Villian(s)  Vampire bats

Actor(s):  Nick Mancuso, David Warner, Kathryn Harrold, Stephen Macht

Brief Description  Nightwing (1979) is an American nature-run-amok horror film directed by Arthur Hiller and based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Martin Cruz Smith. Released as one of many creature features attempting to capitalize on the massive success of Jaws, the movie's tagline is famously: "Day belongs to man, but night is theirs!"

Plot:
The story takes place on a Native American reservation in New Mexico (or Arizona depending on the tribal territory context). Native deputy Youngman Duran (played by Nick Mancuso) investigates a series of mysterious cattle mutilations that soon escalate into fatal attacks on humans. Duran finds himself caught between his skepticism of tribal traditions, localized political corruption, and the warnings of a dying medicine man who claims he has unleashed a world-ending curse. Things take a scientific turn when Philip Payne (David Warner), an eccentric British scientist and vampire bat expert, arrives to warn the community that they are being targeted by a massive colony of vampire bats infected with the bubonic plague.

Duran, Payne, and local clinic nurse Anne Dillon (Kathryn Harrold) must team up in a desperate bid to locate and destroy the bats' desert lair before the infestation spreads. The film blends elements of Native American folklore with environmental capitalism themes (such as tribal leaders wanting to drill for oil on sacred ground). Despite the pedigree of its director and Oscar-winning special effects designer, the film was largely met with mixed-to-poor reviews, often remembered today as a goofy, cult-classic artifact of late-1970s creature horror.