Das düstere Haus

The spoiled Patricia Carroll (Stephanie Powers) arrives in London to get married with her fiancé Alan Glentower (Maurice Kaufmann). However, the stubborn Pat decides to pay a visit in the country to Mrs. Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead), the mother of her former fiancé Stephen, who died in a car accident. Once there, the religious fanatic Mrs. Trefoile insists to Pat to stay overnight to go to the mass on the next morning. After going to the church, the naive Pat tells Mrs. Trefoile that she was not going to marry Stephen, triggering her insanity. Mrs. Trefoile abducts Pat to purify her sins and make her pure for her beloved son.

"Fanatic" is a typical production of Hammer: a low-budget movie supported by a great and creepy screenplay and excellent performances. The story is from the same year of "The Collector" (1965) and in both a beautiful young woman is kidnapped, but for different reasons. Tallulah Bankhead is amazing in the role of a deranged and hypocrite religious fanatic, and Stephanie Powers gives credibility with her spoiled character that chooses the wrong words and attitudes in every situation. Unfortunately, the conclusion is commercial and predictable, but could be darker and darker. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Fanatismo Macabro" ("Macabre Fanaticism")

Note: On 30 Nov 2018 I saw this film again.

Ooh whee, is this thing a doozie. I seen it under the title Die Die My darling, which is a helluva lot more fun than Fanatic. Ole toodle loo Tallulah goes bonkers and torments Stefanie through out the picture, which is all you need to know. Seeing one of the worst thespians in cinema (that would be Miss Powers) being tortured by one of the campiest (that would be Ms. Bankhead) heck, there's your picture right there. Great laughs from beginning to end.

The story: A young woman named Pat Carroll (Stefanie Powers) pays a courtesy call on Mrs. Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead), the mother of Pat's dead fiancé. Pat plans to stay one night and be on her way. But Mrs. Trefoile has other ideas. She sees it as her mission to "cleanse" Pat and keep her pure for the day Pat will join her son in the afterlife. To accomplish her mission, Mrs. Trefoile locks Pat in an upper room of her crumbling mansion and preaches to her with a bible in one hand and a gun in the other.

Tallulah! That's all you really need to know about Die! Die! My Darling! Tallulah Bankhead's performance is so over-the-top, so wonderfully demented, so full of campy entertainment that she dominates every aspect of this movie. Stefanie Powers is good, but she and the rest of the cast are completely overshadowed by Tallulah. I just can't imagine anyone else (and that includes the likes of Bette Davis or Joan Crawford who were also part of the aging actress playing a crazed nut in a horror movie) in the role of Mrs. Trefoile - she's that good. I'll go so far as to say that Tallulah's performance in Die! Die! My Darling! is one of my two or three favorite pieces of acting from any horror movie I've seen. Amazing!

TALLULAH BANKHEAD, looking like a ravaged reject from a summer stock version of "The Little Foxes", delivers an appropriately over-the-top performance from this Hammer schlock that borrows from every madhouse movie ever made.

STEFANIE POWERS is the unlucky victim, a young woman who makes a courtesy call on the mother of her dead fiancé, only to discover that she's a religious zealot and a complete madwoman looking for sin in every fabric of Powers' too glamorous wardrobe and make-up. Not only is Bankhead mad, but her servants are enough to scare anyone within sight--including DONALD SUTHERLAND as a retarded man, and YOOTHA JOYCE and HARRY VAUGHAN as an unethical couple badly in need of cash.

Most unrealistic aspect of the story has strong-willed Powers submitting meekly to outrageous requests Bankhead makes upon her arrival instead of packing her things and leaving immediately. But when she fights back, she has to deal with Tallulah and her loyal servants, all of whom make for heavy combat.

Well photographed with some appropriately melodramatic musical flourishes to pump up the fright element, it nevertheless seems like a freak show by the time it reaches its harrowing conclusion. Not until the last moment, does the heroine get some much needed help from a boyfriend who returns for no apparent reason after Bankhead assures him that Powers has already left.

Summing up: Talllulah looks a fright but performs befitting the material--adding horror to the kind of role attracting overage stars in the '60s.

The woman known for giving extravagant parties and answering door bells au natural in her youth plays an old, religious grande dame with no make-up and drab attire. Tallulah Bankhead, in her last screen performance, shows us one more time that she was a consumate actress when given the opportunity to perform. Every moment of hers is precious as she plays a woman that has driven her son from home by her excessive religious fanaticism and is now coping with his death. She is visited by a woman, played by Stephanie Powers, that was engaged to her son. The dialogue and interaction between Miss Bankhead and Miss Powers is wonderful as Bankhead cuts her speech off and hams it up almost in a sedate yet effective manner. Powers soon becomes a forced guest as Tallulah tries and "cleanse" her soul. Watching Tallulah read Biblical passages, sermonize on the evils of the flesh, and gently yet forcefully decay into a state of histrionics is delightful to watch. That woman could act! The rest of the cast is effective with Donald Sutherland in a satisfactory yet forgetable role as a dimwitted servant. Solid direction, claustrophobic settings, and good production values all add up to some good old-fashioned fun!