those who want to build modern things like hospitals. I remember when "Nightwing" was being filmed in New Mexico, mostly up around Laguna Pueblo and the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Flavio Martinez, a kid I went to high school with, and who played the part in a forgettable Disney movie that has never been released on video, had a bit part in this film as Isla Laloma. Directed by Arthur Hiller, "Nightwing" also features Kathryn Harrold as the pretty woman who has to be rescued from the bats, Staphen Macht as the Indian who argues for progress, and Strother Martin as a crazy old coot. However, overall the locations are a lot better than the acting or the special effects.

One of the ways "Nightwing" harkens back to the good old days of horror movies, besides the rubber bats, is the way they promoted this film. Consider all the taglines this film had: "In the dead of night they come - Swift - Silent - Savage," "The day belongs to man. The night is theirs," and "What do you fear most - the dark - or something that waits in the dark," all have this inherent ambiguity that could be referring to the Indians as well as the bats. But then "The bats of hell let loose upon the earth" pretty much gives the game away. But it always a bad sign when the taglines are better than the movie. I was going to say that somebody somebody was going to use computers to make a really good horde of monster bats movie, but Louis Morneau tried to do that in the 1999 film "Bats" and it is on the AFI's list of "Bottom 100" movies. "Nightwing" is slightly better, due almost entirely to Warner's performance, which remains the film's only redeeming quality beyond Kathryn Harrold's looks.

This is a dvd-on-demand from Sony, and they did a good job on the transfer. The image is colorful and clear (no 'washout'),looking better than it probably ever will (I noticed very little if any dirts or scratches), especially during the evening and morning shots out in the desert (e.g. Canyon de Chelly). Since this is a bare-bones release, there isn't even a scene selection option, though there is a good trailer (not the 1979 teaser but a lengthier trailer). The sound is a good balance of the melancholy Henry Mancini score, voices and some shrill sound effects in all your TV speakers during the bat attack scenes. It is a shame that they didn't get the running commentary by star Nick Mancuso and producer Martin Ransahoff (which is available for listening on the Internet), but I'm thankful to Sony/Columbia Pictures for finally making this available, and it's probably not going to get any better than this unless it happens to find its way to Blu-Ray. If you're a fan of this film, then get it while you can.

FIVE STARS. One of my favorite Horror/SciFi movies. A sensational low budget movie that begins with a farming problem facing an indian reservation that quickly becomes the basis for a great, unpretentious horror movie, without all of the CGI and 'wire-kung fu' nonsense that predominates most SciFi. It stays on target with no diversions. The plot really hangs together well and the story is similar to "Alien" where the characters are so excellently drawn by the script and the actors, that the dangerous circumstances really mean something to the audience when the characters are threatened. With terrific performances by Nick Mancuso as Deputy Youngman Duran, Kathryn Harrold as the love interest, Strother Martin in a hoot of a role, Stephen Macht, portraying Walker Chee, as good as he's ever been, and David Warner in a totally arresting and surprising role, director Arthur Hiller gets a ton of mileage from the cast. When nature, science, love, greed, and Native American folklore and religion collide things really get out of hand fast, with Duran in the middle of things. George Clutesi deserves special mention for his portrayal of Abner, a central character who is Mancuso's native American spiritual guide. The sound track has mesmerized me since 1979 when the movie came out: totally nailed by Henry Mancini (and sitting on my 'best of the best' cassette tape). The opening sequence is beautifully photographed especially if you love the desert southwest as I do.

If you haven't read the other reviews yet, stop now and see the movie. Hopefully, you haven't read the spoilers. Let the movie take you on the journey. I think you'll enjoy it, if horror and SciFi are your main interest. Pop some popcorn, grab some sodas and enjoy this delightful romp!! I watch the tape often and have ordered the DVD for a permanent keeper. Five Stars.

Mysterious and exciting to the end! The final scenes are nail-biting! I would recommend this movie to just about anyone.

So how much more cheesy can a flick get? Watch this one and you will truly see what it is that Cheese fans love about this movie. A fave of ours from our childhood, this one was a must have for our library. If you like your special effects just shy of seeing the fishing wire, the actors cut from the same mold as a hundred other B range hammers, then this movie is for you. Theres plague, nature as purposefully evil and filthy dirty greedy land grabbers. Grab a bowl of popcorn, the hunny of your choice and a cold glass of sugary goodness, this is a great ride and a keeper for any dvd collection.

There is no menu or chapter selection option on this DVD...only the movie. But this is the only DVD printing of this movie, so beggars can't be choosers. Video quality isn't perfect but better than VHS. Audio quality is also not great but better than VHS.

Not just horror- Enviromental Horror!!!
While it's an older movie, it's theme is
surprisingly current. Both with the oil
issues and the ending of the fourth
world.
And somehow those cheesy old special
effects are scarier than the over done-
"missing a story" computer graphics we
use today.
Nice coiff Nick! Tee hee:)!!

I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO ALL LOVERS OF SUSPENSE AND HORROR!
WHEN IS IT COMING OUT ON DVD? I LOOK FORWARD TO ADDING IT TO MY COLLECTION. THE NATIVE AMERICAN TOUCH IS WONDERFUL, LENDING A NEW PERSPECTIVE TO A POPULAR GENRE. SUPERB ACTING BY NIC MANCUSO, AND DAVID WARNER, TO NAME JUST TWO, COUPLED WITH THE MARVELLOUS PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK, MAKES THIS FILM A WINNER! SO...IF YOU LIKE A DARNED GOOD THRILLER/HORROR WITH A BIT OF ROMANCE THROWN IN FOR GOOD LUCK; GET YOUR FANGS SUNK INTO THIS YOU'LL LOVE IT !!! AND, LIKE ME, WILL WANT TO ADD IT TO YOUR OWN COLLECTION!!

When I was a young boy,my brother and I went to movie house to see this. It was ok , especially for movies at that time. It was suppose to be scary but really wasn't. It's still an OK movie to watch, just a little slow starting out.