Abner Tasupi, an ancient and embittered medicine man who raised Youngman after his parents died, reveals that he has woven a spell to end the world that very night.

The following morning, Youngman finds Abner's bloodless body on the floor of his shack, and nearby he discovers a dead muppet and most of his sock puppets.

Tribal Council chairman Walker Chee has discovered a stratum of oil shales in Maskai Canyon, the most sacred ground in the tribe's domain.

Although common sense tells him otherwise, Youngman's faith in tribal beliefs and superstitions leads him to suspect the unexplained deaths may be connected to Abner's spell.

The bats were the creation of special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi,[2] who previously had worked on King Kong and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

"[3] Additionally, Time Out New York said the film "never really takes off" and added, "Hiller's direction simply plods to a corny and unsatisfactory ending after getting bogged down in subplots concerning whale-oil prospectors, Indian religious mumbo-jumbo, and inter-tribal rivalries.

[6] When the Expansion Project redid the ballot in 2004, the film was listed with the following: In recent years, Nightwing has acquired a growing cult of devoted admirers.

Caps observes that Mancini actually instructed his musicians (mostly strings) to "de-tune" their instruments a quarter-tone downward when scoring the movie's nocturnal scenes.