Let's Kill Uncle

"Let's Kill Uncle" (1966) starring Nigel Green, Mary Badham, Linda Lawson, Robert Pickering and Pat Cardi is one of William Castle's rarely seen movies.  This is a child centered story about a 12 year old boy named Barnaby (Cardi) who recently lost his father in an accident and being newly orphaned is being shipped off to his uncle's home on a remote and sparsely populated island in the tropics.  He is being escorted by Sgt. Frank Travis (Pickering).  On the ship to the island Barnaby meets similarly aged girl named Chrissie (Badham) who is going to visit her aunt Justine (Lawson). Barnaby and Chrissie have a tumultuous relationship to say the least with their every present bickering but they soon become friends since they are the only kids on the island. We learn that the island is "cursed" after the sharks inhabited the waters around the island and that is why most people left it.

Barnaby meets his uncle, Major Kevin Harrison (Green) who is an old war hero and he lives in a big house on the island.  Shortly after arriving, Uncle takes Barnaby out on an adventure and ends up hypnotizing him and directing him to walk off a cliff!  Justine ends up finding him before he goes over the cliff.  Barnaby is convinced Uncle wants to kill him which Uncle later confirms by stating he wants the $4 million dollar inheritance that the boy is getting.  Uncle sets out the rules of the game and says whoever kills the other will win.  Of course Barnaby can't convince Frank or Justine but does convince Chrissie who ends up trying to help him kill Uncle.  

This is a fun little thriller!  We have the two kids roaming around an almost deserted island - hanging out in the graveyard, exploring the old deserted hotel which even has an algae covered swimming pool that has a shark in it!  There's a legless man that scoots around the island on a board with wheels.  And there's a cat and mouse game of the uncle trying to kill the kids and the kids trying to kill the uncle.  From this description it wouldn't sound like a fun story but it actually is and like Castle's "I Saw What You Did!" movie that had children as the main stars, this movie is also rather lighthearted.  It's actually a great adventure / thriller for kids.  This movie has never been released on DVD.