The Name of the Game Is Kill

1968 "You can't buy a ticket to see this movie unless ... you sign a pledge not to reveal the surprise shock ending."
5.8| 1h24m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 01 May 1968 Released
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Info

A desert family offers a traveling stranger its hospitality, but the stranger doesn't realize exactly what they have in store for him.

Genre

Thriller

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Director

Gunnar Hellström

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The Name of the Game Is Kill Audience Reviews

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Wizard-8 I had heard that "The Name of the Game Is Kill!" had a big twist at its end when I first learned about the movie, so I made an extra effort not to learn any more about the movie before watching it so that the big twist would not be spoiled for me. Just a few minutes ago, I finished watching the movie. Was the so-called big twist worth the wait? Eh, not really. While I admit that I was not expecting it, at the same time it was a twist that has been done in many other movies before and since. Maybe in 1968 the twist was more fresh, but today it doesn't seem all that special. So that leaves the rest of the movie to make up for things. I will admit the low budget and crude look give the movie a kind of raw spirit at times, making the story more convincing than had it been done with a lot of polish. And there are a few mildly creepy moments here and there. But for the most part, the story plays out in a humdrum fashion. It doesn't help that there are a few plot details that are not made clear by the freeze-frame end, leaving me mystified with what exactly happened in the tragic (I think) past of the characters. I've seen many thrillers that are a lot worse, I admit, but all the same there isn't enough here to make this a real grabber.
qormi Yeah I guessed the ending right from the start. It was so obviious. I guess it was a huge shocker back then but not so much now. Jack Lord with the Hungarian accent was pretty cool. He was a great actor. Susan Strasberg was so incredibly beautiful in this and such a powerful actress. I can't understand why her career was relegated to guest spots on various TV shows. She should have been an A lister in the movies. The actresses who played her sisters were gorgeous too. All in all, this film was low budget and ultimately weak.
JICoutelle63 This movie was interesting at best for this time era. It was a true thriller and most appealing to audiences around the world. I especially liked the differences between the three sisters, in which they all had various personalities and desires for this Hungarian drifter that happened to stop at the gas station in need of help. Jack Lord played a most interesting role as did the other members of the cast and I had found the sisters to be very desirable to Jack Lord and he did not see what was ahead of him before they tried to kill him by running him over the bridge. Each sister played a very different role in what they had in store for this Hungarian man and in the end it was a cliff hanger. Very much enjoyed for a film produced in the late 60's. A remake of this film would be very enlightening. Jeanelle Todd
EyeAskance Jack Lord provides a commendable performance here as a Hungarian drifter roaming the desolate American southwest. Offered lodging by three odd sisters and their equally odd mother(who are operating a last-chance gas station in a nearly abandoned town), all initially seems well enough...but little by little, bizarre secrets are revealed, and a mystery unfolds which puts our hero in mortal danger. Deceit and seduction play him like a fiddle from hell, and all parties are suspect.Effectively eerie in a strange, evanescent way, THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL draws great benefit from a creditable music score and some surprisingly creative location filming by pre-famed Vilmos Zsigmond.A pretty elusive second-string flick which has all but disappeared since its initial theatrical run, grey-market copies circulating online tend to be terribly washed-out. Sadly, that will just have to suffice ad interim until a much-anticipated legit release is brought forward. Give it a whirl, especially if you enjoy delirious 60s relics the likes of SPIDER BABY, LADY IN A CAGE, WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR, and ANGEL, ANGEL, DOWN WE GO.6.5/10