Nightkill

Nightkill was going to be the breakout feature film debut for Jaclyn Smith of Charlie's Angels. It wound up being quite a bit less than that and not even making it to the big screen. Smith is joined by two television series veterans, Mike Connors of Mannix and James Franciscus of Mr. Novak. And of course big screen legend Robert Mitchum who hadn't been involved in a scare film like this since Cape Fear.

Smith is most unhappily married to Mike Connors who is a tyrannical tycoon. But she is having an affair with Connors's number two Jim Franciscus. One fine day with both all three at the spaciou home that Connors and Smith have, Franciscus slips some poison into Connors's drink and he dies. What to do with the body?

After what is done with it, it's Franciscus's corpse that Smith finds where they had stored Connors. And now there is a police detective played by Mitchum poking around in a most officious like manner, almost like he understudied the Peter Falk school of plodding detective work.

You might think you know where this is going, but I assure you that you don't. It gets real terrifying for Jaclyn Smith as she doesn't know who to trust or believe.

The spacious vistas of Phoenix, Arizona were not properly used in the cinematography of Nightkill. Mitchum doesn't come in until some 35 minutes after the film begins, but a few flecks of those famous rumpled eyelids and he's dominating the proceedings from then on.

NIghtkill is not the greatest of mystery thrillers, but it's reasonably entertaining for those who will want to empathize with what Smith is going through.

I was surprised at how nail-biting this movie was, not only at the somewhat unusual plot, but by the dark and brooding performance by Robert Mitchum. Nightkill is a reasonable enough thriller with good twists and turns throughout, and an equally strong conclusion.

Jaclyn Smith gives out a not-too-bad performance as Katherine Atwell, but in my eyes I felt as if she was trying a little too hard in some places. Mike Connors though portrays his cold and callous character of Wendel to good effect. You actually despise Wendel! In no doubt, however, it's Mitchum who steals the show; what a twist toward the end! Nice background music too: the score actually tells the story in some parts - very ominous.

In a nutshell, Nightkill is a relatively suspenseful film, but what lets it down is the somewhat inept direction and weak dialogue in certain places. 7/10

NIGHTKILL is a rather clunky, yet watchable thriller starring Jaclyn Smith as a woman in danger after her lover's (James Franciscus) plot to kill her insufferable husband (Mike Connors) goes horribly wrong. Many twists and unexpected turns help to save this movie from being a complete waste of time.

Ms. Smith spends most of the movie uncovering one horror after another, while being surveilled and stalked by an unseen maniac.

Robert Mitchum is a pushy Detective, and Fritz Weaver plays a slimy attorney. Cybil Danning is listed in the credits, but only has about 3 minutes of actual screen time.

For the names involved, this is a pretty shoddy production. Granted, most were late in their careers, but that's no excuse for such a poor presentation. Fans of Ms. Smith will love the fact that she's in almost every scene...

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

The movie is appropriately named, "Nightkill", because it is so darkly filmed that the daylight scenes, which are not many, seem like night, and the nighttime scenes will literally leave you in the dark. Since the plot twists and turns, it would be nice to actually see what is going on. Basically, Jaclyn Smith is unwittingly drawn into a complex murder plot, involving her tyrant, millionaire husband, Mike Connors. Once her lover, James Franciscus, does the killing, nothing is explained, and the audience is left to blindly follow what is happening. Personally, I lost interest until the relentlessly downbeat ending. Despite the presence of Robert Mitchum, and some decent acting, technically the film is seriously flawed. - MERK