Nightkill

Cine Artists GmbH

Company type	Film production company
Industry	Film production
Headquarters	Germany
Products	Films

Nightkill is a 1980 psychological thriller film helmed by director Ted Post, featuring performances by Jaclyn Smith, Mike Connors, James Franciscus, Robert Mitchum, Fritz Weaver, and Sybil Danning. The narrative centers on the spouse of a corrupt industrialist from Phoenix, Arizona, who attempts to conceal his murder after her lover administers poison.

The production was undertaken by the German firm Cine Artists GmbH, with distribution in the United States handled by Avco Embassy Pictures. Filming took place during spring 1980 across locations in Arizona and Berlin. This project marked Jaclyn Smith’s inaugural significant film appearance following her role in Charlie's Angels. During the shoot, Smith met cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond, whom she married the subsequent year. Despite substantial promotional efforts, Robert Mitchum’s part is relatively small, offering limited screen presence.

Although Avco Embassy intended a theatrical release in the U.S. during fall 1980, the movie instead debuted as an NBC Movie of the Week in December of that year and later became available on home video, where it was marketed as a slasher film. However, it did receive theatrical screenings in select international territories such as Sweden and Turkey.

Over time, Nightkill has attracted favorable reassessment for its acting and mood, with some critics and academics identifying it as a notable example within the neo-noir category.

Plot

Kathy Atwell, a dissatisfied housewife living in Phoenix, Arizona, is engaged in an affair with Steve Fulton, who serves as assistant to her industrialist husband, Wendell. Unknown to Kathy, their meetings at her hillside residence are being secretly recorded. Steve, aware that Wendell has concealed one million dollars in an airport locker, devises a scheme to poison Wendell and impersonate him on a flight to Washington, D.C. to simulate his survival. Kathy unintentionally witnesses the act of poisoning that results in Wendell’s death.

Steve discloses his plan and persuades a distressed Kathy to keep Wendell’s demise under wraps. He places Wendell’s body in a freezer, hands Kathy the key to the locker, and departs for the airport. That evening, Kathy attends a charity gala recognizing her philanthropic efforts with at-risk youth. Herbert Childs, her lawyer and confidant, arrives intoxicated but departs after she rejects his advances.

The following morning, Lt. Donner informs Kathy that Wendell has been reported missing by his secretary. Upon investigation, Kathy discovers Steve’s lifeless body inside the freezer; Wendell’s corpse is missing. Monika, Herbert’s wife who had presented Kathy’s award earlier, arrives but leaves abruptly after suspecting an affair between Herbert and Kathy.

Kathy disposes of Steve’s body by dumping it into an abandoned mine shaft. Lt. Donner continues probing into Wendell's disappearance while Kathy becomes increasingly evasive. That night, she books a flight bound for Denver. At the airport, she overhears a call for Wendell and spots a man resembling him at a bar. She flees but is pursued by this individual driving Wendell’s Rolls-Royce. The chase ends at a remote cement factory where she crashes and is abducted while unconscious.

Upon regaining consciousness at home, Kathy contacts Herbert for assistance. Later that night, sensing an intruder’s presence, she discovers her dog’s severed head along with dead pet monkeys and finds Wendell’s body posed in his chair. Lt. Donner reveals that Wendell had employed private investigator Kelly Rodriguez to gather evidence of Kathy’s affair with Steve through recordings. Donner states these tapes implicate Kathy as an accessory to murder due to her failure to report Wendell’s death.

When questioned about legal representation, Kathy names Herbert. Donner requests custody of the locker key for police purposes. As they prepare to depart for the station, Donner pretends to call the district attorney; however, it is Rodriguez using this deception to intimidate Kathy and seize Wendell’s fortune.

While Kathy showers, Rodriguez traps her by tying door handles together and manipulates the water heater to scald her unconscious. He then retrieves the money from the locker and impersonates Steve when questioned by law enforcement officers, bribing one with hush money. Despite severe burns, Kathy manages to alert police before Rodriguez escapes with Wendell’s fortune.

Development

The film was helmed by director Ted Post, recognized for his television contributions to Peyton Place as well as cinematic works such as Hang 'Em High (1968) and The Harrad Experiment (1973).

Casting

In February 1980, Jaclyn Smith and Robert Mitchum were announced as leads, marking Smith’s first significant film appearance beyond her role in Charlie's Angels. The following month saw James Franciscus and Mike Connors added to the ensemble. Although Angus Scrimm was initially cast, his scenes were ultimately removed from the final cut.

Filming

Filming was initially slated for Dallas, Texas, but production relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, with principal photography commencing on March 31, 1980. The main shooting period spanned April 7 through April 14, 1980. The project’s budget was estimated at around $4 million, financed by the German firm Cine Artists GMBH and utilizing predominantly a British crew. Director of photography Anthony B. Richmond brought experience from notable films like Don't Look Now (1973) and The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). Production continued despite the significant 1980 Screen Actors Guild strike, being one of the few allowed to proceed alongside films such as The Burning (1981).

A private residence on Camelback Mountain was leased for two months at $20,000 to represent the Atwell family home. The shoot caused considerable wear and tear, including damage to furnishings and vegetation. Other locations featured included the Phoenix Zoo, the Salt River Project facility, Sky Harbor International Airport, desert areas near Tempe, Arizona, and various interior scenes filmed in Berlin, Germany.

Robert Mitchum’s scenes were scheduled over a ten-day period; he regarded this as a short and efficient engagement. During filming, Jaclyn Smith developed a relationship with cinematographer Richmond, marrying him the subsequent year. Director Post remarked that Richmond’s frequent intoxication occasionally impacted camera operation.

Smith opted out of performing a nude shower scene near the film’s finale, preferring to leave elements to audience imagination rather than explicit depiction. She commented: "I'll never take my clothes off in front of the camera... I'm not ashamed of my body, but audiences like to use their imagination."

Release

Produced by Cine Artists GmbH alongside distributor Avco Embassy Pictures, Nightkill was initially slated for a U.S. theatrical release in fall 1980. However, on December 9, 1980, Avco Embassy sold the film's rights to NBC for television broadcast. It premiered as NBC’s Movie of the Week on December 18, 1980. Internationally, the film saw theatrical distribution with its Swedish debut on January 22, 1982, followed by release in Turkey under the title Gece Katilleri.

In the United Kingdom, Nightkill was broadcast on television on April 20, 1985, featured in Central’s Saturday night programming.

Home media

A pre-certification videocassette edition appeared in the UK in 1981 via Vipco, promoted as a slasher film with packaging depicting Jaclyn Smith screaming during a shower scene.

In 2017, Kino Lorber released Nightkill on DVD and Blu-ray, including newly recorded interviews with Smith and an audio commentary track by film scholars Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson.

Reception

Donald C. Willis, in his work Horror and Science Fiction Films III (1981-1983), characterized the movie as "an ideal crime suspense piece." Leonard Maltin rated it two and a half stars out of four, describing it as a "confusing suspense drama." Similarly, Robert J. Pardi assigned it two and a half stars in Movies on TV, 1988-1989, referring to it as "a harsh suspense thriller." In a 1995 critique for the Blockbuster Video Guide, Ron Castell called the film a "disjointed suspense story," while acknowledging some standout scenes and the appealing Arizona backdrop.

Regarding the Blu-ray edition, Michael Barrett of PopMatters emphasized its film noir qualities, stating it is "not a masterpiece, but some viewers might value its desolate and bleak nightmare ambiance." Ian Jane from DVD Talk considered it somewhat foreseeable yet decently paced and intermittently gripping, with the cast's performances being its main asset.

The website Film Frenzy awarded the film two stars out of five, describing it as a "dull thriller that starts off well but frequently lapses into boredom." Lee Pfeiffer of Cinema Retro observed that although uneven in sections, the film delivers unexpected character developments and gains from its Arizona settings and Ted Post’s direction, maintaining an energetic tempo until an ending that may leave some viewers dissatisfied.