Few modern storytellers make vampires scary in the way Stephen King does. His vampires aren’t seductive killers luring prey to their doom or eternal life. These creatures are plague bringers, infecting everywhere they go with darkness. Creatures that hide on the fringes of society to avoid detection. Vampires in King’s stories are monsters at their purest. If any adaptation captures these ideas best, it’s the adaptation of the short story The Night Flier.
Art by Chris SchweizerThe premise of the film is simple. A vampire going by the pseudonym Dwight Renfield travels to tiny airfields in his personal aircraft making a meal at each stop. The plane is a black Cessna Skymaster, an aircraft that even at the time of the film’s release was an antique. Anyone who encounters either the plane or its pilot either dies or has vague memories of the encounter. Naturally, the only people tracking this murder spree are reporters for a Weekly World News-like tabloid.
If that last line doesn’t clue you in, this is a film very much of its time. The Night Flier treats the monster at the center like an urban legend waiting to be debunked. That take is in line with 90s cultural touchstone The X-Files while the low budget production makes it the feel like an overlong Tales from the Crypt episode. It was the perfect film to catch late night on cable in the late 90s or early 00s.
The Night Flier is a monster movie made to be a well-crafted monster movie which feels downright refreshing. Renfield might be one of the nastiest vampires ever put on film and he gets an incredible introduction late in the film. He looks like something that only exists on the fringes. That said, choosing to dress him like Bela Lugosi is a choice. The image of a black plane traveling from tiny airport to tiny airport transforms the vampire becoming a bat flying to each kill into an entirely modern visual which only makes it scarier.
Though what really makes The Night Flier special and worth watching is that it’s a rare leading performance for actor Miguel Ferrer. The late actor always brought a cynical edge to his performances in supporting roles and in reporter Richard Dees, he put that front and center. This isn’t an admirable character and Ferrer to his credit doesn’t bother making him sympathetic. This is someone who fakes a facade of cool even as it becomes clear he is out of his depth.
That’s the beauty of The Night Flier though. Being a smaller film allows it the leeway that a larger film doesn’t. It can get away with casting someone like Ferrer because he’s a skilled enough actor that can carry this film. The limited budget means that antagonist Dwight Renfield gets introduced late in the film which makes his appearance only more impactful. By turning an urban legend into modern nightmare, The Night Flier certainly ranks among the best King adaptations.
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English (US) · 