{ "id": "epfmrm96xh", "slug": "nightflyers-1987-film", "title": "Nightflyers (1987 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films", "label": "Science fiction horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Science fiction horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films", "label": "Science fiction horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Nightflyers is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film directed by Robert Collector, based on the novella by George R. R. Martin, about a space expedition stalked by a malevolent presence.", "snippet": "Nightflyers is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film directed by Robert Collector, based on the novella by George R. R. Martin, about a space expedition stalked by a malevolent presence.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.science-fiction-horror-films", "markdown": "# Nightflyers (1987 film)\n\n**Nightflyers** is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film directed by Robert Collector and based on the novella *Nightflyers* by [George R. R. Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-r-r-martin). It follows eight scientists who charter the space freighter Night Flyer for an expedition to make contact with a legendary alien intelligence, only to find a malevolent presence aboard the ship itself.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nightflyers)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | October 23, 1987, with Los Angeles and New York openings that day[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) |\n| Director | Robert Collector, credited onscreen under the pseudonym T. C. Blake after he asked to have his name removed[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) |\n| Writer and producer | Robert Jaffe wrote the screenplay and produced; his father Herb Jaffe was executive producer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) |\n| Source | The novella *Nightflyers* by George R. R. Martin; AFI records the short story as published in 1985, while other accounts describe it as a 1980 novella[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) • [3](https://time.com/5300934/george-r-r-martin-nightflyers-teasers/) |\n| Physical properties | 89 minutes, color, sound recorded in Ultra-Stereo, MPAA rating R[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) |\n| Box office | $1,149,470 domestic, from a limited release by New Century Vista Film Company[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Nightflyers) |\n| Availability | Never released on DVD or Blu-ray, and not offered on streaming services as of recent checks[5](https://www.horrorguys.com/nightflyers-1987/) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/nightflyers) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nIn the 21st century, at the Avalon Spaceport, eight passengers board the Night Flyer, an old space freighter, on an expedition to find a mythical entity that, according to legend, has the power to create new star systems as it travels through the galaxy. Most scientists do not believe it exists, but Doctor Michael D'Branin, who has studied the entity for twelve years, believes cryptic radio signals that periodically come through originate from it.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS)\n\nSources disagree on the entity's name: the AFI Catalog calls it the Bulcrind,[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) Richard Harrington's Washington Post review calls it the Valcryn,[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/28/nightflyers-lost-in-space/f463238d-0137-446c-ac6a-3f456201e1c5/) and a HorrorNews review calls it the Volcryn.[8](https://horrornews.net/132067/film-review-nightflyers-1987/) The voyage quickly turns into a stalking story as a malevolent force begins killing the crew. The force turns out to be a woman who has become the ship's computer, antagonized because her cross-sex clone, a hologram who is also the ship's captain, is drawn to the leader of the scientific team.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/28/nightflyers-lost-in-space/f463238d-0137-446c-ac6a-3f456201e1c5/) In the climax, the survivors Royd and Miranda fight their way back aboard, destroy the manifested presence, and escape in a small craft as the Nightflyer explodes; they then continue on toward the alien contact.[5](https://www.horrorguys.com/nightflyers-1987/)\n\n## Cast\n\n[Catherine Mary Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-mary-stewart) plays Miranda, the team coordinator; [Michael Praed](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-praed) plays Royd, the ship's hologram captain; [John Standing](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-standing) plays D'Branin; Lisa Blount plays Audrey, a cryptologist; Glenn Withrow plays Keelor; James Avery plays Darryl; Helene Udy plays Lilly; Annabel Brooks plays Eliza; and Michael Des Barres plays Jon Winderman, a telepath.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/nightflyers)\n\n## Production\n\nThe project began well before the film's release. In 1982, producer Herb Jaffe announced a science-fiction film named Night Flyers as part of a three-picture package that also included *Electric Castle* and *Sand Kings*, with a total budget of $9 million for the three films, to be shot back-to-back with the same crew and special-effects house.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) Herb Jaffe's son Robert Jaffe wrote the screenplay and served as producer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS)\n\nFritz Kiersch was originally slated to direct but dropped out before work began, and the Vista Organization filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against him for $50,000 in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on June 11, 1986, in Los Angeles with Robert Collector directing.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) Before release, Collector asked to have his name removed from the picture, and the pseudonym T. C. Blake appears onscreen as the director.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS) Shelly Johnson was the director of photography, Tom Siiter the editor, and John Muto the production designer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe film opened to negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a Tomatometer score of 19 percent from two critics, with an audience rating of 2.3 out of 5 from more than 100 users.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nightflyers) Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the filmmakers' ambitions, drawing on [Ridley Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-scott)'s *Alien* and *Blade Runner* and [Stanley Kubrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-kubrick)'s *2001: A Space Odyssey*, coagulated into \"barely coherent glop,\" calling the film \"too smart to be camp and too shallow to be good.\"[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-28-ca-11129-story.html) The Washington Post's Richard Harrington judged that it \"moves with the speed and grace of a space buffalo,\" while crediting the special-effects team of Roger George, Robert Short, Bob Harmon, and Bob Weisenger with effects that are \"special indeed\" though not spectacular.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/28/nightflyers-lost-in-space/f463238d-0137-446c-ac6a-3f456201e1c5/)\n\nCommercially, the film earned $1,149,470 at the domestic box office from its limited release.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Nightflyers) It has remained difficult to see: it has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray,[5](https://www.horrorguys.com/nightflyers-1987/) and streaming availability checks find no current offer.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/nightflyers)\n\n## Legacy\n\nFor Martin, the adaptation carried personal weight. In a 2018 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said that when the film was made he thought his career as a writer was dying, and that \"in a very real sense, it saved my career, and everything I have written since exists in no small part because of that 1987 film.\"[10](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-nightflyers-syfy-20181128-story.html) The story returned to the screen as a 10-episode Syfy television series, *Nightflyers*, which premiered in the United States in fall 2018, with Jeff Buhler as showrunner; Robert Jaffe, the 1987 film's screenwriter, was attached as a producer of the series.[3](https://time.com/5300934/george-r-r-martin-nightflyers-teasers/) • [11](https://www.thewrap.com/syfy-george-re-martin-novella-nightflyers/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Nightflyers (1987), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57761-NIGHTFLYERS)\n2. [Nightflyers (1987), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nightflyers)\n3. [No One Is Safe in the Chilling New Teasers for George R.R. Martin's Nightflyers Series, TIME](https://time.com/5300934/george-r-r-martin-nightflyers-teasers/)\n4. [Nightflyers (1987) Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Nightflyers)\n5. [Nightflyers (1987), Horror Guys](https://www.horrorguys.com/nightflyers-1987/)\n6. [Nightflyers streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/nightflyers)\n7. ['Nightflyers' Lost in Space, The Washington Post, October 27, 1987](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/28/nightflyers-lost-in-space/f463238d-0137-446c-ac6a-3f456201e1c5/)\n8. [Film Review: Nightflyers (1987), HorrorNews](https://horrornews.net/132067/film-review-nightflyers-1987/)\n9. [Movie Reviews: 'Nightflyers': Shallow Voyage in Deep Space, Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1987](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-28-ca-11129-story.html)\n10. [George R.R. Martin returns to a whole new world with 'Nightflyers' on Syfy, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-nightflyers-syfy-20181128-story.html)\n11. [George RR Martin Novella 'Nightflyers' Picked Up for Pilot on Syfy, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/syfy-george-re-martin-novella-nightflyers/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Science fiction horror films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Nightflyers (1987 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Nightflyers (1987 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Nightflyers (1987 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/nightflyers-1987-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Nightflyers is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film directed by Robert Collector, based on the novella by George R. R. Martin, about a space expedition stalked by a malevolent presence." }