Nightflyers

As far as low-budget, sci-fi horror goes, Nightflyers is definitely above the fray. I can't say enough about Catherine Mary Stewarts character: beautiful, courageous, mysterious and intelligent. Her performance also lists as a cut above the average. Sure there are deficiencies in the script; but I thought that Nightflyers was an ambitious little entry into the sci-fi film market and definitely worth the effort. I am anxiously awaiting a potential DVD release.

For what it is worth I can watch this movie, and at least not be bored. I saw this one on the sci-fi channel and it had its moments and it is a lot better than the stuff they play on that channel these days. You know the stuff, the stupid computer animated sea creature that attacks and someone like Dean Cain must stop it. This one is sort of a horror version of 2001, not that I am comparing the two, but both feature crazed computers. I think this one is based on a book also, but I have never read it so I can't really say if it follows along with the book for the most part or that it makes drastic changes. This movie has this group chartering a spaceship to find something or other, I can't remember what. The ship is run by this guy who seems to have been in space his whole life so he doesn't take to gravity real well. The computer is like his mother or something and it fears that this group is going to take the son away and so it starts a killing spree. I saw a preview of this and the preview made it look a lot scarier than what I saw. On the other hand it did provide a nice distraction for a while and a few interesting kills as well.

Having recently revisited George RR Martin's haunting and intelligent novella NIghtflyers in his anthology Dreamsongs, I decided to finally put in the effort to find a copy of this mostly unknown film adaptation. I didn't even have to read the few reviews out there to know it most likely was not going to be fantastic; the fact that it has never been released on DVD combined with the author's warning about the quality of this film was enough of a hint towards what to expect. Still, I went in with a open mind and hoped to enjoy a probably mediocre rendition of a great novella. And there were good parts to it; that classic atmosphere of loneliness that only 80's sci-fi seems have to it, aided by a enjoyably camp and moody synthesizer score. And the very few scenes that used dialog lifted straight from George's novel got across a tiny bit of the engrossing story and character of the novella. Other than that, the story and characters get mostly butchered, sad to say. The story becomes both extremely simplified and extremely convoluted, and the strange editing doesn't help. A staggered set-up quickly dissolves from intro into a prolonged climax that takes up the time that could have been used for a proper second act, destroying the chance for any real character to develop. And the films ending itself is perhaps the greatest disservice to the novella it was based on, being mostly non-sensical and maintaining only the smallest resemblance to the original story. So yes, not a great movie by any stretch, not even a good movie. And certainly not a good adaptation. But still, I'm glad I saw it.

Seeing Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince in a space suit made it all worthwhile.

When I enter Nightflyers as my keyword in Google, all I get is references to this movie. That's a shame, since the George R. R. Martin novel, novella, whatever, is a wonderful, intriguing, scary, intelligent mystery story, whereas the movie is the palest ghost of the book's greatness. Martin's book predated Alien by about five years, and I wonder if Ron Shusett or Dan O'Bannon might have gotten some inspiration from it.

The movie is a typical '80s gore-fest, complete with misty, foggy sets, ridiculous dialogue and caricatures, and an explosive climax that totally ruins of the book's thoughtful ending. I like the actors who play Royd Eris and Professor D'Branin, and I admit I enjoyed Michael Des Barres's performance as the whacked-out telepath. But most of the acting was subpar. I thought Catherine Mary Stewart did what she could, but the script stripped away all the complexity of her character, who was much more richly drawn in the book. The movie also completely misses the book's subtle sense of humor. The book is closer in tone to John Carpenter's movie Dark Star, plus a great sense of mystery and spookiness. The movie spills the beans on Royd's backstory far too early and off-handedly, as opposed to the book's climactic revelation.

So don't let this movie turn you off of Nightflyers -- read the book. By all means, read it!

The silly, uninteresting story (a computer that has the mind of a mother with a fixation on her son?) and the annoying overacting of some of the players are the two most important - but not the only - problems with this very, very minor sci-fi flick. However, the effects are good for what they probably cost, and Catherine Mary Stewart shows indications of being a strong female lead - she deserves a better movie. (*1/2)