Late Night Classics – Nightflyers

Space is the final frontier. There are so many mysteries in the heavens that NASA will never find answers to that it’s sort of melancholy that so many of them will remain in limbo and never discovered. That’s where Hollywood comes in and comes up with their own theories about what lifeforms are out there. Nightflyers is kind of like an outer space tale written by Dean Koontz. Computers can be down right crazy! Just look at how dependent we have become of them. Nightflyers arrived at the height of the video cassette boom and introduced technological terror to a cast of familiar faces from the 80′s.

Jason Bene: Night of the Comet, The Last Starfighter and Mischief are all cult favorites, but I have always enjoyed Nightflyers more than them. What attracted you to this science fiction opus?

Catherine Mary Stewart: I thought it was an interesting script, director and certainly the cast was amazing. It was a different role for me, so that was attractive too.

Jason Bene: In the role as Miranda Dorlac you are front and center and the star of the movie. It must of been to be the lead and have such a heavy role?

Catherine Mary Stewart: I liked the challenge of the role. The character was supposed to be a perfect specimen. Kind of a human/robot hybrid who could function optimally without the distraction of emotions. It was definitely a challenge to find the balance between emotionless and still interesting to watch. Being at least part human, that had to show on some level.

Jason Bene: (Laughs) Do you still have those retro sunglasses?

Catherine Mary Stewart: No, I don’t. Those were an expensive one of a kind pair. The lenses were designed specifically to not show any reflection, such as lights and/or camera.

Jason Bene: You were surrounded by a strong supporting cast including Lisa Blount (Prince of Darkness) and James Avery (Fresh Prince of Bel Air). I am a huge fan of the television show MacGyver, and Michael Des Barres played a cunning villian named Murdoc and was a steal scener every time. Can you talk about working alongside such a finely tuned ensemble cast?

Catherine Mary Stewart: Well, it certainly made my job easier. These fine actors had developed their individual characters with such precision. They complimented my character so well.

Jason Bene: Were the setpieces are vast as they seem on film? It appears that a lot of the filming took place on various soundstages.

Catherine Mary Stewart: That’s always something a great cinematographer can accomplish. He can make a small set look vast. There was a lot of smoke too. Smoke gives a feeling of depth.

Jason Bene: Have you seen Paul Anderson’s Event Horizon? It is basically a haunted house film on a ship. The similarities between it and Nightflyers are uncanny.

Catherine Mary Stewart: I have not seen it.  I’ll have to rent it.

Jason Bene: When I think of out of control computers running amok, 2001: A Space Odyssey comes to mind. But it is safe to say you were dealing with a more malevolent computer than HAL 9000.

Catherine Mary Stewart: I’m not sure that HAL 9000 was less malevolent. In fact, I think the fact that he remained so calm with that benevolent voice, made him much scarier. He was unpredictable. He played with your mind. In Nightflyers,  she was much more obviously NASTY!! Like a mother lion protecting her cub. I would say that indeed 2001 A Space Odyssey is truly a masterpiece. We have never seen anything like it before or since.

Jason Bene: Nightflyers was marketed as a horror film upon its release October of 1987. It really is an outer space love story with a hint of terror. Over the year it has found its audience on home video.

Catherine Mary Stewart: So many movies from pre-DVD times haven’t made it to disc. It’s too bad and I’m not sure why, but I assume it can be an overwhelming and expensive task for the production companies that own the rights. They are not likely to do it unless they feel they’ll make a lot of money. If there is a way to inform these people of the interest, I would love to know what that is!

Jason Bene: Here we are all these years later and Nightflyers is still not on DVD. I hear that Lionsgate owns the rights to it.

Catherine Mary Stewart: Everyone who’s interested, write to Lionsgate and demand the DVD!!