Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Robert Culp and Samantha Eggar high-tail it from the city into woodsy environs to oversee the renovation of their inherited historic house...a creepy, desolate lakeside place where shadowy phantoms cloaked in darkness whisper orders for the couple to depart.That overview may sound simple enough, but don't be fooled...A NAME FOR EVIL presents more random points of aimless departure than one could possibly imagine. What results is a discursive, audience distancing clusterf--k, replete with earthy, post-psychedelic erotic inclivities. As stated by other reviewers, it's occasionally suggestive of modest professional contributions, chiefly in response to the cinematography and soundtrack, but despite these niceties, A NAME FOR EVIL remains a lead balloon of carelessly overburdened derangement which goes absolutely nowhere, and takes far too many side-roads getting there. A metagrobolized rummage of wandering notions, stuffed into a hand-carried wet paper bag. 3.5/10

...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.

"A Name For Evil" is one of those seventies films that tries to blend a genre (horror, noir, crime, comedy, what-have-you) with the counter culture movement that had caught on by then and become a trendy, pop, fashion movement. Culp, who looks good for his age (he was in his early forties at the time) is way too long in the tooth for hippyville, but still, he's groovy man, really groovy. Clearly this is his movie, with an emphasis on his body rather than the women, evidenced by several beefcake scenes and one full frontal. He and his wife the beautiful Samantha Eggar, live in a not too distant futuristic world of oppression who decide to move to a huge gorgeous ruin of a lake house and go back to nature. The gigantic fixer-upper is haunted by the previous owner, "The Major", who, we are told repeatedly, does not like change. Creepy things happen and are discovered in the house, and go nowhere. Culp and Eggar have marital problems that go nowhere. The most bizarre moment comes late in the film when Culp rides off on a white horse after being unable to make love to his stunning wife. He ends up riding into a hippie hootenanny that quickly becomes a bizarre antique version of a music video with a folk song sung by a sombre looking young man and strange choreographed dance on the part of the youngins. An orgy ensues (natch) and Culp is officially a flower child (make that flower middle aged man, but at this point who cares), then it's back to the house for a stupid ending that tries to shock. I got the feeling during this movie, particularly with the presence of Culp's then wife who plays the hippie chick he hooks up with at the love-in, that this was some sort of excuse for the cast and crew to get away from the city and party. If you're looking for a ghost story or thriller, you'll be disappointed. If you're in the mood for a blast from the seventies past, where men still wore necklaces over flower patterned dress shirts and hated "THE MAN", check it out.

The video box makes "A Name For Evil" look like an ordinary thriller but it's got a very distinct flavor to it. Robert Culp plays a man who gets fed up with the rat race and heads off with his wife (Samantha Eggar) to the forest to try to get himself back together. He soon begins having odd hallucinations. This is where the film comes into it's own. During the scenes in which Culp rides off on a white horse (the spirit of his grand-father) the film seems to become a bizarre nightmare. It gets hard to tell what is real and what is fantasy. It's almost like being on an acid trip. The film is disjointed and confusing at times which makes it annoying but the end result is a most unusual film that lingers in one's mind long after watching it.