''Nightkill'' is a 1980 West German-American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

horror

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Ted Post Theodore I. Post (March 31, 1918 – August 20, 2013) was an American director of film and television. Highly prolific, Post directed numerous episodes of well-known television series including '' Rawhide'', ''Gunsmoke'', and ''The Twilight Zone'' ...

and starring

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

and Jaclyn Smith. The screenplay concerns an adulteress who hatches a plot to murder her millionaire husband while her lover assumes his identity. Robert Mitchum's role is touted in NightKill's promotion and credits. Though his part in the movie is very minor with minimal screentime, and needed only for the finale plot twist.

Plot

Unhappily married to unscrupulous Arizona businessman Wendell Atwell, the beautiful Katherine has been carrying on behind his back with Steve Fulton, his assistant. Knowing that a million dollars in cash has been stashed by Wendell in an airport locker, Steve plots behind his lover's back to poison her husband, then impersonate Wendell on a flight to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to make it appear he is still alive. When police detective, Lt. Donner, turns up asking questions, claiming Wendell never turned up in Washington for a scheduled business appointment, Kathy panics and decides to move the body. But when she opens the freezer, instead of finding Wendell's corpse inside it, she finds Steve's. Kathy is constantly questioned by Lt. Donner. Later one evening, Kathy goes to take a shower while Lt. Donner fakes a phone call, just to set the possible murder of Kathy in motion. Lt. Donner shuts off the main water to the shower, with Kathy inside the shower wondering how the water stopped and now the steam turning on, Kathy is trapped inside the shower as Lt. Donner tied the doors shut. Once unconscious in the shower, Kathy's body is moved by Lt. Donner to the bathroom floor. As Lt. Donner takes the money and flees, we see Kathy on the floor calling for help on the phone as the scene fades out.

Cast

* Jaclyn Smith ... Katherine Atwell *

... Lt. Donner/Kelly Rodriguez *

James Franciscus James Grover Franciscus (January 31, 1934 – July 8, 1991) was an American actor, known for his roles in feature films and in six television series: '' Mr. Novak'', '' The Naked City'', '' The Investigators'', '' Longstreet'', '' Doc Elliot'', ...

... Steve Fulton *

Mike Connors Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975, a role which earne ...

... Wendell Atwell *

Fritz Weaver Fritz William Weaver (January 19, 1926 − November 26, 2016) was an American actor in television, stage, and motion pictures. He portrayed Dr. Josef Weiss in the 1978 epic television drama, ''Holocaust'' for which he was nominated for a Primetime ...

... Herbert Childs *

Sybil Danning Sybil Danning (born Sybille Johanna Danninger) is an Austrian actress, model, and film producer. She is best known for her frequent appearances in B movies during the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Early years and first films Born in Austria, Dannin ...

... Monika Childs * Tina Menard ... Consuela *

Belinda Mayne Belinda Mayne is a British actress who has appeared in film, television and theatre in Germany, the UK, and the US since 1974 when she made her first appearance in ''Strangers''. Partial filmography References External links * {{DEF ...

... Christine *

Angus Scrimm Angus Scrimm (born Lawrence Rory Guy; August 19, 1926 – January 9, 2016) was an American actor, author, and journalist, known for his portrayal of the Tall Man in the 1979 horror film '' Phantasm'' and its sequels. Early life Scrimm was born ...

... Desert rat (scenes deleted) * Michael Anderson Jr. ... Lt. Donner * Melanie MacQueen ... Alice

Release

''Nightkill'' was released in the United States on television, airing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

as the Movie of the Week on December 18, 1980.

References

External links

* 1980 films 1980 horror films 1980s erotic thriller films 1980s psychological thriller films American erotic thriller films West German films German erotic thriller films Films directed by Ted Post Adultery in films English-language German films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s German films {{erotic-thriller-film-stub