...there's no doubt, director Alfred Hitchcock's terrifying classic 1960 horror/thriller, indelibly left it's mark on world-wide cinema. Since the film's influential inception, and well into the inspired horror, terror & thriller-flavored productions of today, the multiple-personality, schizophrenic psycho killer...given twistedly skewed and underlining motivations, as well as often deceptive and compelled appearances & visages...these bad boys (...and sometimes, bad gals) seductively draw in the unwary and unsuspecting, taking them to the point of no return...no escape...and without warning, strike with maligned intent, knowing little of what is right or wrong...often, not even caring about the two...the cold-hearted, alluring spider, drawing in the flies. Mad & maniacal 'mickey mouse' role call...sound off, now: 1961's "Homicidal"...1980's "Silent Scream"...1964's "Strait Jacket"...1973's "Sisters"...1982's "Pieces"...1992's "Raising Caine"...2012's "Maniac"...1980's "Dressed to Kill" (...notice the obvious emphasis on director Brian de Palma)...1976's "Schizo"...1980's "Fade to Black"...and so many countless others...both prominent and obscure...it might be understandable that something worth noting...something almost forgotten, though no less inspired and powerhouse, in it's presence...something razor-edge terrifying...something under-the-skin creepy...something...something like...
...after a most tense and uncomfortable dinner, where the sisters and their mother exhibit some rather odd, feigned and contemptible behavior...including Mickey herself, who is suddenly and inexplicably repellent of Sym...he warily retires for the evening, unnerved and spooked over the days' proceedings. With a snake found in his bed, being the final straw in these creepy sequences of events, Sym skips out on his own, early in the morning. Before one can say, "...uh, not so fast, Sym", his unannounced fast getaway is cut short, when he is brutally and mysteriously run down on the highway. Waking up in the local county hospital, Sym is queried by the county's sheriff, who relates an odd story of intrigue and mystery, involving the bizarre activity and behavior of the seemingly sinister sisters and their mother, especially when it comes to men and strangers, invading the sheltered sanctity of their lives...including unveiled & indeterminate family secrets, multiple & contradictory versions of the story regarding the death of the girls' father, and an unsolved case involving the mysterious disappearance of Mickey's fiancee...
...and so, upon release from medical care, does our further spooked and intrepid Sym make tracks, hit the road, and head off into the sunset, for parts unknown?? Why, of course not!! Sym...still embracing an affection for Mickey, and figuring that, despite her bizarre and erratic behavior, might well feel underliningly trapped in her own environment...heads back to the shanty, dust-swept town of Jerome, in hopes of possibly taking her away. However, once he gets there, his return is hardly reciprocated and embraced, and his very life is rendered negligible, as he becomes further embroiled in a potentially fatal, emotional mire, as well as becoming an expendable piece in the deadly game of these psycho sisters...with everything culminating in a gruelling clash of rage & survival...and a most relevating, heinous and diabolical conclusion...
...despite the view-rarity, as well as the initial sense of Psycho-flavored contrive of a film like "The Name of the Game...is Kill" (...word has it, for years, reels of the film have been available, but not in their entirety...or at least not enough to warrant release...until recently, when the lost footage was located), this edgy thriller packs a pretty good wallop, and is chuck full of unconventionality, chills and surprises. An unnervingly hazy opening credit vignette of shots from some of the more chilling images from the film, without really giving anything away, really gets things started on an arcane note. And what?? Who is that, dog-tiredly walking into the camera view, from the heat-waved distance on the road, in the opening shot?? Is that...is that Jack Lord?? I mean, the "...book 'em, Danno!!", 'Hawaii Five-O", Jack Lord?? Why, yes it is, folks...and in a most vulnerable and unconventional role, no less (...sporting a rather unusual, albeit quite effective European accent), as Sym, the initially unwary traveling stranger in these proceedings' midst, who at several crucial points of intent in this tension-filled thriller, finds himself well over his head...purposely placing himself in danger's path...coerced to following his heart, over his head (...some might even perhaps coin a 'thinking with the wrong 'head' suggestion). His object of affection: Susan Strasberg, as Mickey, effectively the lesser and weaker of the sinister sisters, herein...though no less mentally unstable. Susan, of course, would go on to other classic and similarly themed genre & cult notables, including the 1961 Hammer chiller, "Scream of Fear", 1967's "The Trip", 1968's "Psych-Out", 1981's "Bloody Birthday, 1974's "Psycho Sisters", and one of this viewer's most favorites, the 1978 horror classic, "The Manitou"...
...the fine folks over at VCI Entertainment has generously ushered in 'writer of TV's 'Gunsmoke' director Gunner Hellstrom's forgotten genre classic, with quite the literally royal treatment, starting with a sharp, though drive-in style gritty 1:78:1 print, and crisp Dolby aural enhancement. Screenwriter Gary Crutcher (...1972's "Stanley") gives us viewer some fascinating insight on the conception, response and re-discovery of this lost film, with not only an engrossing audio commentary, but also, a new and original, 'making of' documentary, poignantly entitled "Psycho's Sister". And producer Joe Solomon is given an appreciative spotlight, fondly exhuing his support work, in embraced schlock classics, like 1967's "Hell's Angels on Wheels", 1969's "Run, Angel, Run", 1971's "Simon, King of the Witches" & "Werewolves on Wheels" and 1972's Horror on Snape Island", amongst several others. Add a respectable cache of promotional material for the film, and elated viewer like ourselves, will not help ourselves, but to celebratively applaud VCI's magnificent efforts on their release of this long-sought film classic...
...yeah, right.....as if this long-forgotten, long-sought (...amidst devoted videophiles) release didn't already have a delicious plethora of surprises, already...
...with a brilliantly rendered supporting cast...including T.C. Jones (...of 1964's "3 Nuts, in Search of a Bolt" and 1968's "Head"), Tisha Sterling (...of 1965's "Village of the Giants", 1968's "Coogan's Bluff" and 1975's "Crazy Mama", amongst others), and Collin Wilcox Paxton (...of 1962's "To Kill a Mockingbird", followed by a favored folio of television work), not to mention a surprising addition of song selections by psychedelic rockers, The Electric Prunes', "The Name of the Game...is Kill" might wear a slightly deceptive moniker (...this viewer had originally pegged this one as some kind of assassin/hitman/hired killer action-thriller), as well as the unfairly contrived stigma of 'knock-off' emulating some of the familiar themes of 1960's "Psycho" (...including a similarly executed advertising promotion), this is assuredly one of the more gripping and suspenseful of psychological thrillers, with it's own unique identity unto itself...a welcome addition to the genre, and highly recommended...providing that uninitiated viewers don't forget to sign the opening pledge, promising not to reveal the 'surprise shock ending'...
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