Customer Reviews

A Name for Evil

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Contrary to 'that' review this film is quite good. Although not perfect. The lead cast is VERY GOOD. The characters pull you in. The score was actually just released on CD, it is incredible. This is a bizarre film, no doubt. Watch the dream.

If you're watching A NAME FOR EVIL expecting a nail-biting spook-fest, forget it! In reality, this is your typical arty / experimental movie from 1970. Robert Culp is a man in the throes of a mid-life crisis, who quits his corporate job and settles into his great-grandfather's ancient, remote, and dilapidated mansion. This would be fine if he didn't drag his wife (Samantha Eggar from The Collector, and The Brood) along. She thinks he's bananas and is dead-set against the whole idea. Fortunately, the house is apparently haunted by gramps and things get semi-interesting. Culp goes out one night to a local bar, only to find himself stark naked w/ the entire unclothed stage cast of HAIR! After much tribal dancing and various organ flopping, Culp scores w/ some hippie babe. Things get weird from here, w/ plenty of nudity, including underwater shagging! Ms. Eggar's clothes disappear at one point as well, while Culp acts like a goon. ANFE isn't the greatest movie ever made, but if you like late 60s/early 70s "head-trip" films, it should float your yellow submarine just fine, man...

This is one "interesting" and "arcane" little flick. I don't use the adjectives "interesting" or "arcane" to note that this movie is thought provoking or creepy in the sense that you won't be able to sleep. This movie was made in 1973 and in many ways shows, I will return to this notion in a moment.

"A Name for Evil" stars Robert Culp and Samantha Eggar as husband and wife who are experiencing some turbulence in their marriage. This disenchanted couple live in the city and John Blake (Culp) is rather over the metropolis. As chance has it, Mr. Blake inherits his great-grandfather's house out in the country. So Mr. and Mrs. Blake make the move to the country to start over.

Well needless to say once the Blakes reach the home they seem to notice that it might be more than they bargained for. The house needs myriad repairs, since it was built during the Civil War. In addition, some odd things transpire such as wind blowing at random, shadows and a cheesy voice providing foreboding warnings about the house. A house that is haunted? Now this sounds like a pretty awesome set up for a horror movie. Well sadly it sort of falls flat, real flat, so why the higher rating?

This movie is an avant-garde film, regardless if that was the filmmaker's intention or not. This movie takes surrealism and psychedelic aspects to a whole new level. Right down to Robert Culp jumping on a white horse, for no reason whatsoever. This white horse then leads him to a bar where everyone is "like tripping out man", which leads to an orgy and lots of nudity. Under the assumption a person wanted to see Robert Culp bare it all, this movie is your chance. You see full frontal many, many times from Bob.

As noted prior, this movie was made in 1973, so free love and psychedelic and/or intangible elements were at a peak. This gives the movie a frame of reference and is a sign of the times. In addition, this movie is only about seventy-five minutes and feels longer. A viewer will experience moments where nothing is really going on. So again, why the higher rating?

I consider myself an open minded (or deranged) person when it comes to movies. Many viewers would be upset that this movie is a LSD voyage masked as a horror film and justifiably so. I myself was sort of taken back that there wasn't more "macabre" in this film. Nevertheless, Robert Culp gives a fine performance (when did he not), the DVD provides a nice clear picture and I feel any junkie of "off the cuff" cinema might enjoy viewing it. If nothing else, the movie doesn't cost all that much.

Earlier this year Robert Culp passed away, leaving behind him family, friends and fans of his work. Not to mention a plethora in his resume of movies and TV shows, I still love him in the "Greatest American Hero". Mr. Culp was a class act and "A Name for Evil" will demonstrate, at the very least, he had the ability to make a LSD voyage masked as a horror film a movie more interesting than it should have been.

although the storyline is spotty in parts of the movie, the setting and location for the film are superb. What a eerie looking old place. Robert Culp's acting is good, however some of the other characters could have been better. This film is very low budget. Theres supose to be a book that inspired the film, I have yet to find this in print. A city couple move away from the rat race city to start a new life in the greatgrand fathers old mansion in the isolated woods, and are encountered by supernatural forces in a dream like setting. Worth checking out.

Honestly, I didn't even watch this snooze fest all of the way through. Basically, Rubert Culp plays a guy in a failing marriage who, fed up with the rat race, takes his wife to the old homestead, which has fallen into disrepair. The locals in the small town hate them, the problems between he and his wife get worse, and a weird hostile ghost on horseback shows up. If you insist on watching this, wait for it to come back on AMC. Zzzzzzzzzzz.

This film makes no sense. So, these people move into a house, right? It's supposedly haunted, and everytime they move stuff in and take stuff out, some ghost says in the cheesiest voice ever "GO AWWAAAYYY! IT'S MIIINNNE!" And this guy keeps seeing weird things in the house. Well, one night, the guy decides to run out of the house for no reason whatsoever and jumps on a white horse that just happens to be there. He then rides it into some hippy bar, meets a blond chick, bangs her, and then goes back to the house. The wife says that he was hurting her and um...doin' things to himself, if ya' know what I mean. And he denies it and says that he was out all night. And then, he gets in his car, goes to this blond girl's house, and does her underwater. He then goes back to the house and kills his wife under the influence of the cheesey sounding ghosts. The credits roll.

This is a horrible movie. It makes no sense. The acting sucks. It's totally pointless. I can't believe I wasted two dollars on this horrible DVD. The description on the back of the box makes it sound good, but it's not. Avoid this at ALL COSTS! This might actually be worse than a UWE BOLL film...