Gioco mortale

Great energy created through well constructed juxtaposition gets this film revved up from the get-go. A car crash is followed by children nearly fist-fighting... then cross-cutting to sharks feeding. Castle uses some good depth of field on the ship creating a sense of transportation (restlessness is a key theme in the film). The staging/blocking is sound creating a sense for the relationships of the characters and their motivation. The direction is attuned for spectator identification and Castle's spooks have heightened effectiveness as a result. The dialogue has an honesty and naturalism reminiscent of Castle's The Americano. Then the titular uncle arrives and good acting all around keeps the film engaging and entertaining. The plot contrivances have to be overlooked simply for the fact that Let's Kill Uncle is a William Castle film! This is one of his better "screwball horror" films which followed his gimmick horror films.

The old Castle is gone, and the one that emerges wants to focus on black humor, and a kind of family friendly suspense. This considered, it's not so bad. The star is young Pat Cardi, a rich orphan sent to live with his globe-trotting war hero uncle, Nigel Green. Cardi befriends Mary Badham, who is being sent to live with her aunt Linda Lawson on the same island. The two are warned not to go near the old deserted hotel, so of course, that's where they head first, only to encounter a shark in the murky swimming pool (the same shark stock footage is shown several times throughout the film) and they sense danger all around, but the grownups auntie Lawson and Robert Pickering (a detective hired to safely transport Cardi) don't believe them, and are busily involved with each other.

Nigel Green is amusing, from his judo practice to his hammy meal presentation wearing a big chef's hat, but he's up-front with Cardi. He's out to kill the kid for his fortune, via hypnosis, poison mushrooms, the pool shark, whatever it takes. It becomes 'who can outwit who - the kids versus the uncle, to survive. There's nothing really scary here, and the slight wackiness of Green keeps the viewer from feeling any real suspense, but it is sort of a fun watch.

I prefer Castle's acid pit or blood filled bathtub for memorable gimmicks but I'd give this a solid 6/10.

This seems among the hardest of Castle's efforts to come by: there is no legitimate home video release of it and, in fact, I had first acquired a poor-quality copy taken from a 16mm print but have now upgraded to a superior (if still rather soft) one sourced from TCM just in time for its inclusion in my ongoing centenary tribute to the director. The film, then, definitely takes him off the chiller course – opting for a black comedy vein which he would retain for his two subsequent efforts (both awaiting their turn, to be sure, in my current schedule), namely THE BUSY BODY and THE SPIRIT IS WILLING (both 1967). Besides, children are once again put at the forefront of the cast (and murder victim) list – as had been the case with the recently-viewed 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS (1963) and I SAW WHAT YOU DID (1965).

The movie could well be confused with Nigel Patrick's HOW TO MURDER A RICH UNCLE (1957) but, here, we have a villainous relative trying to dispose of the rightful heir to a fortune – so the latter, a boy, decides to do the older man in himself before he can succeed in his nefarious scheme…hence the title and, by extension, the delightful irony of the central situation! Adding to the amusement is the fact that, though the child is ostensibly protected by a police sergeant, the latter is totally oblivious to the battle-of-wills going on around him! Besides, the kid is a compulsive liar, for which he is constantly berated by his girl companion – played by Mary Badham of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) fame – and of whose own female guardian the cop soon becomes enamoured. Most important of all, the uncle is a veritable (and published) WWII hero – so that his endeavours to get-rich-quick involve militaristic strategies, and a good deal of cold-bloodedness!

While the film is certainly no lost classic, it receives a definite boost once nominal star Nigel Green (in one of his best screen roles) gets his belated introduction; among the most inventive attempts by the protagonists to outdo each other are a precarious walk near a clifftop while under a hypnotic spell; a fall into a murky pool in which a shark is at large; the 'is it or isn't it?' poisoned mushroom sauce at dinner; a flight in a private plane with a low fuel supply; and a tarantula attack. The ending, then, which puts the deadly game squarely at a draw can be seen as a cop-out – but also that Castle was only pulling our leg throughout or, if you like, having some typically ghoulish fun at our expense…despite not having an accompanying gimmick this time around or, as it turned out, ever again!

Orphaned, imaginative youngster (Pat Cardi), living on an isolated (some say haunted!) island with his uncle (Nigel Green), learns that his bug-eyed relative wants him dispatched permanently in order to cash in on the lad's $5M inheritance. The boy then involves his bickering playmate (Mary Badham) in turning the tables on the nefarious grown-up, who seems to take delight in this deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Screenwriter Mark Rodgers, working from a novel by Rohan O'Grady, and Castle appear to be targeting the family audience with this thriller. Much like their goal, the film is curious and intriguing without being truly provocative. The kids plot to poison Uncle with mushrooms but are somehow thwarted, while Uncle--armed with a can of gasoline--attempts to set the two on fire (but how would he explain their deaths to the authorities?). You absolutely cannot look for logic in a Castle screamer, but imagine how good--if not great--his films might have been with a little smarts! *1/2 from ****

Although I haven't seen the movie in well over twenty years, I distinctly remember some classically original scenes--a shark circling in the swimming pool is at the forefront of these scenes.

There is a charm to the movie hard to put one's finger on. Perhaps it's a film that begs (and succeeds) to bring out the adventurous core-child in each of us.

The problem: I've been searching for this movie for over twenty years. If I can buy a copy from someone, or if someone knows when it might be aired....PLEASE let me know.

Thank you, Jay