Let's Kill Uncle

William Castle perhaps wasn't the greatest horror director in history, but he remains - and deservedly so - a favorite of many fans who don't take themselves, nor the genre, too serious. Castle is most legendary for his gimmick-featuring semi-classics, like "The Tingler" and "House on Haunted Hill", but he also made a variety of lesser-known films, like the child-friendly, but certainly not too childish, "Let's Kill Uncle".

When a millionaire (cameo by Castle himself) dies in a vicious car crash, his only son is escorted by a police officer to go and live on the island mansion of his uncle Kevin Harrison; - his only living relative and a former war-hero. The arrogant kid, Barnaby, and the police officer arrive on the island first, and make friends with a woman and her niece. When uncle Kevin finally arrives, he makes it abundantly clear to Barnaby straight away that he intends to kill him, because he's broke and needs to inherit the complete fortune of his brother. Since the adults don't believe him, Barnaby teams up with the little niece and decide it's best to kill the uncle before he kills them.

The goofy but effective premise only kicks in gear when Nigel Green (as uncle) arrives on the island in his plan, and for some strange reason this takes more than half an hour. The start is thus slow, but Green compensates for this tremendously with a fantastically over-the-top performance. The death traps are also very ingenious with a shark in the hotel pool, tarantulas, and a walk towards the edge of cliff while hypnotized. The ending is a bit of a downer, but by then the film already earned a place in your heart.

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

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 ****

One of Castle's oddest entries concerns an orphaned boy who is due to get an inheritance. However, his evil uncle has plans to kill the boy before he can collect. Between the boy and a girl he meets on the island where he's staying with friends, they cook up a plan to thwart the uncle's plans. There is a long sequence near the end involving hypnotism, a shark and a pool that is too strange for words.

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.