Nothing special, and a tad sloppy at times, but generally a very enjoyable piece of film noir that's well plotted and also benefits from featuring quite a bit of snow (seriously, film noir plus snow-covered locations is an awesome combination).

Starts off fantastic but then stumbles a bit towards an ok ending, seemingly unsure of where to take these characters. It does make up for it somewhat with a surprise or two up its sleeve. Ending aside, it's a fun film and that first half is effectively tense. Aldo Ray isn't a particularly good actor but he's believable as the wrong man on the run and the bit players are memorable, particularly Rudy Bond as a trigger happy goon.

Not a great film, but a very well-constructed story, with little or no dead spots; this movie just moves along. The payoff was a tad disappointing, but I'd bet this would keep most people's attention all the way until the end.

As in Out of the Past, Tourneur uses a flashback structure to reveal the story, but this time he fragments it a lot more, often leaving the viewer guessing why the characters are in their situations. Aldo Ray has a certain quality to him, kind of a teddy bear toughness. And there's a wonderfully grisly death at the end. Other than that, it's not too special but it's plotted well and a few moments of stimulating photography. Bancroft is lovely, but doesn't seem like a good fit for this role.

seemed ahead of its time, good plot, nothing spectacular in the way of directing, writing, or acting, but a solid movie.

"In spite of that tantalizing potential, Nightfall will always just be a promising B picture." - Simon Abrams