A Cold Night's Death

{{Short description|1973 American film directed by Jerrold Freedman}}

{{missing information|the film's plot, production, and broadcast history|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox television

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| genre = Horror
Sci-Fi
Thriller

| creator =

| based_on =

| developer =

| writer = Christopher Knopf

| screenplay =

| story =

| director = Jerrold Freedman

| starring = Robert Culp
Eli Wallach
Michael C. Gwynne

| music = Gil Melle

| country = United States

| language = English

| executive_producer = Leonard Goldberg
Aaron Spelling

| producer = Paul Junger Witt

| location = 20th Century Fox Studios

| cinematography = Leonard J. South

| editor = David Berlatsky

| camera =

| runtime = 74 minutes

| company = ABC Circle Films
Spelling-Goldberg Productions
20th Century Fox Television

| budget =

| network = ABC

| released = {{Start date|1973|01|30}}

}}

A Cold Night's Death (also known as The Chill Factor) is a 1973 American made for television horror-thriller film. The film was shown on January 30, 1973, on the ABC network.

The film was directed by Jerrold Freedman and starred Robert Culp, Eli Wallach, and Michael C. Gwynne. Culp and Wallach are two research scientists at the Tower Mountain Research Station (filmed at the University of California's high altitude Barcroft Research Station) who are trying to unravel the mysterious death of a colleague.

Plot

After the mysterious deaths of their colleagues, scientists Robert Jones (Robert Culp) and Frank Enari (Eli Wallach) are sent to an isolated research station deep in the Arctic Circle to continue their observation of monkey behavioral patterns. As the two men quarrel over who has to clean the station and other responsibilities, they slowly realize that the deaths of their co-workers may have something to do with a mysterious and dangerous presence, one that the monkeys increasingly fear.

Cast

Robert Culp as Robert Jones
Eli Wallach as Frank Enari
Michael C. Gwynne as Val Adams
Vic Perrin as Ryan Horner (voiceover; uncredited)

Release

Reception

Graeme Clark from The Spinning Image rated the film seven out of ten stars, praising the film's atmosphere, performances, and score.{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Graeme |title=Cold Night's Death, A Review (1973) |url=http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=8475 |website=TheSpinningImage.co.uk |publisher=Graeme Clark |access-date=26 September 2019}} Dave Sindelar from Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings also praised the film's atmosphere and performances, calling it "one very effective TV-movie thriller".{{cite web |last1=Sindelar |first1=Dave |title=A Cold Night's Death (1973) |url=https://fantasticmoviemusings.com/2019/02/13/a-cold-nights-death-1973/ |website=FantasticMovieMusings.com |date=14 February 2019 |publisher=Dave Sindelar |access-date=26 September 2019}} The Terror Trap awarded the film three out of four stars, calling it "a triumph of mood creation".{{cite web |title=A Cold Night's Death (1973) |url=http://www.terrortrap.com/reviewsdatabase/c/cold_nights_death.php |website=TerrorTrap.com |publisher=The Terror Trap |access-date=26 September 2019}} The movie was nominated for the 1974 Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Best Television Feature or Miniseries.{{Cite web |title=Edgar Allan Poe Awards (1974) |url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000219/1974/1/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=IMDb}}