Rent Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)
3.2 of 5 from 75 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Directed by Silvio Narizano and produced by Hammer Films, the infamous British studio known for Gothic horror classics. 'Die! Die! My Darling!' stars the legendary Tallulah Bankhead in her final film performance. She plays the psychotic Mrs. Trefoile, a demented mother who terrorises and imprisons her dead son's fiancee Pat to avenge her son's tragic death, with the help of her bumbling gardener. A domineering religious fanatic, Mrs. Trefoile grows obsessed with her late son who died several years earlier in an auto wreck. When her son's former lover pays an unexpected visit, Mrs. Trefoile kidnaps the beautiful young woman, holding her hostage in the basement to "cleanse" her soul, so she can be reunited with her son in heaven. Trapped and tortured, Pat must fight for her life to escape. - Actors:
- Tallulah Bankhead, Stefanie Powers, Peter Vaughan, Maurice Kaufmann, Yootha Joyce, Donald Sutherland, Gwendolyn Watts, Robert Dorning, Philip Gilbert, Winifred Dennis, Diana King, Henry McGee
- Directors:
- Silvio Narizzano
- Producers:
- Anthony Hinds
- Writers:
- Richard Matheson, Anne Blaisdell
- Aka:
- Fanatic
- Studio:
- Sony
- Genres:
- Classics, Horror, Thrillers
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Hammer Horror, A Brief History of Film...
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 30/10/2017
- Run Time:
- 97 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Die! Die! My Darling!: alternative presentation with the US title sequence
- House of Horror: Inside 'Fanatic' (2017, 14 mins): an analysis of the film by Hammer expert Jonathan Rigby and cultural historian John J. Johnston
- Hammer's Women: Tallulah Bankhead (2017, 10 mins): Kat Ellinger explores the life and work of the inimitable star of stage and screen
- David Huckvale on Composer Wilfred Josephs (2017, 14 mins): an appreciation of the composer's work by the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde
- Fanatical Detail (2017, 9 mins): continuity supervisor Renee Glynne and second assistant director Stuart Black recall the making of Fanatic
- Matthew Lombardo on Tallulah Bankhead and 'Fanatic' (2017, 7 mins): the acclaimed playwright discusses his play Looped and his fascination with Tallulah Bankhead
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: an extensive collection of original international promotional material
- World Premiere
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Reviews (1) of Die! Die! My Darling!
Flamboyant Horror. - Die! Die! My Darling! review by Steve
Gloriously baroque comedy horror which crosses the Hammer studio's run of sixties psychological thrillers with the psycho-granny trend that followed the success of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in 1962. In this case, the former golden age star is Tallulah Bankhead as a deranged older lady with unusual plans for her dead son.
And she is fabulous. She's funny and just creepy enough too. Her cherished child was killed in a car crash after he was dumped by his American fiancée (Stefanie Powers). So the female heartbreaker is invited to the isolated family home and held hostage while her soul is prepared for eternal marriage. Of course there are implications of incest, and his homosexuality.
Hammer usually managed to transform a modest budget into a sumptuous production, and they excel themselves. The luscious colour is unorthodox for sixties psycho-horror. The story is conventional but the actors coax the melodrama and dialogue to a delicious ripeness. Peter Vaughan and Yootha Joyce are menacing as the crazy servants.
Though this is set in England, it feels like American gothic. There is the old dilapidated ancestral estate with the dark family secret. It's an utterly immoderate black comedy, with little subtlety. Stefanie and Yootha even engage in an extended wrestling bout. And the legendary Tallulah is extraordinary in her final screen role.
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