Nightkill

I really thought Nightkill was going to be lousy. A murder-gone-wrong movie in the '80s starring one of Charlie's Angels? I thought I'd turn it off after ten minutes, but after that time, I was hooked! Yes, Jaclyn's Smith's hairdo is dated, and a few scenes are a "tv-ish", but if you're one of the many people who enjoy this genre, you might want to check this one out.

The reason I kept watching Nightkill was because Jaclyn's marriage to Mike Connors wasn't your typical "evil husband must die" relationship. He's very wealthy, and he's not a nice person, but Joan Andre wrote his character to be subtly instead of blatantly cruel. He belittles their Mexican housekeeper, treats his subordinates like peons, and gets impatient with his wife. Everything he does and says, though, are things someone in his position might think is okay. He's not a blatant bad guy; he's just insensitive and rude. So, when Jaclyn's lover James Franciscus kills him, it's understandable that she's not jumping for joy. All she wanted was a divorce, not his death.

But, since she's now an accessory-and since she's the lead in an '80s thriller and therefore goes along with a terrible idea-Jaclyn agrees to hide the body and pretend her husband is still alive until she and James can run away together. Gee, do you think everything's going to go smoothly? Definitely not, especially when policeman Robert Mitchum starts sniffing around.

I'm sure you know why I rented this movie in the first place; we all know how much I love Robert Mitchum. He has such great energy in this movie, and I can't help but think he arranged for Michael Anderson, Jr. to have a cameo, since they played father and son twenty years earlier in The Sundowners.

One warning about Nightkill: make sure you have a strong stomach. Parts of the movie get pretty gruesome, to counteract the good looks of the three main leads, I guess. Also, if you liked seeing Jaclyn Smith and James Franciscus playing the Kennedys, you can see them together again in this movie!

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to gruesome images and an upsetting scene with an animal, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Nightkill is a thriller starring the late great industry veteran Robert Mitchum, but it certainly isn't among his best work.

It tells the story of a woman who witnesses her new lover murder her abusive husband and the chain of events that follow. With her lover now missing and the police closing in what does she do next?

Lead by Jaclyn Smith this thriller never really gets going and the twist was more than expected. Though the finale is less predictible and quite enjoyable the rest of the movie is highly generic stuff.

It's certainly not terrible, but it's underwhelming stuff that you'll have seen plenty of times before. Even Mitchum seems bored.

The Good:

Robert Mitchum

The Bad:

Highly generic

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

White wine is for meatballs and cooking

In the 1980's no money was required to get yourself a plane seat reserved

Police officers use racial slurs casually

A very murky thriller. On the first viewing, I swear you won't be able to tell what's going on until....the last five minutes or so. This may be one of those mysteries that require a second viewing to fully understand how everything adds up. Good acting, though, both by Robert Mitchum, as a cunning detective, and by Jacklyn Smith, who's quite convincing as a woman involved in an increasingly threatening situation, with nobody to rely on in the whole world. (**)

Katherine Atwell (Jaclyn Smith), the wife of a wealthy businessman, unwittingly finds herself embroiled in a sinister murder plot when her lover decides to murder her husband and steal his money so that the two may elope together.

Ted Post directs this Hitchcock-style horror/thriller about murder and deception and one has to say that he does a very good job in doing so. Post takes a screenplay based on a story by the relatively unknown John Case and turns it into an intricate and generally compelling ninety minute piece of criminally underrated cinema. Although Post obviously lacks the directorial flair of his inspirers Hitchcock and Argento (there are a couple of instances where light is used in a similar fashion to Argento as well as some Argento-style trickery), one cannot really fault his execution of the work and instead has to admire the way that he turned such a low-budget into a thrill fest of suspense and intrigue. The subtle blending of the foreboding orchestral soundtrack with the continuing tension Post is able to create through some rather adept use of lighting and slow-yet-adequate pacing is probably the main reason that this movie is able to succeed and become quite a shining of example of great, low-budget cinema.

Jaclyn Smith, from the TV series ‘Charlie's Angels', is exceptional in her role as a woman pushed to the brink of madness following a series of bizarre and inexplicable happenings – as if being an unplanned accessory to the murder of her husband wasn't enough! Smith's performance is all the more credible due to the whole array of emotions her character is forced to portray. Despite Smith's character being a wrong-doer, it becomes quite easy to sympathise with her plight and understand her actions. Robert Mitchum takes the main role of the supporting cast as Lt. Donner and just adds to the credible acting performances that help to make ‘Nightkill' what it is. Unfortunately, the rest of the supporting cast were not exactly up to par except for a somewhat brief performance by the near-legendary B-movie actress Sybil Danning.

‘Nightkill' is a movie built on suspense, fortified by extraordinary acting performances (for a movie of this type) and cemented with a truly remarkable and haunting finale. Those who appreciate thrillers such as those by Hitchcock and Argento should find something enjoyable in this film as well. Certainly not for those who have had their attention spans stolen by MTV, but for those who appreciate subtle, slow and suspenseful thrillers. Yes, there are problems such as a rather unnecessary piece of character interaction towards the end, a brief decline in quality during the middle of the film and the obvious limitations of the budget. The final twist is also a little clichéd and does become a little obvious but not really enough to take away from one's enjoyment. ‘Nightkill' is still a very accomplished film and one that psychological thriller fans should find quite enjoyable. My rating for ‘Nightkill' – 7/10.

There are a few shades of Diabolique in Nightkill and Jaclyn Smith is pretty good in the lead role. Don't be mislead by the more slasher-esque poster art. This has more in common with Hitchcock than My Bloody Valentine.