Nightwing

Just watched this flick I had never heard of on Tubi - they have such good content! Nightwing from 1979 is way underrated on here -- a 5.1 is too low. I probably would have given it a 6 but I gave it a 7 just because.

Anyway, I love shot on location desert movies -- The Car, The Wraith, Kingdom of the Spiders, Cherry 2000, and now Nightwing! Love the southwest desert for a setting.

Highly recommend! Watch for free on Tubi.

Well, first of all I must say that for a movie from 1979, then "Nightwing" is actually not too shabby, and it still holds up for a viewing here in 2021.

I had the chance to sit down in 2021 to watch the 1979 movie "Nightwing" from writers Steve Shagan, Bud Shrake and Martin Cruz Smith. Sure, I had even heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it. But I've always enjoyed creature features, so of course I sat down to watch "Nightwing" as I was given the opportunity to do so.

And I must say that with the likes of Nick Mancuso, David Warner and Charles Hallahan on the cast list, I believed that I wouldn't be in for something all that bad. And as it turned out, then "Nightwing" was actually an enjoyable movie.

Needless to say that the actors and actresses in the movie definitely put on good performances, and they had some proper material to work with in terms of storyline and well-rounded characters.

The storyline in the movie was well written and brought to life on the screen in a pleasing manner by director Arthur Hiller. And as I mentioned earlier, the movie still holds its ground now, 42 years after it was released. And that, in itself, is a rather extraordinary accomplishment.

While "Nightwing" is listed as a horror movie, I would say that it was more of a thriller than an actual horror movie. There wasn't anything scary about this movie, at least not in the traditional way of horror movies. But it was an interesting story and one that grabs a hold of the audience and brings you on an enjoyable ride.

Visually then of course "Nightwing" is showing clear signs of being 42 years old. But as the movie wasn't really overly reliant on special effects, then the effects in the movie were passable enough to carry the movie for what the effects needed to do. Of course, by comparing it to today's special effects, then "Nightwing" is a relic.

I have to say that I was more than genuinely entertained by "Nightwing", and it proved to be a very enjoyable movie, like they used to make creature feature movies back in the day.

My rating of the 1979 horror movie "Nightwing" lands on a six out of ten stars. Well worth taking the time to sit down to watch this movie, trust me.

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.

In case you were hoping to sit back and enjoy a schlocky, over-the-top and typically 70's "nature gone wild" creature feature (in the same trend as "Frogs", "Squirm", "Grizzly", "Night of the Lepus" or "Day of the Animals"), don't even bother to watch "Nightwing"! Yes, this movie basically handles about killer bats and features one or two virulent animal-attack sequences, but primarily this is more of a talkative and wannabe-ambitious slice of eco-horror full of pro-Indian gibberish and moralistic messages. It's actually very reminiscent to that other 1979 eco-horror flick "Prophecy", and that wasn't any good either. In an enormous and remote New Mexican reservation, traditional Indian Youngman Duran argues non-stop with progressive Indian Walker Chee. For you see, a lot of severely mutilated cattle cadavers have been discovered lately, but Chee denies the obvious infestation of vampire bats because this negatively impacts his business negotiations with a large shale-oil corporation (indeed, the "Jaws" influences are never far away in horror cinema). So instead, Duran teams up with the rather eccentric professional bat-exterminator Philip Payne. Together they attempt to track down the bats' hideout cave as well as the whereabouts of a local beauty that went missing during a Christian camping trip. My movie-buddy warned me that this wasn't going to be a light-headed trash flick, but – alas – I didn't listen. Arthur Hiller's direction is more than competent, but the screenplay adaptation deep dives too much into Indian folklore and tribal rivalries, while it stupidly neglects the creature-feature potential. A terrible shame, since the nauseating bat critters, partially from the hand of Carlo Rambaldi ("Alien", "Deep Red"), come across as rather menacing when shown in close-up. "Nightwing" isn't at all worthless and features two memorable elements: a grisly attack on a group of campers sitting around a campfire and the performance of David Warner as the skeptical bat hunter. His long speeches about how vampire bats are the embodiment of evil and how this species contribute absolutely nothing to the functioning of the environment are the undeniable highlights of the movie. He sure hates the bats with a passion!

A group of vampire bats descend upon two Indian reservations that stand as the ground for a feud between honest Deputy Duran (Nick Mancuso) and money hungry Walker (Stephen Macht). Also cruising around the desert is Phillip Rayne (David Warner), a guy who hunts vampire bats. What the heck is going on with this film? What should have been a straightforward "JAWS with wings" gets turned into a bizarre commentary on Indian mysticism, politics and environmentalism. But PROPHECY (1980) this ain't. Anyway, I dig someone trying to do something original and all this would be fine if the film wasn't so boring. The few moments there are bat attacks are so poorly handled by director Arthur Hiller, that you can only dream of how someone with a sense of suspense could have pulled them off. All of the actors are fine, but their motivations are paper thin. "I kill them because they are evil," is how Warner justifies his ridiculous supporting turn as the vampire bat hunter with a state-of- the-art van and no means for financing. On the plus side, there are some stunning locations in New Mexico and a great score by Henry Mancini.