2hotFeature
one of my absolute favorites!
Humbersi
The first must-see film of the year.
Kaydan Christian
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
LobotomousMonk
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.
Michael_Elliott
Let's Kill Uncle (1966) * 1/2 (out of 4)The more work I see from William Castle the more I'm starting to realize that without Vincent Price or another star then the director struggled quite a bit. I don't think it's his direction that really killed everything he was involved in but there's no question that he was doing some rather strange movies during this period of his career. In the film, young Barbaby (Pat Cardi) has $5 million left to him after his father died in a car crash. He goes to an island to live with his WW2 vet uncle (Nigel Green) and soon the boy realizes that his uncle is trying to kill him for the money. Barnaby and a female friend (Mary Badham) decide the best thing to do is just kill the uncle first. Three years prior to this film Castle made 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS!, which was a strange mix of Nancy Drew and Cold War but the strangest thing about that film is that it put young girls in violence and sexual situations and I really wondered who in their right mind would want to watch a film like that. I felt the same way with this thing because who wants to watch a childish film about an uncle wanting to kill this kid or having the tables turned and the two kids killing the uncle? Castle brings a very childish tone to the entire film and for the life of me I couldn't figure out who he was making this thing for. Adults are going to be bored out of their minds and wondering why they're watching a movie about kids being targets and kids are simply going to hit the stop button within a few minutes of the film starting. I'm sure some would defend the light story and the simple direction but to me the thing had a very bad pace and it just never picked up any steam as it went along. The horror elements are basically a deformed cripple guy, some spiders and a swimming pool with a shark in it. Not very scary. None of the performances are all that impressive either with Green going way over the top and not making a for a very interesting character. Cardi is extremely bland in his part and at times he's so annoying that you'll be rooting for the uncle. Badham is best known for her work in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and this would be her last film until 2005. LET'S KILL UNCLE is pretty rare in terms of Castle's work and there's a good reason that this thing is still sitting in a vault.
bkoganbing
This is one of the weirdest films I've ever run into. Not great or even good, but totally strange.Young Pat Cardi's multi-millionaire father dies in a car crash and he inherits the wealth, but has to go to live with his uncle Nigel Green, a most mysterious individual who lives on an island that sharks abound in the waters around. It wasn't always so, at one time the island wherever it is was a tourist spot. But the multiplying sharks did drive the tourists away and then the natives of the island whose living depended on the tourist trade.Cardi's whose wealth and new position even merits a policeman accompanying him in the person of Robert Pickering. Also on the ship is Mary Badham, a young girl going to live with an aunt on the island played by Linda Lawson.These two have not had Beaver Cleaver childhoods and they fight a lot, but are drawn to each other, especially when it turns out that Nigel Green is trying to kill Cardi and grab his brother's money for himself. When he doesn't succeed the kids decide to do it to him before he does it to them.Directed by horror specialist William Castle, Let's Kill Uncle marked the nadir of his career. It's a black comedy that simply doesn't work. In fact the two kids are so annoying and obnoxious one is wishing Green actually did kill them. As for Nigel Green he saunters through the whole procedure with a twinkle in his eye and the satisfied look of a man knowing paycheck had already cleared the bank.No frights in this film even with the menacing sharks who even turn up in the swimming pool. Just a lot of guffaws.
jarthurconley
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
