Killing 'em Softly is a 1982 Canadian thriller film directed by Max Fischer, starring Irene Cara, George Segal, Clark Johnson and Nicholas Campbell. It is most noted for production problems which led to it becoming one of the first Canadian films ever to be released direct to video, and led to a court case over production funding which was not resolved until 1995.Based on Laird Koenig's novel The Neighbor, the film's plot centres on the girlfriend of a murdered man, who falls in love with her boyfriend's killer.Irene Cara also performs the opening theme song "City Nights".