Movie Info
Movie Name: Die, Monster, Die!
Studio: Alta Vista Productions
Genre(s): Horror/Sci-Fi
Release Date(s): October 27, 1965
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Your dad should just get a dog next time…
Stephen Reinhart (Nick Adams) has just come to marry his fiancée Susan Witley (Suzan Farmer) who lives in a country estate in Arkham, England. The town has shunned the family and no one speaks of them…but no one will tell him why. In the Witley home, Nick finds things are right. Susan’s mother Letitia (Freda Jackson) remains in her room and there have been disappearances. Susan’s father Nahum (Boris Karloff) hides things in the greenhouse and things seem to be getting worse. As Nick and Susan learns the truth, the real horror begins.
Directed by Daniel Haller, Die, Monster, Die! is a horror film. The movie is a loose adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story “The Colour Out of Space” from September 1927. The film was originally released as a double feature with Planet of the Vampires.
Excuse me…could you remove this mutation from my face?
“The Colour Out of Space” was a favorite of mine. Stories of infection are always the most terrifying to me (even vampires, zombies, and werewolves boil down to infection), and Lovecraft’s story of a home infected by something from space taps into the idea of an unseen and unavoidable evil. Die, Monster, Die! isn’t my favorite adaptation of the story, but it is a fun one.
The story surrounds Nick who is a stranger to the estate that has been suffering from bizarre sickness. He’s an odd lead, and he comes off as a bit more brutish than I’d expect. Nahum has the wheel as the scientist studying the strange phenomena surrounding the house, but story has an odd pacing. It plays a bit like a Hammer horror movie, but it doesn’t really dive in completely to the horror of the story which feels like a mistake.
Karloff always will hold a movie simply because of his legacy and Die, Monster, Die! is no exception. His character feels a bit minor, but it is always exciting when he’s on the screen. Nick Adams isn’t a very compelling lead and Suzan Farmer also is underdeveloped. Freda Jackson plays the crazed mother and Patrick Magee has a small role as the town doctor.
Look out! We’re being attacked by Cybermen!
The movie has a few monsters, but the human creatures are the better creatures. The radiation warps the people and transforms them…it takes loved ones and turns them into monsters. There are a few odd monsters in the lab, but they are almost incidental. The movie has decent atmosphere, but it is unbalanced.
Die, Monster, Die! is a different type of horror movie that has a heavy sci-fi influence. There are monsters and a creeping horror, but it doesn’t feel like a lot of similar horror films. Lovecraft’s crafted world doesn’t really factor in here and it is here that Die, Monster, Die! loses some of its potential power. It is a tough story to adapt, and this film dos a so-so job.
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