The Name of the Game Is Kill + The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
The Cinefamily – Los Angeles, CA
3/30/10

The Cinefamily simply can’t get enough of insane backwoods psycho-thrillers; they always deliver heaps of tension, whacked senses of humor, uncomfortably maniacal sexuality and a good ol’ bloodletting or two. The Name Of The Game Is Kill is one of the rarest and coolest of all late ’60s “Southern Discomfort” films, starring Jack Lord (“Hawaii Five-O”) as transient Hungarian émigré Symcha, who’s picked up by mysterious beauty Mickey (Susan Strasberg, The Trip), outside a semi-deserted town. Nothing unusual abounds for, oh, about two minutes or so, until she takes him back to her family’s decaying gas station to snare him in a murderous web of lust and deceit alongside her balmy sisters — and their estranged mother. Loosely inspired by screenwriter Gary Crutcher’s own experiences, the film contains “moments of Bava-like brilliance” (Joe Dante!, Castle Of Frankenstein), deft camerawork by a young Vilmos Zsigmond, a haunting score by Stu Phillips, and a creepy twist ending for the ages! Gary Crutcher, Vilmos Zsigmond and Stu Phillips will all be here at the Cinefamily for a post-film Q&A, and the first 100 ticketholders will receive a free The Name of The Game Is Kill prize pack!

The Name Of The Game Is Kill Dir. Gunnar Hellström, 1968, 35mm, 84 min. (Restored 35mm print courtesy of The George Eastman House)

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud Dir. J. Lee Thompson, 1975, 35mm, 105 min.

***
Via The Cinefamily