(1966)
Overall: MEH
William Castle's final film for Universal before switching to Paramount for the remainder of his career, Let's Kill Uncle, (Let's Kill Uncle Before Uncle Kills Us), is an adaptation of Rohan O'Grady's novel of the same name. Like nearly all of Castle's directorial work, the tongue is firmly in cheek here with a macabre premise of a down on his luck, military veteran Uncle trying to off his nephew that is bound to inherit a vast fortune from his wealthy father, (Castle himself in an opening cameo), who recently died in an automobile accident, all played for black humor chuckles. English character thespian Nigel Green is clearly enjoying himself in the title role, with a sly, diabolical twinkle in his eye as he divulges his diabolical plan. That is the problem though in that the plot dictates that he lays out all of his cards to two children as part of a game, but if he just kept his mouth shut like logic would dictate, he probably would have achieved his goal with minimal effort. It is a stretch for the audience to buy into even under such a knowingly goofy presentation, but the film does not afford enough clever set pieces to make the ordeal worth it, so it in turn stands as one of Castle's more lackluster offerings.
(1967)
Overall: MEH
One of a handful of strictly comedic offerings by William Castle, The Spirit Is Willing is largely groan-worthy in its attempts at humor and ranks low on the horror comedy spectrum. An adaptation of Nathaniel Benchley's novel The Visitors, the gags are routinely predictable and often times annoying as a sixteen year old wise-ass is constantly blamed by his parents for any supernatural activity that transpires. This grows old quick as everyone on screen, (including top-billed comedian Sid Caesar), make a joke out of constantly yelling at each other while the parents bend over backwards to get who they believe to be their wildly disobedient and destructive son back in their good graces. Ben Starr's script eventually throws in some homophobic jokes that have obviously not aged well, but they do actually work under such a context where everyone raises eyebrows over Barry Gordon seemingly and inexplicably having an interest in women's undergarments and accessories. Even for an unabashedly lighthearted comedy, the plot line is loaded with logical holes and character inconsistencies, so this is hardly the most clever genre hybrid of its time. Some of Castle's campy charm still manages to rub off in fits and starts, but nowhere near enough to recommend it.
(1968)
Overall: MEH
Forgoing his patented huckster charm with stone-faced science fiction, Project X is a noticeable departure for producer/director William Castle that is at least partially askew from his usual, lighthearted camp. Another adaptation, (this one a conglomerate of L.P. Davies' novels The Artificial Man and Psychogeist), is has tacky production values and skimps on the futuristic setting with a forth of the film taking place at an isolated farm house, presumably to save on budget. The cheap set design, Hanna-Barbara animation, and silly matching outfits still allow this to be classified as schlock, but Castle permits very little humor and presents more of a topical scenario for the time that mirrors the paranoia of the day. Fear of overpopulation and a nuclear, Asian threat looms over the scenario where scientists and military personnel use gobbledygook pseudoscience to unlock repressed memories and whatnot, though Henry Jones seems to be the only actor allowed to smirk his way through some of the proceedings. Elsewhere, it is played straight, yet Castle thankfully had enough chops from behind the lens to keep the viewer interested in a heavily talky plot that still comes awfully close to getting lost in the weeds here or there.
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