Nightflyers (1987)

Professor hires a spaceship to get to the source of weird signals from deep space. The trip is cut short however when the ship's computer gets jealous because the captain is in love with one of the female passengers and it gets homicidal.

Director:

Robert Collector (as T.C. Blake)

Writers:

George R.R. Martin (novel), Robert Jaffe (screenplay)

Stars:

Catherine Mary Stewart, Michael Praed, John Standing

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Miranda Dorlac
Michael Praed	...	Royd Eris
John Standing	...	Michael D'Brannin
Lisa Blount	...	Audrey
Glenn Withrow	...	Keelor
James Avery	...	Darryl
Helene Udy	...	Lilly (as Hélène Udy)
Annabel Brooks	...	Eliza
Michael Des Barres	...	Jon Winderman

Storyline

A scientific group set out on a journey into space to find a magical creature. What they find is a killer computer on the ship they chartered.

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Plot Keywords:

computer | professor | spaceship | mission | dead mother | 

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Taglines:

Where they're headed isn't the mystery. What's taking them there is.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 1988 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Gyilkos űrhajó

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,149,470

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vista Organization

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film grossed $1,149,470 when it was released.

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Connections

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

User Reviews

Great book, crummy movie

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!