DIE, MONSTER, DIE! [SECOND LOOK]

Boris Karloff

DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (aka Monster of Terror/1965). Director: Daniel Haller.

Stephen Reinhardt (Nick Adams) comes to the town of Arkham to see his fiancee, Susan Witley (Suzan Farmer), and discovers that she and her parents, who live on a large, foreboding estate, are shunned by the unfriendly townspeople.  Nahum Witley (Boris Karloff) rolls around in a wheelchair scowling, even though he is capable of walking. His wife, Letitia (Freda Jackson) stays in bed where she hides her face and urges Stephen to take her daughter by the hand and get her the hell out of there ... Did, Monster, Die! is the first adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's masterful novella The Colour Out of Space, and they essentially make a mess of it. The story has been transplanted from a New England farmhouse, and all that really remains is the meteor that fell to Earth and turned the heath into a no-man's land while simultaneously mutating plants, animals and people, including most of the Witley family. The special effects are uneven, the widescreen cinematography [Paul Beeson] is good, and Karloff gives his customary solid performance in material that is beneath him. Adams [Pillow Talk] plays it in such a gruff manner that you expect him to come out with "dese" and "dem" any minute, and Farmer [Dracula Prince of Darkness] , who was introduced in the picture even though she had many earlier credits, makes little impression. Director Haller, who was originally an art director, handles a few scenes with some suspense and excitement, but the picture on a whole is kind of shoddy and unconvincing. There is a glowing greenhouse, some peculiar-looking animals in cages, and a killer plant that tries to squeeze Susan to death. Later adaptations of the story include The Curse and The Colour Out of Space.

NOTE: I have already reviewed this film once on Great Old Movies, but watched it again after re-reading the Lovecraft story that inspired it; I didn't like the film any better. The original review is here.

Verdict: Lovecraft deserves much better. **. 

WHERE THE BULLETS FLY

Secret Agent Charles Vine (Tom Adams) is back! 

WHERE THE BULLETS FLY (1966). Director: John Gilling.

Secret Agent Charles Vine (Tom Adams) is out to stop a weird character named Angel (Michael Ripper of Night Creatures) from stealing a certain "sporium" alloy. Angel employs a dapper hit man, Seraph (Tim Barrett),  who wears a bowler hat, carries an umbrella pistol, and laughs like a hyena; a reasonably lively scene has Vine pursuing Seraph through the sewers. The best thing about the picture is the prologue, in which a group of lady tourists at the Thames turn out to be Vine and other agents in drag; they manage to stop a missile from hitting Big Ben. There's also the room with an electrified floor, and a striptease to a jazzed-up version of Scheherazade! Alas this sequel to The 2nd Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World, aside from one or two sequences, is an absolutely dreadful picture, not even half as good as the original, itself no world-beater. Whereas 2nd Best was more or less told straight, the sequel has a surplus of silliness, most of which is distinctly unamusing. Adams is fine as Vine. but one isn't certain if Michael Ripper's character is supposed to be Japanese or not. The women are Suzan Farmer [Die, Monster, Die], Dawn Addams, and Heidi Erich. John Arnatt is Vine's unpleasant boss, Rockwell, and Sidney James [The Glass Tomb] has a nice turn as a mortuary attendant who finds himself with more corpses than he can handle after a gun battle. Unfortunately, Adams did another of these, O.K. Yevtushenko, two years later.

Verdict: Not ripe off the vine. *1/2.

DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Dracula (Christopher Lee) in attack mode

DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966). Director: Terence Fisher.

Two couples are touring Europe -- Helen and Alan (Barbara Shelley, Charles Tingwell) and Alan's brother Charles (Francis Matthews) and his wife Diana (Suzan Farmer) -- when they are warned to stay away from Carlsbad by Father Sandor (Andrew Kier). Naturally, they go directly to Carlsbad despite Helen's sensible misgivings. There they wind up "guests" in Dracula's castle (which is not musty and full of cobwebs but quite beautiful and handsomely appointed) and given every courtesy by the late count's helpful manservant, Klove (Philip Latham). It isn't long before Dracula is no longer dead, however, and a cat and mouse game ensues between him and Klove and the two horrified couples. With top notch photography [Michael Reed], direction and acting -- Christopher Lee makes quite an impression as Dracula despite the fact he hasn't a line of dialogue --  this is one classy horror film, superior to its predecessor Horror of Dracula, good as that was. (Neither Lee nor Dracula actually appeared in the first follow-up, The Brides of Dracula.) Creepy and suspenseful, this one works every step of the way. As usual, James Bernard's music is a bonus. Peter Cushing's brief appearance at the opening is taken from a previous film.

Verdict: One you can really sink your teeth into. ***1/2.

DIE, MONSTER, DIE

DIE, MONSTER, DIE (1965). Director: Daniel Haller. 

An extremely disappointing adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's creepy novella, The Colour Out of Space, this has to do with a man named Stephen Reinhart (Nick Adams) coming to call on his girlfriend Susan (Suzan Farmer) at the isolated English country estate of her father Nahum Witley (Boris Karloff). The movie is very handsomely appointed, and not badly acted, but no amount of CinemaScope and attractive sets can cover up the lack of a decent script. A meteorite has landed near the Witley estate [a shot of the burned out area where it hit the earth and withered everything in the surrounding area is quite effective] and its radiation has mutated animals, plants, and even members of the Witley family, some of whom go bonkers at the climax. The movie is very short but it has a meandering quality that makes it seem longer. Too bad. 

Verdict: Read Lovecraft's original instead. **.