Tuer n'est pas jouer

...which is a no-budget thriller.

Two teenage girls (Sara Lane, Andi Garrett) make prank phone calls saying the title line. By mistake they call Steve Marak (John Ireland) who's just killed his wife. Then things get out of control.

One of William Castle's low budget horror films that he churned out in the 1960s. None of them are that good but this is definitely one of the better ones. It's photographed in moody black & white and director Castle makes excellent use of darkness (notice all the darkness above the girls when they make the calls) and shadows and fog (which inexplicably shows up at the end). There's also a very vicious shower stabbing in the first 20 minutes with shots obviously imitating "Psycho". There are also quite a few good moments calculated to make you jump.

On the debit side--there's not enough story even for 83 minutes; Joan Crawford (dressed to the 9s for no reason) is wasted as a next-door neighbor; Ireland is stone-faced throughout; Lane and Garrett are horrible actresses (and, tellingly, never made another movie) and the script has lines that no teenager would utter.

Still, there are worse ways to kill 90 minutes and the jolts in this film do work. Worth seeing if you're a horror fan.