Who Killed Who? (1943)

Absolutely Fantastic

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. Tex Avery's 'Who Killed Who' may sound like another one of the many murder mystery in a creepy house endeavours in animation or in film in general, but manages to be much more than that. It has all the murder mystery tropes, the creepy setting, the horror feel, the suspense, the mystery, the suspicious-inducing suspects, but explores it in a way that's imaginative and hilarious at the same time.Not many cartoon cartoons manage to be hilarious, creepy and imaginative, 'Who Killed Who' does and is one of the greatest ever examples. To me, it's one of Avery's greatest too, though he was a master director who was responsible for so many very good to classic cartoons and even his weaker efforts would induce the envy of any animation directors at their worst.All the characters are entertaining and induce the right amount of suspicion. The voice acting is in true bravura-style particularly from Billy Bletcher. The narration sets up the ominous tone to perfection, and the live action is blended ingeniously, the two being blended several times in film/cartoon history to variable effect. For every 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' there's also the likes of 'Rock a Doodle'.Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.On top of the creepy tone and murder mystery story, there are still the classic Avery jokes and sight gags with witty dialogue and the characteristic wildness. Everything is timed immaculately and the ending is a knockout.It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.Altogether, an animated who-dunnit that is an example to all. 10/10 Bethany Cox

WHO KILLED WHO? is one of the the funniest,cleverest and fastest cartoons produced in Hollywood's golden era,by arguably it's most crazily inventive animator,Tex Avery.The story itself is clichéd,a parody of "Old Dark House" melodramas,but the ever brilliant Avery manages to cram in scores of hilarious,often outrageously funny gags every 20 seconds or so,with only a very small number not quite coming off.Most of the jokes,however,succeed outstandingly,and linger in the viewer's memory long afterwards.Avery was justly celebrated for his bizarrely warped,delightfully surrealistic flights of fancy in many of his subjects,which proved to any doubters that the visual possibilities in animation were infinite.In his greatest cartoons,he perhaps produced some of the most extraordinary imagery ever witnessed on film.Just because they were often just 7-8 minutes long,they should not be dismissed as mere filler material.This is a grievous disservice;WHO KILLED WHO? maybe the best out of many outstanding examples of the uniquely distorted genius that was Tex Avery.RATING:9 out of 10.

What can you say about a cartoon featuring the vocal talents of Billy Bletcher (best known as Pegleg Pete in Disney shorts) and Richard Haydn (character actor) and spoofing everything from detective stories to Red Skelton (twice)? This kitchen-sink cartoon is just great, with the most disturbing household staff this side of Lurch and Thing. Also the best Santa Claus gag I've ever seen in a cartoon. One of the few (perhaps the only) time Tex used full animation in conjunction with live action footage, although he did do two of the "Speaking of Animals" shorts for Twentieth Century-Fox. Well worth seeing. Most highly recommended.

This is one of Tex Avery's three must-be-seen masterpieces (the other two, in case you're wondering, are "Red Hot Riding Hood," also 1943, and "King-Size Canary," 1947). It is a spoof of the then popular but now all-but-forgotten "old dark house" sub-genre of comedy-mysteries. Who but Avery could so successfully parody something that was supposed to be funny to begin with? The film moves at such a lightning pace that when a forties pop-culture reference (e.g. the Jerry Colonna imitation among the falling bodies; Red Skeleton/Skelton) pops up to confuse younger viewers, another gag keeps them from being distracted by it. Older audiences, familiar with these icons of an earlier generation, WILL laugh at these bits. And there is plenty of timeless humor here, too. But I've given enough away, already. Again, "Who Killed Who?" is a must-be-seen classic.