¡Muera monstruo, muera!

Originally filmed under the more atmospheric title 'The House At The End Of The World', sadly both the American ('Die, Monster, Die!') and British ('Monster Of Terror') titles reflect the quality of the movie.

An adaptation of H P Lovecraft's 'The Colour Out Of Space' it feels more like a Poe adaptation, with its old dark mansion, subterranean corridors and air of family secrets. Unsurprisingly first-time director Haller was Corman's production designer/art director on the Poe series and the end result is a good-looking movie ruined by a poor script.

Karloff is wasted as is the cast, which is a shame as it is a fine one. Freda Jackson, Suzan Farmer and Patrick Magee are genre veterans who have given (or would go on to give) fine horror performances in other movies, here they are just thrown away in small cameo roles or, in Farmer's case, a stiff, disconnected leading role.

Haller would go on to make the far better Lovecraft adaptation, 'The Dunwich Horror', which, while flawed, is well worth checking out.

This production has everything an old chiller ought to have: an American in England, a spooky old mansion, locals frightened of the spooky old mansion, a pretty girl who knows not the evil which surrounds her, creepy old people with a creepier family history, monsters, pseudoscience, the occult, and more. It all ends up being both too much and not enough, altho Boris Karloff is certainly acting his heart out. The scripting is clumsy: the elements are too traditional and elementary, everyone knows something they refuse to tell for no particular reason, the heavies are homicidal for no logical reason, the hero is afraid of nothing yet makes no effort to pursue attackers.... Worse, the directing is flat and the leads have little charisma or chemistry. It's occasionally effective, but mostly boring, which is death to the chiller genre. I want to say "Die, movie, die!" but it's just not that offensive.

H.P. Lovecraft's stories are almost impossible to film. The way he describes places and things just can't be done. This movie and "The Dunwich Horror" have come closest to getting him on the screen.

American Stephen Reinhart (Nick Adams) goes to England to visit his fiancée Susan Wiley (Suzan Farmer). He finds her living in a huge mansion with her angry wheelchair bound father (Boris Karloff) and a mother (Freda Jackson) who is mysteriously ill. And then there are strange cries in the night...

It's well-made, has a suitably creepy setting and a pretty good script but it just doesn't completely work. A low budget really hurts especially when we see the supposedly horrific creatures in the greenhouse (they look like what they are--plastic puppets). The makeup on the "infected" people is sub par too. And Adams (a good actor) always appears drugged or annoyed. But the other actors are all great--especially Karloff who is just fantastic. It's worth watching just for him. I was honestly never bored and there were a few times that I actually jumped. It doesn't succeed but it's not a bad attempt. I give it a 7--mostly for Karloff.

Daniel Haller's "Die, Monster, Die!" is a solid gothic horror film, about ten times better than what you would expect from American International Pictures. It has a confusing story, but two exceptional performances save this from being grade z schlock.

The two lead performances are by Boris Karloff, as the scientist who has bad things happen to him and Nick Adams, as an American visiting his girlfriends' home. Despite his arthritis confining him to a wheelchair, Karloff manages to give a strong performance as the scientist who stumbles onto something big and lives to regret it. Adams' role could have been thankless, but he adds an aura of mystery and intrigue a lesser actor wouldn't have.

This is a great-looking film. Haller was art director for Roger Corman and he has inherited Corman's gift for making the most of the small budget. This looks as if it could have cost a million dollars or more instead of a few hundred thousand. The widescreen Colorscope photography is among the best I've seen and deserved an Oscar nod.

As for the story, it is confusing, but it all becomes clear if you pay attention and watch it more than once. I'm not sure people would want to do that, but this is the kind of film that deserves it. Its' odd and poetic feel make it spellbinding. Worth more than one look.

***1/2 out of 4 stars

If there is one thing I don't like in horror films (well, it's more than one, but never mind) it's those long, dialogue-free scenes of people-investigating-strange-noises-in-dark-rooms. "Die, Monster, Die!" has more than its share of such scenes, and this results in a draggy pace: the movie runs only 80 minutes but seems much longer than that. However, there are some good things to be said about it: the prologue is funny ("He wants to go to the Witley house. Ha ha ha ha!"), the mansion where most of the action takes place is a marvelously old-fashioned and atmospheric set, and the special effects are pretty good - perhaps even ahead of their time. Of course, Boris Karloff fans will want to see him in any film, and despite his health problems at the time he was still an inimitable actor, but in this film he wasn't given enough juicy dialogue to chew on. For me, the standout in the cast is the sweet Suzan Farmer as Karloff's daughter. (**)