The Name of the Game Is Kill (1968)

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.

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.

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

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