Simply A Masterpiece

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Inside View is a tabloid all about blood, gore and Fortean stories that is mentioned in several Stephen King stories, like Desperation, Insomnia, The Waste Land, Bag of Bones, Needful Things and Doctor Sleep. In The Night Flier, cynical reporter Richard Dees (the superb and sadly deceased Miguel Ferrer) is the senior reporter for that rag, on the hunt for the titular killer.The Night Flier is a serial killer who uses a Cessna Skymaster to travel to small airports, where he kills people as if he were a vampire. A pilot himself, Dees follows him to Wilmington International Airport, where in the midst of a violent storm he learns that he's really after a vampire.This is no modern vampire. It's a horrifying creature that looks more beast than man. When he comes to face to face with the monster, it destroys his evidence and leaves him at the crime scene where he's killed by the police.Reporting on it all is Dees' would-be apprentice/rival, Katherine Blair. He abuses her with his language, telling her his rules of reporting and continually judges her. She survives to report on his death, which becomes the front cover of the newest edition of "Inside View."The Night Flier movie is the nexus for several King stories and is packed with references. In a scene where Katherine looks at some of Richard's most famous headlines, they all refer to past King tales: "Kiddie Cultists in Kansas Worship Creepy Voodoo God!" is Children of the Corn, "Satanic Shopkeeper Sells Gory Goodies!" is Needful Things, "Naked Demons Levelled My Lawn" is The Lawnmower Man and "The Ultimate Killer Diet! Gypsy Curse Flays Fat Lawyer's Flesh" is Thinner.The character of Dees also appears in the book version of The Dead Zone, as he attempts to interview protagonist Johnny Smith for Inside View. Additionally, the vampire in the tale "Popsy" is also the same one from this story.The Night Flier depends on Ferrer's performance, which he aptly delivers. It's an interesting film and one worthy of watching.

What is with people and needing to see everything? YouTube and magazines are stuffed with footage of real murder, real torture; and what's the attraction? Well… just to see terrible things and absorb the horror, which is messed up, and it doesn't take a genius to know that. The Night Flier certainly does.Miguel Ferrer plays Robert Dees, a reporter from Inside Scoop, a magazine devoted to only the most morbid of news. He does it because it's a job, and like the rest of the world he gets a kick from the morbidity and he loves the blood, but he never, never, strictly never—in fear of the news perverting him—becomes personally involved, which of course gets challenged as his latest case absorbs him. Some wacko keeps flying his plane from airport to airport every night and mutilating people.Before I even start with the hell this movie unleashed on me, I want to first mention the man behind it: Mark Pavia. This is his first major film, and he handles it as though he's directed hundreds. The pacing is perfect. Not once did I feel rushed into something or like he cut my enjoyment short, nor did anything drag for too long. And where Pavia really shines is in his uncanny ability in his frames to tease, showing so much of what we long to see, and then just barely covering it. It's like when I get a very specifically shaped gift and think I know what's inside, but never feel satisfied because the wrapper holds me one step a way from resolution.And now, here is my evening spent with The Night Flier: first I scolded Inside Scoop and its workers for their exploitation entertainment, just as the film wanted me to, emphasizing and emphasizing how little the reporters cared about the victims. However, as the film progressed, my curiosity grew against my will about this killer… just as the reporter's did… just as the magazine's readers' did… just as the film wanted me to. And then Robert reports back about how mangled he found the victims, his boss responding, "This is great sh*t. The fatties in the supermarket line are gonna love this guy. God, I hope he kills more people," and I realized, "Oh no! I'm one of those fatties!"That's right: The Night Flier makes you feel like a terrible person. Isn't that fun? Sure, Robert has his conflicts throughout the movie, but pretty soon I found myself not caring about him, because the conflict was in myself. For Robert, the stakes are low: if he leaves the case alone he won't have a story, and he loses a bit of pride for adhering to the killer's demands and staying away (something that could actually help him). For Katherine, the other investigator, the stakes are much higher, because she actually cares about exposing crime and making a difference in the world. She strives towards an ethical goal, and so her failure means she has failed her morality—a much more devastating stake than Robert's. And so what does The Night Flier do? Well, it teases us with Katherine as a could-have-been protagonist, then follows Robert instead, rubbing in our face we don't need Katherine and her high stakes to keep watching; we only need promise of a terrifying end. We care about Robert, but only as a tool to find the information and lead us to the action (just as we want actual reporters to do).When The Night Flier, as if it hadn't teased us enough, finally gets to the action and the killer (who looks awesome, by the way!!) it then does something really mean: makes us care about Robert. It still reports the horror, but for the first time pities the victim, and thus really makes us feel bad. And the film ends on a very personal and sad note.The Night Flier is a really smart film, showing a deep understanding of its interaction not with itself, but with the audience. It sadly does not go without flaws (the competition between Robert and Katherine becomes an unnecessary bore after awhile), but The Night Flier is a film aware of its every action, masterful with spectacle, and a letter to horror drenched with love… and also a lot of guilt.

For something based on a Stephen King short story, that looks and sounds like an overly long episode of "Tales from the Darkside", has shockingly little sex and violence, and features a villain who is laugh out loud ludicrous if you think about it, The Night Flier is a stunningly good piece of work. It is honestly creepy, bluntly engrossing and steam powered by a great character and an equally accomplished performance. This is one of those movies where you're waiting for it to suck and instead, it keeps getting better.If I told you this film was about a tabloid reporter chasing after a vampire who wears a full-on Dracula outfit, complete with cape, and pilots a tiny, prop-engine plane from small town airport to small town airport, feasting on the middle-aged and elderly…admit it. That sounds like the premise of a horror parody, doesn't it? I mean, a real vampire who dresses like a Bela Lugosi impersonator? And he doesn't fly by turning into a bat, but by strapping himself into the cockpit of something that looks like a pair of wings got slapped onto a VW hippie van? And he sucks the blood, not from nubile lasses but from members of AARP? Does that sound scary to you?And yet, The Night Flier is one of the more genuinely entertaining horror films I've ever seen. Largely, that's due to the central character of Richard Dees and the snarling integrity Miguel Ferrer gives him. Dees is a veteran reporter for the sort of tabloid rag that wallows in blood, scandal and outrage of all kind. He is also one of the most unrelenting pricks in the history of cinema and Ferrer fills Dees to bursting with insolent, impotent distemper. He has nothing but contempt for all the other people of the world and their delicate sensitivities. Dees is such a thorough-going bastard and Ferrer is so unflinching in his portrayal that the character blasts through any viewer enmity and becomes an admirable figure. You wouldn't want to be sitting next to a son of a bitch like Dees in a bar, but he's exactly the sort of man you want trying to uncover difficult and ugly truths. And whether Dees is jousting with his wickedly jaded editor (Dan Monahan) and a perky female reporter (Julie Entwisle) or slowing unraveling the mystery of The Night Flier, you can't take your eyes off him.If you're looking for non-stop gore, flesh being shredded and disgusting perversion, you'll not find it here. The language is R-rated but the violence is no worse than what can be seen on most network TV cop procedural shows. The emphasis is on suspense and the smoldering anger of Richard Dees. The plot is also pretty simple, with Dees following in the footsteps of The Night Flier until he finally catches up to him. Like I mentioned, this resembles nothing so much as a good, 97 minute long episode of "Tales from the Darkside", right up to the little twist at the end.This is a horror movie made by people who refuse to accept that the genre is only meant to appeal to unthinking teens and nihilistic freaks. They believe horror is for everyone and can engage them on more than the visceral level. It's a stark reminder of how messed up, degenerate and decadent horror films have become. So, The Night Flier isn't just a good movie. It has socially redeeming value, in addition to a buck-toothed blood sucker. What more can you ask for?

I have to say one of my choices as a horror sleeper from the 90's is this little creepy grisly effort from director Mark Pavia, based on a Stephen King story, regarding a narcissistic, manipulative, and ultimately vicious tabloid reporter who'll stoop to the lowest level to keep his story on the front page, meeting his match when he begins tailing a vampire killer flying a black Cessna plane who hypnotizes victims around plane air strips throughout Northeastern United States, the rural routes of small town America. At the bottom of his plane is maggot-filled earth, and inside, smeared throughout the controls is dried blood, collected over the his time of mutilation and death. Julie Entwisle, just a bubbly, high-spirited cutie presented as the perfect little fish to be devoured by Miguel Ferrer's cunning shark, tries to forge her way into the tabloid's upper tier, starting from the bottom with a key ability to get forms of information difficult to reach for the paper's top piranha. Anyway, we see as he flies in his own plane from destination to destination, Ferrer's Richard Dees working through the first murder sites, gathering bits and pieces from whatever he can find, through testimony and bribing coroners for photos of mutilated victims. We also get a chance to see his ways of flamboyant journalism by disturbing a victim's grave, adding ugly dead flowers and his own blood(..while even stooping so low as to move the gravestone)..everything is for getting the top story printed with extra spice.I think the idea of the main character being a real slimeball could hurt the film for many because it's much easier to cast a likable hero who we feel sympathy for as he/she pursues the killer leaving a graphic trail of gruesome murders, with throats ripped open so badly that the head is pulled apart from the neck displaying bloody flesh. There's even one scene where the head is ripped completely from the body, placed in an appropriate area as to show those who investigate that the vampire can operate without restraint almost teasing the authorities to catch him. The opening kill shows long gashes down a male victim's face..good, gory carnage is left in this vampire's wake. The closing sequence is one that receives mixed reaction. I've read from some who love it, believing it's the most effective portion of the movie, while others believe it's the most harmful. I particularly love the scene where we have Dees, after finally becoming sickened by the airport lobby slaughter by the vampire, watching from the mirror as the invisible count takes a leak, with the urine being blood red..haha, nice touch. The B&W portion where Dees confronts victims, dressed as vampires, as the count allows him to see what it's like from the other side, I thought was a nifty little moment of nightmarish power. I think we have been spoiled rotten by DVD special features, given access into the movie-making behind-the-scenes effects process. For some, the practical effects of gore, displaying the killer's grisly methods, will receive less of an impact, but I enjoyed them even though I know how they are brought to life(..I think for some, the nasty open wounds from the vampire's finger nails look less effective, and we can understand how they were created).I think the casting of Ferrer is ideal just because of the type of character he portrays. He indeed has a taste for bloody carnage and the vampire, through the final climactic sequence, first seeing the wake of violence of an entire group of people awaiting a trip to some unknown destination, and the B@W vision through a taste of the killer's blood, gives him an opportunity to experience just that. The audience does get what they crave, this bastard's comeuppance. He wanted that front page and gets it, but this time, Entwisle's young reporter(..who gets shafted by Dees)benefits. It's a fitting conclusion, I think, which speaks volumes for why this film must have an anti-hero as the main protagonist. I like how the film presents Dees, the backstories of those with stories to tell of past victims to him, the sleazy process of how he operates, and the way Dees falls to the one warning him to stay away. I loved the ending with how Dees, who basks in exploiting whatever works to bring him success, becomes the victim.