Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

ofumalow The six is not exactly for quality by any normal standard, but for sheer curiosity value--the curiosity of both what's on screen and whatever went on off-screen. Because this is one of those movies that should come annotated with the story of its production history; you get a very strong sense that the money ran out or something before they were finished shooting, necessitating a very awkward patch-up in the editing room that's disjointed and has some very cheesy, even amateurish elements (like the "ghost's" silly voice-over comments) alongside very accomplished and daring ones.Culp plays a man who enrages his brother (heard, but not seen) by quitting whatever their business is. Over the objections of the wife (Eggar) he already has unspecified problems with--for one thing, she's always at his throat--he insists they move into the wrecked house of a late grandfather he knows almost nothing about. We hear the grandfather ("the Major") on the soundtrack say that he wouldn't let the property be changed while he was alive, so why should he while he's dead? He also periodically moans "Go awaaaaaay!" or "She's miiiiine!" (re: Eggar) in a ghostly manner, and is occasionally seen in shadow or in mirrors. Although in the end it seems just as likely that what happens is because Culp is delusional with a history of instability (this is just hinted at), not because of any supernatural interference.What starts out looking like a standard haunted-house thriller with some apparent missing scenes and weird dialogue is flavored a few times early on by some psychedelic nudie stuff in Culp's fevered brain. Then around the 45 minute point he walks out of the house after some coitus interruptus (why, we're not sure, although the wife says "If you don't know why I can't tell you"--?!?!), hops on the mystery white horse sometimes lollying about the grounds, and rides it right into the local barn dance/hippie hootenanny/saloon joint. Soon the square dancing turns more abstract, everybody's clothes come off--it's possible the extras were all in some actual dance troupe--and Robert Culp is eventually starkers, and I do mean undeniably full-frontal for QUITE a while, along with everyone else. The subsequent orgy spills out into the forest, with more interpretive-dance moves incorporated. This fascinatingly bizarre and over-the-top sequence reminded me both of the original "Wicker Man" (cuz this dance-slash-orgy-slash-ritual seems to be some sort of regular local pagan practice, if it's not simply Culp's hallucination) and the famous orgy at the titular place in "Zabriskie Point."Just about everything else in "Name for Evil" is a mess of the type that, as previously mentioned, suggests some production problems that were beyond help in the editing room- -if indeed the editing didn't make things worse. There are movies in which the disjointedness is intentional, to blur reality and fantasy, an approach that would be apt here. But you can tell the awkward assembly and odd gaps aren't part of a plan, but rather a somewhat desperate attempt to weld together a movie whose original plan fell through--for whatever logistical or creative-differences reason. Egger's character just comes off as a stock adversarial-wife "bitch," though moments suggest we're supposed to be wondering whether we're viewing her through clear eyes or Culp's distorto-vision. That idea seems another casualty of whatever untold crises befell the film-making. Culp really lets it all hang out (yeah ha ha, but I don't just mean it literally) as a hero who might or might not be mad--it's a measure of the film's disorganization that it doesn't seem to know, either.This certainly isn't a success as horror movie or anything else straightforward. But if you're fond of WTF-inducing curiosities from the medium's counterculture-influenced years, you-- and probably nobody else--will consider it a real find.

bribabylk ...the only upside of which is that Robert Culp has his only--as far as I know--full frontal nude scene. At least he got it in before he went too much to seed. It's amusing to watch him as Debra's Dad on "Everybody Loves Raymond" and think to yourself, "I've seen this man completely, utterly, stark raving naked!" Other than that and the beautifully photographed surroundings of the house and woods, there's not much to recommend it, especially if you like leaving a movie with some small insight as to what the heck happened. The ending is particularly unsatisfying, with Samantha Eggar apparently being murdered by Culp. Did Culp's ancestor--the builder of the house--possess him and make him do it because he resented the renovations to his home? Did he also make him participate in a hippie orgy? The spirits are silent on this matter.

reikigirl06 This movie is pure early 70's kitsch and the best for Robert Culp (I Spy) and Samantha Eggar fans. All of those wonderful clothes that are more like costumes; "in" clothing and decor that collectors would love to find in the second-hand shops now; "mod" architecture; Culp and Eggar in their prime. It is the sort of slow-moving tale of a haunt that is more in line with the black and white films of the 40s and 50s where all of the terror came from shadows and angles and fear of the "unseen". Think of "The Uninvited" or "Cat People", the original "Haunting of Hill House", "The turn of the Screw" etc. Just perfect for a lazy late-night or early a.m. with nothing else to do! I enjoyed it. Not for those looking for fast-breaking terror, though.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Sloppy and confusing haunted house movie that seems to have been spliced together by a bunch of film editors who were high on Johnny Walker Black.Nothing in the film "A Name for Evil" makes any sense including it's "Suprise Ending" which is no surprise at all since like the rest of the movie it predictably makes no sense to those of us watching it. Robert Culp as John Blake looks more confused and disoriented in the film then scared as the owner of "The Major's" place that was left to him by his great-granddaddy "The Major" who was a captain in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. There's also a very unemotional scene, on John's part, at the funeral of John's younger brother Moss who was killed during the fighting in the War in Vietnam which has, or seems to have, nothing to do with the movie. At the start of the film "A Name for Evil" we have John quit his job as a big city architect and check out to the Vancouver countryside into his great-granddad "The Major's" place. John wants to get away from the dog-eat-dog world that he's been living in all his adult life thats been burning him out. At first you think that John's wife Joanna, Samantha Eggar, wasn't going with him since she thought he was a bit too hasty in his plans.Later Joanna pops up, like a ghost, at "The Major's" place and together with John they both start to get the place fixed up where they can live in it. John also gets Fats, Mike Lane, the local hotel manager car mechanic cook and all around handyman to have a number of the towns locals to also help fix up "The Major's" place. We later see workmen discover a hidden room in "The Major's" place where'The Major" kept his most secret papers and documents that hasn't been touched for some fifty years. Were never told just what was the reason for them being there in the first place, wasn't anyone interested in finding out what was in them? Later a bunch of John and Joanna's friends stop over at "The Major's" place for the weekend to talk about old times. John, bored with the meaningless chit-chat goes outside and sees "The Major's" white horse, who if alive must have been close to 100 years old. Without a second thought John suddenly jumps on it's back and rides into town as it dumps John inside the local bar. Getting up off the floor John parties with the people there in a drunken orgy! Was there supposed to be some hidden symbolism in this totally senseless scene? Striking up a friendship with local girl Luanna Baxter, Sheila Sullivan, John and Luanna end up both drunk and in bed together the next morning from the all night partying. Going back to "The Major's" with his car, not his horse, John is surprised shocked confused, like all of us watching the movie, and finally outraged by Joanna's accusations of him brutalizing and beating her up the night before! Being that John was with Luanna at the time he tells Joanna that she's nuts for saying what she did about him and that he could prove that he didn't. That truth by spending the night with Luanna was almost as bad, in Joanna's mind, as abusing and beating her. John in a fit of fury drives back to town to get Luanna to prove his innocence which sets up the films "Suprise Ending" that confuses you even more then you were confused already by the movie up till then."A Name for Evil" is both an eyesore and headache to anyone trying to watch and understand just what it's trying to tell you which only those who wrote the script really know for sure..I Think?