Films like this fill me with hope for straight-to-video flicks. For hours I'll sit through endless trash, totally irredeemable and pointless. But occasionally, very occasionally, something interesting will turn up, as is the case with this film. Don't be put off by the fact it's been languishing in the dark for nearly three years before release in the UK, as THE NIGHT FLIER is a highly enjoyable and in some ways, old-fashioned, thriller.
The plot comes across a bit like an episode of THE X-FILES, with a journalist (instead of an FBI agent) interviewing suspects and gradually getting closer and closer to the killer of the story. This isn't cliché land, though, as the 'hero' of the story, played by Miguel Ferrer, is for a change a totally heartless character, out for his story and nothing else. In fact there are no sympathetic people in this film at all, everybody is out for themselves, whether it be for fame, fortune, or just plain food in the vampire's case. A lot of people found Ferrer's performance to be misjudged and criminal, that in a lot of ways he is actually more evil than the vampire he seeks. Ferrer is cynical to the point of hopelessness, walking around with his camera and snapping dead people like a birdwatcher would take pictures of birds. A car accident he coincidentally passes he regards as a "bonus", photographing the sprawled corpses with relish. Although Ferrer seems to be typecast in villainous roles, it's something he does brilliantly.
And I did feel sorry for him too by the time the finale arrived. Okay, so he had been warped by the sickness around him, but he was still human, just at mercy from the own dark side of his soul. Unfortunately, apart from Ferrer's performance, the rest of the acting in the film is of a low standard, with Julie Entwistle supplying a pretty face but little depth. Thankfully Ferrer is on screen for most of the running time (yes, the film focuses on him instead of the vampire, refreshingly). I was glad that this film didn't bother with all the standard talk about vampires being killed with garlic and stakes, in fact the makers knew that the audience would already know what a vampire was so there was little reason to explain.
Okay, so the film does fall foul of some of the conventions of modern horror (i.e. the scenery is littered with bloodied corpses at every opportunity, there's little plot to move things along, it's more like a series of linked scenes), but it overcomes these flaws and turns out to be a nice little gem of a film, offbeat and different enough to appeal to the fan tired of slug-like films, bloated with gore, like WISHMASTER and its sequel. The vampire himself wears an old fashioned cape (I would have sworn it was the one that previously belonged to Lugosi, except he was buried in it) and looks like a decayed version of the guy from SALEM'S LOT. The makeup is very good, and used only briefly to be more shocking (except thanks to advertisers they smeared the image in close up all over the posters and video boxes, ruining the impact. This really annoyed me as the vampire's face was hidden throughout the film, yet the suspense coming from his unknown appearance was ruined by the stupid box designers). The gore level is quite high, especially in the last third, and mainly takes the form of bloodied bodies.
One thing that is brilliant about this film is the twist ending, which I won't spoil, only to say that it's very similar to the ending of ARLINGTON ROAD and just as effective. There's a hallucinogenic moment where Ferrer is forced to drink the vampire's blood and sees the dead coming back to life around him, enshrouded in mist, just like in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; made more effective through the use of black and white. I loved the corpse with flashing eyes saying "can you look this way?", a reflection of what Ferrer had become, a camera and no conscience. THE NIGHT FLIER somewhat bravely breaks the boundaries of the genre, and, although disliked by many, definitely deserves at least one watch. It's also one of those films which has a long-standing appeal and can be enjoyed more than once, because it's not just about special effects.
The plot comes across a bit like an episode of THE X-FILES, with a journalist (instead of an FBI agent) interviewing suspects and gradually getting closer and closer to the killer of the story. This isn't cliché land, though, as the 'hero' of the story, played by Miguel Ferrer, is for a change a totally heartless character, out for his story and nothing else. In fact there are no sympathetic people in this film at all, everybody is out for themselves, whether it be for fame, fortune, or just plain food in the vampire's case. A lot of people found Ferrer's performance to be misjudged and criminal, that in a lot of ways he is actually more evil than the vampire he seeks. Ferrer is cynical to the point of hopelessness, walking around with his camera and snapping dead people like a birdwatcher would take pictures of birds. A car accident he coincidentally passes he regards as a "bonus", photographing the sprawled corpses with relish. Although Ferrer seems to be typecast in villainous roles, it's something he does brilliantly.
And I did feel sorry for him too by the time the finale arrived. Okay, so he had been warped by the sickness around him, but he was still human, just at mercy from the own dark side of his soul. Unfortunately, apart from Ferrer's performance, the rest of the acting in the film is of a low standard, with Julie Entwistle supplying a pretty face but little depth. Thankfully Ferrer is on screen for most of the running time (yes, the film focuses on him instead of the vampire, refreshingly). I was glad that this film didn't bother with all the standard talk about vampires being killed with garlic and stakes, in fact the makers knew that the audience would already know what a vampire was so there was little reason to explain.
Okay, so the film does fall foul of some of the conventions of modern horror (i.e. the scenery is littered with bloodied corpses at every opportunity, there's little plot to move things along, it's more like a series of linked scenes), but it overcomes these flaws and turns out to be a nice little gem of a film, offbeat and different enough to appeal to the fan tired of slug-like films, bloated with gore, like WISHMASTER and its sequel. The vampire himself wears an old fashioned cape (I would have sworn it was the one that previously belonged to Lugosi, except he was buried in it) and looks like a decayed version of the guy from SALEM'S LOT. The makeup is very good, and used only briefly to be more shocking (except thanks to advertisers they smeared the image in close up all over the posters and video boxes, ruining the impact. This really annoyed me as the vampire's face was hidden throughout the film, yet the suspense coming from his unknown appearance was ruined by the stupid box designers). The gore level is quite high, especially in the last third, and mainly takes the form of bloodied bodies.
One thing that is brilliant about this film is the twist ending, which I won't spoil, only to say that it's very similar to the ending of ARLINGTON ROAD and just as effective. There's a hallucinogenic moment where Ferrer is forced to drink the vampire's blood and sees the dead coming back to life around him, enshrouded in mist, just like in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; made more effective through the use of black and white. I loved the corpse with flashing eyes saying "can you look this way?", a reflection of what Ferrer had become, a camera and no conscience. THE NIGHT FLIER somewhat bravely breaks the boundaries of the genre, and, although disliked by many, definitely deserves at least one watch. It's also one of those films which has a long-standing appeal and can be enjoyed more than once, because it's not just about special effects.