NIGHTWING AND SHADOW OF THE HAWK
SYNOPSIS
It’s a killer creature double feature as two terrifying tales take flight with fright!
First time either film has been available in HIGH DEFINITION!
NIGHTWING
A wave of mysterious deaths on a Native American reservation in New Mexico are being investigated and…it's killer bats!
"Nightwing gives bats their scary turn" - Vincent Canby, The New York Times
SHADOW OF THE HAWK
An old Native American shaman trains his skeptical grandson as a Medicine Man who must battle enemies and black magic.
"Vincent is one of the more engaging young American actors" - Roger Ebert
Starring:
Nightwing - Nick Mancuso (Under Siege films), David Warner (TRON), Kathryn Harrold (Raw Deal), Stephen Macht (The Monster Squad), Strother Martin (Cool Hand Luke)
Shadow of the Hawk - Jan-Michael Vincent (TV’s Airwolf), Marilyn Hassett (The Other Side of the Mountain), Chief Dan George (Little Big Man)
Disclosure: I receive free Blu-ray for review purposes and all opinions expressed here are my own.
MY THOUGHTS:
Nightwing is a thriller which starts out with some ancient Indian type music. The story takes place in Tuscon, Arizona.
An Indian deputy named Youngman Duran is investigating the death of a horse, which has some unusual wounds, unlike that of being killed by an animal. The animal smells of ammonia and has weird bite marks, right through the bone. More deputies and a vet check the animal out and they have never seen anything like it before.
The deputy has a girlfriend who is a white doctor and has delivered a baby who she just about lost. She's having a bad day and then tells him she's been accepted at a medical university. It shows how much they love each other.
Later a sheepherder hears a bunch of noise in the sky and the sheep start stampeding, which is pretty eery. Then an English man who is a scientist comes into the town and believes there are vampire bats invading the area, which he believes killed an old Indian priest or witch doctor man named Abner.
In another segment Deputy Duran's girlfriend goes camping to get away to relax with a group of friends. They are singing a song and sitting around a camp fire. The girlfriend goes in the van for a while and meanwhile the others each start hearing noises which they don't know what it is from.
Suddenly a swarm of bats start attacking them and biting them. They are screaming and trying to get into the van to get away from them. A few of them that get in the van and start driving away when they see a bat inside the van and then the van flips over. The girlfriend and another man are stranded in the desert and trying to survive with nothing to drink or eat. Then the man dies and she is left alone.
There are people in the village dying of bubonic plaque from the bats, which is what the scientist believes. Later, Deputy Duran finds his girlfriend in the desert, with the scientist's help.. She is alright but dehydrated. She tells him about the bats all being in the sky and how awful it was.
The scientist works with the Deputy and his girl friend to destroy the bat colony in a cave. The bats are sleeping but start waking up and to go after more victims. The ending is great when Deputy Duran starts a fire and destroys them. There is more in between but you'll have to watch to find out!
Shadow of the Hawk is another thriller which starts out with Indians carrying a coffin and then an old Native American Indian doing a ceremony or chant to a girl who is sick in bed.
In another segment Jan Michael Vincent, who portrays Mike or Little Hawk, is with a woman and by a pool. He goes into into the swimming pool and is being attacked by some sort of demon woman spirit. He gets out of the pool and is alright. Later when he is home sleeping he is awoken from the evil looking spirit.
Mike is the grandson of the Native American Indian who is named Old Man Hawk. Mike works in the city in the city in the business profession and is away from his roots. It then shows Old Man Hawk walking to the city when he collapses and is in the hospital. While in the hospital bed he sees evil spirits, as his grandson did.
He suddenly sits up and starts chanting Indian language, and it shows a hawk sitting in the room with him. Afterwards, he is shown walking out of the hospital and tells a lady named Maureen (who is a freelance reporter) outside that he needs to see his grandson. She hesitates but then says she would be glad to help him.
The grandfather finds Mike with the help of the woman. They come to his place where he is having a party and the grandfather calls him Little Hawk and wants his grandson to take him home. Mike takes his grandfather to a bus station and drops him off. While taking the woman home who helped his grandfather out, he changes his mind turns around and goes back to the bus station and gets him.
When they go to a restaurant, the grandfather tells his grandson and Maureen that there is evil is all around. Mike is going to take his grandfather home which is a long ride, and Maureen decides to go along for the ride.
While driving there is a car in front of them on the road which has evil in it and causes Mike to lose control of his car and go off the road nears some woods. When they get out of the car to walk,the same car tried to run them over. They find shelter in an old barn and Old Man Hawk starts telling a story about a woman that killed her husband and children over 200 years ago. She was put to death by Old Man Hawk's relatives. He says now her spirit is now after him.
They start walking and have to go across a rickety bridge with the wind whistling and the wind blowing. The manage to make it across and are no less for the better. They keep walking in the woods when Maureen falls down and says she can't go on. The old man tells his grandson to give her some of his strength to go on and she gets up and starts walking with them again.
They enter a village which is deserted and the old man tells Maureen to go into a house and stay there. He puts his necklace on her to keep her safe. Little Hawk and his grandfather encounter an Indian with a mask which attacks Little Hawk, but is pushed off a cliff by Little Hawk.
The grandfather and his grandson then go to a cave and light a fire. The grandfather pours some type of liquid on his hand and chants some words. He puts some paint on his forehead and his grandsons and does more chanting. He gives something he has in a pouch to Little Hawk and tells him to eat it. He then sees visions of Indian ancestors, according to his grandfather. The grandfather says he will die and be reborn a new man again, and has to spend one night under the moon.
In the meantime, Maureen is in the house alone and hears some wind blowing through a window. She shuts the window. There is eery music and something is whispering Maureen's name. She walks to the place where Little Wolf is and suddenly there are ghosts of ancient people and a wolf attacks him. They disappear and the house burns down.
Everything ends fine and the spirits are gone. The old man goes back to his people on a canoe and starts paddling across a river at the end of the movie.
Between the two films I rather enjoyed Nightwind better because of the bats. They are not movies I had heard of before, although they were alright movies. I probably would not go out of my way to watch them again.
