Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Wizard-8 "Nightkill" was an attempt to make a modern take on the classic noir movies of the 1940s and 1950s. I say "attempt", because the end results are somewhat disappointing. In fairness to the movie, I will say that the movie never commits the ultimate cinematic sin by being boring, and it's always welcome to see Robert Mitchum. But it's often a strange movie - the husband is bumped off very quickly, and the love interest soon after exits the movie instead of sharing the subsequent problems that come up for the female lead. Also, there are long chunks of the movie when essentially NOTHING of serious consequence is happening. The other big problem with the screenplay is that while it tries to deceive its audience, most people watching will be able to guess most (if not all) of the twists and revelations that happen near the end fairly quickly. Though the twists and revelations that happen don't answer ever question viewers will have piled up in their minds up to that point. In short, the movie is a noir tale for those who have never seen one before in their lives, and who happen to be VERY forgiving of cinematic shortcomings.

merklekranz 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

alansmithee04 Veteran TV director Ted Post treats us to a plodding, confused and ultimately pointless story lifted from Column B of the Harold Robbins Big Book Of Plots. Set against a smoggy Phoenix skyline, post-Charlies Angles Jaclyn Smith takes a star turn as "the woman whose eyes are mysteriously shadowed at all times" while JFK impersonator James Franciscus lounges around the fringes. Mannix goes western, monkeys are abused, models lean against classic cars, and Smith is constantly upstaged by Sybil Danning until a giallo style wrap-up brings the whole sorry mess to a bitter end.Oh yeah, and Bob Mitchum is in there too. Somewhere.

Snake-666 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.