Nightwing Reviews

What do you get when you cross THE BIRDS with JAWS, adding just a touch of WILLARD? The influence of all three is obvious in this boring effort in which a group of rabid bats goes on the rampage on a New Mexico Indian reservation. Payne (David Warner) is the aptly named, surly, wisecracking scientist who's tracking the flying rodents in an effort to avenge the death of his father, who was eaten by them. Duran (Nick Mancuso) is a reservation cop who doesn't believe the tribal lore that explains the bats' strange behavior as part of some sort of spiritual revenge. Actor George Clutesi, fresh from his role as an native American seer in the equally insipid PROPHECY, once more finds himself in a similar part. All of the attempts to make this nonsense scary are ultimately defeated by cheesy special effects and gaping logical holes in the script penned by Bud Shrake, Steve Shagan (SAVE THE TIGER) and Martin Cruz Smith (on whose novel the film is based). The American Southwest is nicely photographed though poorly used. Arthur Hiller (LOVE STORY; MAN OF LA MANCHA; TEACHERS) is not the greatest under normal circumstances and has no business in the tricky horror genre.