Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
Directors
Die, Monster, Die\! Film Details
Overview: A young man visits his fiancée’s estate to discover that her wheelchair-bound scientist father has discovered a meteorite that emits mutating radiation rays that have turned the plants in his greenhouse to giants. When his own wife f
Tagline: No one can stop this killing machine….It’s Already Dead!!!
Review: This film was originally called “Die, Monster, Die!” But later changed to “Monster of Terror”, in truth both titles don’t really do the film justice, maybe something like “Meteorite of Mutation” would have been more accurate. What you have here is an American International Pictures film directed by Daniel Haller and based on a story from H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space”. The big draw to this film is the presence of Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson and Suzan Farmer – although the keen eyed watchers will notice Patrick Magee too. Stephen Reinhart (Adams), an American science graduate with an attitude (you’ll notice why comparisons where drawn to James Dean, not just in appearing with Dean in “Rebel without a cause” but also his on-screen broody, moody presence) visits the small village of Arkham (a fictional place created by Lovecraft, not to be confused with the Arkham of the Batman universe) in England to see his fiancé. Upon arriving in the village the locals are rude and unhelpful upon learning that he is due to visit the Witley estate. Nobody wants to help him or point him in the direction of the estate, he even gets rejected at the bicycle hire shop, he ends up walking there himself. He is greeted by Nahum Witley (Karloff), his fiancé Susan’s (Farmer) father, who is a wheelchair bound former scientist. Nahum tries to warn Reinhart away before he sees Susan but it doesn’t happen, Susan has asked for help with her mother (Jackson) who is bedridden and undergoing a hideous change which makes her sensitive to light and seems to be decaying her body slowly. Letitia, Susan’s mother, also tries warning Reinhart, asking him to take Susan far away from the estate. Reinhart does try to leave but Susan doesn’t want to and rebuffs his attempts. Strange things start to happen, notably Merwyn (Terence De Marny) the butler dies. Reinhart begins exploring and asking questions, before too long he starts suspecting Mr Witley is the cause of the problems, this comes to a head when Reinhart and Susan break into the greenhouse and find a mysterious green glowing rock which seems to be helping plants and vegetation grow to gigantic proportions, not to mention the fact that alien lifeforms seem to be living in the greenhouse too. Initially the assumption through the film is that Witley had been dabbling with evil and the black arts however the truth is much more simple; some years ago a meteorite crashed near the estate and Witley had been harvesting the radioactive properties of the space rock. Witley was under the impression the rock was sent from heaven from one of his ancestors and the problems occurring are an ancestral curse, instead his old scientific mind doesn’t see the truth. Can Reinhart save Susan and himself before it’s too late or will Witley’s insanity prevail and allow radiation to eat everybody up? This is a great looking film considering it was made in 1965. Despite it looking like a widescreen film it wasn’t shot like this, post production magic makes it look better than it actually is. Colour is vivid throughout it’s only let down by some of the special effects in the later parts of the film but I can forgive these blemishes on the film as it’s older than I am and CGI wasn’t possible back then. There is a constant mist or miasma surrounding the location which adds to the Gothic feel of this picture. The acting is great, Karloff and Adams both deliver believable and dark performances while Susan is a ditsy damsel who needs saving from herself as much as anybody else. Patrick McGee’s appearance seems to be a typically pointless appearance much like his appearances in other films. The story is a little confusing to some people I know who have watched this but it’s not that difficult if you persevere with it, it’s just a little odd in it’s own Gothic horror way. I think the first half of the film is more mysterious and suspense filled which conflicts with the last half as this is more of a creature feature horror film. All in all this is an enjoyable if slightly nostalgic film which while outdated by today’s standard is a fun 80 minutes for horror fans. I’m awarding this 6 out of 10.
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Duration: 80 min
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Sci-Fi
Also known as: Die Monster,Monster of Terror,The Monster in the House at the End of the World,The House at the End of the World,Die, Monster, Die!,Dö, monster, dö!,Помри, монстре, помри,House at the End of the World,Morre, Monstro, Morre!,Умри, чудовище, умри!,Pahan kasvot,La morte dall’occhio di cristallo,Morte Para Um Monstro,Giń Stworze, giń!,悪霊の棲む館,Das Grauen auf Schloss Witley,Bootschapper van de duivel,Terror bajo tierra,Le messager du diable,Умри, монстр, умри!,El monstruo del terror,Colour Out of Space,¡Muera monstruo, muera!