Nightwing is the title of an 'ecological thriller' written by Martin Cruz Smith, detailing an outbreak of vampire bats at an Indian Reservation in New Mexico. I hated that book; found it dry, boring and with characters I didn't care about. NIGHTWING the film improves on the book a little, but only a little: it's saved by a couple of okayish performances and some fun, cheesy scenes, but for the most part plays out the proceedings with a wearying po-faced seriousness. The one thing that NIGHTWING has in its favour is the setting, an Native American reservation in the middle of the New Mexico desert. At least the locale, and the inevitable political strife, has a different look and flavour than is usual for a monster B-movie. It's a shame, then, that the script is so darned pedantic, explaining every little detail and throwing in unwanted romantic sub-plots so that we're half asleep by the time the first bat attack comes.
It's a shame, because that attack is a lot of fun – almost as fun as the fiery climax, in which David Warner is strung up on a rope and Native American hero Nick Mancuso goes crazy after chewing on some mystical root. These scenes have vitality and tension, which isn't spoiled by the crudity of the special effects – the bats here are a mixture of stock footage, silly rubber puppets (looking virtually the same as the ones in SCARS OF Dracula) and hand-drawn effects. Still, the inclusion of Warner is a welcome delight and he looks to be having a ball with his role here. I'm not sure how plausible Nick Mancuso is as a Native American, and I was put off by his dodgy wig for the most part; he's less annoying than Kathryn Harrold, though, who starts off as a feisty sidekick and before long becomes stupid-woman-in-peril.
Some good moments, such as the one where a corpse starts bleeding or another where our heroes are separated from violent death by a flimsy chain-link fence, make NIGHTWING better than it has any right to be. I still don't think it's a very good film, as it's pretty boring, but you COULD do a lot worse...
It's a shame, because that attack is a lot of fun – almost as fun as the fiery climax, in which David Warner is strung up on a rope and Native American hero Nick Mancuso goes crazy after chewing on some mystical root. These scenes have vitality and tension, which isn't spoiled by the crudity of the special effects – the bats here are a mixture of stock footage, silly rubber puppets (looking virtually the same as the ones in SCARS OF Dracula) and hand-drawn effects. Still, the inclusion of Warner is a welcome delight and he looks to be having a ball with his role here. I'm not sure how plausible Nick Mancuso is as a Native American, and I was put off by his dodgy wig for the most part; he's less annoying than Kathryn Harrold, though, who starts off as a feisty sidekick and before long becomes stupid-woman-in-peril.
Some good moments, such as the one where a corpse starts bleeding or another where our heroes are separated from violent death by a flimsy chain-link fence, make NIGHTWING better than it has any right to be. I still don't think it's a very good film, as it's pretty boring, but you COULD do a lot worse...