The Name Of The Game Is Kill (1968)

A Hungarian drifter (Jack Lord) hitchhiking in the Arizona desert is picked up by a young woman (Susan Strasberg). She takes him to the rundown gas station run by her family which consists of her mother (T.C. Jones) and two sisters (Collin Wilcox, Tisha Sterling). It isn't long before he discovers the family is not only unstable but have a very dark secret. This low budget exploitation film is uneven. The screenplay by Gary Crutcher provides some psychological underpinnings that hold the film together although the "twist" ending doesn't hold much weight or at least is executed poorly. But the film ends with one of the best freeze frame moments I've ever seen. The direction by actor turned director Gunnar Hellstrom (he was the ski instructor in RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE) isn't tight enough but the visual compositions by Vilmos Zsigmond are good enough to suggest that he would soon go on to bigger things (which he did) although the print I saw could really use some restoration. The acting is good except for Lord who not only seems to be walking through his part but has a dreadful Hungarian accent to boot. The film is fairly obscure (only 88 votes on the IMDb) but with a small cult following. With Mort Mills.