The Night Flier has always been one of those DVD covers that has fascinated me.
Admittedly, I was a little wary of Stephen King adaptations as I’ve sat through the second adaptation of Salem’s Lot, The Tommyknockers and Thinner.
The Night Flier, written and directed by Mark Pavia, and lifted from the excellent anthology Night Shift, is definitely a cut above the aforementioned adaptations.
One of the main reasons why it works is the fact it teases its monsters for a large part of the film, and when Pavia does reveal Dwight Renfield, it’s worth the wait.
Utilising the skills of the maestros from KNB FX, The Night Flier is a gory affair with our vamp at one point actually biting the throat out of one of its victims. The special FX are glorious and Renfield’s look makes him instantly stand out from your standard vamp.
King and Pavia, by association, went out of their way to do something different with the vampire lore, and here he murders by night and then flies off to another town or city to wreak havoc elsewhere plus avoid capture.
Interestingly, we have Miguel Ferrer portraying the deliberately unlikeable Richard Dees, a burnt-out newspaper photographer, who takes on the task of investigating the Night Flier murders.
His editor Merton, portrayed with delightful glee by Dan Monohan, who many will recognise as Pee Wee from the Porky’s franchise, also hires up-and-coming reporter Katherine to try and get the scoop first.
Pavia revealed on the Shockwaves Podcast, leading up to the release of another underrated horror Fender Bender (2016), that he and King shipped around an idea for a sequel to The Night Flier, but due to its critical and box office failure, this sadly never materialised.
Given the rise of streaming, could now be the right time for a sequel or a reboot of The Night Flier?
If you, like me, have slept on The Night Flier, now is the perfect time to check it out.
Bloody Flicks 