EntertainmentThe Stephen King Vampire Horror You Probably Missed — With a Tabloid Twist

Over the years, Stephen King‘s massive body of work has had outstanding screen adaptations, solid ones, and some outright terrible outings. There is yet another category among these screen versions, though — the films that aren’t great, but are too entertaining not to enjoy. The Night Flier, a 1997 movie based on King’s short story of the same name from the Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection, falls under that latter category. The film, directed by Mark Pavia (for whom it was a feature-length debut), follows the general outline of King’s wonderfully outlandish premise: what if a tabloid reporter pursued a new sensation so intensely that he eventually discovered a vampire serial killer? Even though it’s true that The Night Flier won’t ever be found on any list of King’s best adaptations, the saving grace of the film that was made with King’s blessing is that everyone is visibly having fun with the ridiculousness of the concept. Staying faithful to the source, The Night Flier also digs relentlessly into the whole tabloid industry and its harmful ways, having fun along the way with practical effects and copious amounts of blood.