A colony of plague-carrying vampire bats are causing havoc on a Native American reservation in New Mexico, first attacking farm animals and then people. It's up to deputy Youngman Duran (Nick Mancuso), his girlfriend Anne (Kathryn Harrold), and vampire bat exterminator Phillip Payne (David Warner) to try and locate the bats' roost and destroy the flying terrors.
When the vampires are attacking, Nightwing is a blast, E. T.'s special effects man Carlo Rambaldi providing bat props for the occasion (not always convincing but a lot of fun). The big problem with the film is that too much time is spent on clichéd Native American superstition and the unscrupulous industrialists who seek to desecrate the land for money; the mystical mumbo jumbo and trite ecological sub-plot cause the film to stagnate at times and add immensely to the runtime. Had much of the tribal folklore and religion been removed from the film, we would have had a much leaner and more entertaining creature feature.
As it is, Nightwing is a sporadically enjoyable movie, with the ever-reliable Warner providing the undeniable highlights: his character's diatribes about how vampire bats are evil and need to be eradicated are great.
When the vampires are attacking, Nightwing is a blast, E. T.'s special effects man Carlo Rambaldi providing bat props for the occasion (not always convincing but a lot of fun). The big problem with the film is that too much time is spent on clichéd Native American superstition and the unscrupulous industrialists who seek to desecrate the land for money; the mystical mumbo jumbo and trite ecological sub-plot cause the film to stagnate at times and add immensely to the runtime. Had much of the tribal folklore and religion been removed from the film, we would have had a much leaner and more entertaining creature feature.
As it is, Nightwing is a sporadically enjoyable movie, with the ever-reliable Warner providing the undeniable highlights: his character's diatribes about how vampire bats are evil and need to be eradicated are great.