Let's Kill Uncle

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.

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

Though it starts off somewhat slowly, things instantly pick up when Nigel Green enters the scene. He is a hoot as the coniving uncle, and his various activities (like practicing judo in the house) and dialogue are hilarious (the breakfast conversation with his nephew is the best such scene. I would say the movie gets better as it goes along, getting more twisted with its black comedy. However, the final minute of the movie is a real disappointment. It's as if the screenwriter was running out of time to submit the script to the studio, and wrote in an ending both strange and feeling unfinished.

It's still worth a look - if you can find it. It seems that Universal has withdrawn the movie for some reason, and currently the only way to watch the movie is through bootlegs. Perhaps the current owners of the studio are uncomfortable with the whole uncle-trying-to-kill-nephew/nephew-trying-to-kill-uncle thing, even though all this is never presented in a serious manner. Let's hope they eventually find a sense of humor.

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 ****

"Let's Kill Uncle!" is an enjoyable black comedy, though a little too soft at the end. Its strongest point is the genuine, natural relationship between Barnaby and Chrissie; both look and act like real (early) teens, smart and resourceful but not "Disneyfied", and both young actors are bright and talented. **1/2 out of 4.