tomgillespie2002 After Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) made cinematic waves and raked in the profits as a result, studios were eager to deliver their own take on mad-man horror cinema. Hammer's unique brand of British Gothic and literary monsters was begin to wobble as audience's tastes moved on as a result of the leaps and bounds being made in the genre in Europe and the U.S.. Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) made a success out of bringing a once- Hollywood great, Bette Davis, out of a forced early retirement and turning her into a screen psychopath. Hammer pinched Davis for themselves in The Nanny (1965), and repeated the trick again the same year with Tallulah Bankhead in Die! Die! My Darling!, or to give it its blander, more widely-used alternative title, Fanatic.American Patricia Carroll (Stefanie Powers) arrives in London to marry her handsome beau Alan (Maurice Kaufmann). After admitting that she has been exchanging letters with the mother of her former, now-dead fiancé, she heads off on her own to pay a visit to her would-be mother-in- law when Alan disapproves. Patricia believes that she is doing a nice thing. and the old lady Mrs. Trefoile (Bankhead) seems harmless enough at first, if a little nutty. She is being guilt-tripped into staying the night, and ends up staying much longer than she had planned, as the true extent of Mrs. Trefoile's religious zealotry reveals itself. There are no mirrors in the house as vanity is a sin, lip-stick and red clothing are banned, and the food consists of unrecognisable slop. Just as Patricia is about to leave, she lets slip of her intention to re-marry, causing Mrs. Trefoile to lock the poor young lady away until she learns the evil of her ways.It may not be the most memorable entry into the fleeting 'psycho- biddy' fad, but Die! Die! My Darling! has its fair share of moments courtesy of a tight and witty script by Richard Matheson, and a fiery performance by Bankhead, in what turned out to be her final appearance (she died the following year). Powers cuts a likable but frustrating lead, as she fails time and time again to make any real attempts to escape outside of making the occasional feeble struggle. Any in the audience used to the hardened, capable heroines we tend to get nowadays will no doubt be shouting at the screen. There's a terrific supporting cast, which includes husband-and-wife servants Harry (Peter Vaughan) and Anna (Yootha Joyce), and a young Donald Sutherland as the simple-minded Joseph. You may not have the desire to see it more than once in your lifetime, but it makes for a cosy Saturday afternoon B-movie.

Syl Until I saw her name on the final credits, I thought that she was one of Britain's legendary leading ladies of the stage. Tallulah Bankhead was an American actress more known for her off stage parties and sexuality but she was also a very talented actress on stage and in film. In this delicious role, she plays British woman, Mrs. Trefoile, a disturbed and distraught older woman. When American actress Stefanie Powers who played Patricia Carroll, who visits her after her son's tragic death. Patricia is soon held prisoner in the large country estate. Harry and Anna are a couple who work for the old lady. They follow orders with regards to their demented employer. Bankhead gives an unforgettable performance. Powers also holds her own against her. Peter Vaughan and Yootha Joyce play the couple who serve Trefoile. It's an interesting film especially for Bankhead's performance. She spent most of her acting career on stage than film.

lastliberal This Hammer classic has been renamed to Fanatic. Maybe to capitalize on the fanatic in The Mist. I haven't see that one, but Mrs. Trefoile was bad enough.Played by Tallulah Bankhead, who I last saw in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, Mrs. Trefoile was a scary hag that lost her son and blamed his fiancé, Pat, played by Stefanie Powers, known most notable for the TV series "Hart to Hart." Mrs. Trefoile kept Pat locked up so she could "convert" her to be worthy of her son.Peter Vaughan, an actor with a hellacious amount of credits (173), was really funny as he kept trying to get into Power's pants. Don't blame him for trying, but the hag kept interrupting.One minor character of note was Donald Sutherland in his fourth or fifth movie.Great horror from the House of Hammer.

moonspinner55 Religious zealots and well-meaning people held captive against their will are my two least-favorite subjects for movie material, and here they're combined for a really queasy effect. The plot, based on Anne Blaisdell's book "Nightmare", is somewhat helped along by frisky bits of levity dotting the scenario, but not by the general hysteria which is inherent in the film's U.S. title, "Die! Die! My Darling!". Tallulah Bankhead plays the Bible-thumping, embittered mother of a dead man whose prospective daughter-in-law (Stefanie Powers) pays her a social call. I don't see how keeping this girl captive in the rambling estate would bring Tallulah any satisfaction, and Powers' helplessness does nothing for her--nor for the viewer, who is also held prisoner (it's the Idiot Plot Syndrome: if she acted smartly and got away, there would be no movie). Richard Matheson's script had promise, but he's facetious instead of cunning, and moments such as Bankhead revealing she was once an actress on the stage are nothing more than campy prodding (and it backfires since Tallulah's nutcase could use a little show-biz color to brighten her up). Donald Sutherland has an early role as a mentally-backward assistant with a heart of gold (a clichéd role no matter who played it); Powers manages to retain her dignity despite not being able to use common sense. Hammer Production looks good but is otherwise running low on petrol. *1/2 from ****