blanche-2 Charles Busch has a cult following in New York City, as he's known for his hilarious plays. A few years ago, he broke into the mainstream with the Broadway hit, Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and now there's even a documentary about him. An immensely talented writer, he knows the classic female legends genre backwards and forwards and can play one with the best of them."Die Mommie Die" was originally a Busch play, and the film, albeit low budget, is excellent - actually, all the better because it's low budget. It's a combo of "Dead Ringer," "The Big Cube," "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane," and "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte." Busch plays Angela Arden, who performed with her twin sister Barbara. Angela broke with Barbara and made it big, while Barbara wound up in broken-down supper clubs. Barbara eventually died. Today Angela, a real tramp, is living the high life with a rich husband, a gay son, a Lolita-type daughter, and a young boyfriend (Jason Priestley).Busch is hilarious, looking a bit like Kathy Griffin, wearing fabulous clothes and looking darn good.This film has a gay sensibility, but if you love the old movies it's based on, you should enjoy it. Very high camp.

rcraig62 Die, Mommie, Die! is either camp, or satire, or a satire of camp, it's difficult to tell. And there lies the problem with the movie. It's a takeoff of the sort of Joan Crawford/Bette Davis movies from both their 1940's heyday and the hagbag pictures of the 60's. The range seems to cover the whole lifespan of their careers. It's about a washed-up singer/actress played by a man, Charles Busch, in female regalia, named Angela Arden (The character is aptly named. Busch, in drag, strongly resembles Eve Arden. If only he had her comic timing and delivery, the performance would have been a tour-de-force instead of just a good female impersonation), whose affair with a young gigolo (Jason Priestley) is interrupted by the arrival of her producer-husband (Philip Baker-Hall), from a Madrid vacation, who proceeds to take firm control of his home and marriage, driving Angela to contemplate murder.From there, the plot twists into a series of murders, potential murders, sexual crises, and identity crises. It's funny in places, and has some truly unique comic turns (Angela trying to dispose of her husband with a poisoned suppository is gleefully tasteless, and a secret language spoken by Angela and her son that her husband and daughter can't tap into is a beauty - replete with subtitles, no less). But it tends to lose its place in its own chronology; eras are confused, and we can't make sense of things - the humor doesn't match the genre it's lampooning. The story is supposed to take place in the psychedelic 60's, but at the beginning, we can't place it. When Angela's son tells her he left school because a student demonstration shut the school down, it seems an anachronistic joke. There's nothing to indicate a 60's dressing-down by the kids - they just dress like spoiled Hollywood rich kids. Natasha Lyonne, as Angela's daughter, is clothed like the TV Patty Duke. And while Angela and her husband seem locked in 1940's wardrobe time warp (we suspect that's part of the joke; these people are washed-up in Hollywood because they can't get out of 1949), Angela's slick young gigolo is also dressed in 40's garb, a la Bing Crosby.Busch is really the center of the movie, though. Oddly enough, he manages to be believable in character without being believable as a woman (he gives himself away when he speaks, his tones in the lower register are clearly that of a man, not a deep-chested woman). He gives Angela a flighty, tawdry charm; we sympathize with him/her when Baker-Hall lays down the law and ends all her fun. Angela is made promiscuous without being trashy; she has style, and one can understand how she must have been appealing in her halcyon days of performing. In the musical number performed by Angela, "Why Not Me?", Busch gives Angela her glory, she looks like a star, radiant and engagingly naughty, Busch suggests Bette Midler in the routine. The dubbed-in vocal doesn't quite work, though, it's too tepid; it should have been more ebullient, boisterous, rousing. Baker-Hall is great playing the synthesis of all the Sam Spiegels and Dore Scharies, he's a robust outcast, a wash-up who still has the imagined clout to throw his weight around at home. The only performance that feels wrong is Priestley's; he's too broad, his line readings too self-conscious. The others are playing camp, he's satirizing it, like an actor employed by Mad Magazine. He gave a more creditable performance as the teen heartthrob in Love and Death on Long Island, maybe that's all he'll ever be. He doesn't have the sophistication to play a gigolo, he lacks a richness and a physical imposition. He's too boy-next-door, even with bags under his eyes that are making him look like Fred Allen.Die, Mommie, Die! does have some good laughs in it, and the performances, especially Busch's and Baker-Hall's, are really a kick. It doesn't quite capture the Crawford/Davis oeuvre too well, though. That province still belongs to the real stars.

trhendricks1966 Yes it i campy, yes it is a "gay" flick (whatever that is)... but it is a great Indy film which uses good old fashioned stagecraft and leave the FX to other films with lesser plots. Of course I am not gay, but I love good film. and this is good film.I have read the commentary on the DVD and I was touched that they even mentioned the Architect of the house. As an architect myself, I know we are a hidden bunch. The home is a great piece of California Hillside architecture, and Paul Williams is a master.An interesting point is this film was shot in 18 days...I read a snippet where this was not in Nebraska.... Well after living here 15 years, I could provide Mr. Busch with enough material about Norfolk to keep him busy for quite some time.

wildheart-1 After reading comments regarding, Stark Sands, I rented this film. I was curious. After viewing it, I was in awe! Not only does, Stark Sands, have the most beautiful physical attributes(gorgeous natural face, muscular legs, arms, and chest), but he has this rare natural acting talent that is amazing, to say the least. Stark Sands is the hottest young actor to debut in a film that actually has the acting chops that equal his beauty since Johnny Depp hit the scene 2 decades ago. I am not kidding. Stark is one of those rare actors whose beauty draws you in while his acting seals the deal! This is a star in the making! Now that I have raved about the sexiest lad I have seen in ages, let me get to the rest of this gem of a film: This retro art film is simply amazing! So original, boasting a talented cast such as, Natasha Lyonne, Frances Conroy, and Charles Busch. Oh, Jason Priestly sleep-walks through the film, proving his stardom on 90210 was a fluke. He is nothing to brag about, and has not aged very well. This is a wonderfully quirky film worthy of the critical praise and cult status it has earned. And oh, Stark Sands...What a talent with a beautiful body! Stark is worth the price of admission alone! YUM!