History Film / TheNightFlier

* NightmareFace: Dwight has to be one of the most horrific-looking vampires ever on film.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Played with. Dwight Renfield escapes in his airplane after slaughtering dozens of people, with all his crimes being pinned on Richard Dees. However, he did ''not'' want Dees to die in the process, and Dwight actually hates his own existence as a bloodsucking fiend. Along with Katherine's corruption, if you think about, basically ''everyone'' involved actually loses.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Played with. Dwight Renfield escapes in his airplane after slaughtering dozens of people, with all his crimes being pinned on Richard Dees. However, he did ''not'' want Dees to die in the process, and Dwight actually hates his own existence as a bloodsucking fiend.]]

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler:Like the story it's based on, Dees goes insane when he sees the aftermath of the airport massacre and encounters Dwight.]]

* BadassBoast: Dwight's final warning to Dees.

* BloodMagic: Dees visits the grave of one of the vampire's latest victims at night time, then cuts open his thumb to smear a bit of blood on the tombstone, allowing him to see where the Night Flier is going. This warlock routine sorta comes out of nowhere, as Dees was shown to be nothing but [[HorrorStruck a cynic of the supernatural]] before.

* AffablyEvil: For a rotten, batlike monstrosity who flies from airport to airport feeding on and brutally killing his prey, Dwight is generous enough to try and warn Dees to stay away and drop his search, and considers him something of a kindred spirit, [[spoiler:even displaying remorse for driving him to be shot by the cops.]] Furthermore, he seems to have genuine feelings for Ellen Sarche (who is implied to have been his lover before he became a vampire), returning to his human form to meet with her again, although that doesn't end well for her.

Richard Dees is the lead reporter for a [[LuridTalesOfDoom low-fodder conspiracy and urban legend-newspaper]] called the ''Inside View''. After years of investigating bloody crime scenes, Dees has become particularely burned out with his job. When reports of a mysterious killer start circulating, who travels from airport to airport to slaughter everyone present, Dees goes out in pursuit of the "Night Flier"--finding far more than he bargained for.

Richard Dees is the lead reporter for a [[LuridTalesOfDoom low-fodder conspiracy and urban legend-newspaper]] called the ''Inside View''. After years of investigating bloody crime scenes, Dees has become particularely burned out with his job. When reports of a mysterious killer start circulating, who travels from airport to airport to slaughter everyone present, Dees goes out to investigate the "Night Flier"--finding far more than he bargained for.

Richard Dees is the lead reporter for a [[LuridTalesOfDoom low-fodder conspiracy and urban legend-newspaper]] called the ''Inside View''. After years of investigating bloody crime scenes, Dees has become particularely burned out with his job. When reports of a mysterious killer called the "Night Flier" start circulating, who travels from airport to airport to slaughter everyone present, Dees goes out to investigate--finding far more than he bargained for.

-->'''Dwight:''' But listen closely, my inquisitive friend. Because I say this only once. Do not follow me anymore, or I will swallow you whole. That much, I promise.

* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: While Dees is pursuing Dwight, Dwight himself has also been stalking Dees for much of the film, but when they actually do confront each other at the end, Dwight attempts to make Dees see reason and not meddle in the affairs of a real monster. Dees refuses to let it go, so Dwight finally relents and shows Dees his NightmareFace before feeding him his own blood to show him a vision of what awaits him in hell.

* ClassicalMovieVampire: Dwight Renfield looks like a gentleman in a big black and red cloak with a high collar. It subverts the trope in that he always morphs into a decidedly unpleasant-looking batlike monster when about to kill.

* MonstrousHumanoid: Far from a handsome gentleman, Dwight Renfield will always appear as a barely-human bat-like monster to his victims.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Dwight forces Dees to give him the incriminating photographs, accidentally driving him insane in the process. In his madness, he gets gunned down by the police, thinking he's the killer. Catherine goes with it, despite knowing the truth, abd becomes the new star reporter for the Inside View, have finally been corrupted by the system.]]

* NotSoDifferent: The vampire, Dwight Renfield, says that Dees's interest in blood is not so different from his own. He then goes out of his way not to kill Dees.

* ShoutOut: Dwight Renfield is noted in-universe to be an obvious allusion to TheRenfield character from the original ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. Also, Dwight Frye is the name of the actor who portrayed Renfield in [[Film/Dracula1931]].

* TorturedMonster: Dwight may be a bloodthirsty monster who massacres people by the dozens, but there are hints dropped throughout the movie that he loathes what he has become, being forced to live in a maggot-infested aeroplane traveling from airport to airport in search in prey. At the end he also seems to regret [[spoiler:killing the protagonist after previous attempts to warn him off.]]

* GoingForTheBigScoop: Richard Dees is a scummy tabloid reporter who continues to investigate a series of murders at country airports even when it seems increasingly likely that the killer is a monster of some sort. [[spoiler:The vampire finally murders him after noting that coming face to face with a real monster is the culmination of Dees's existence.]]