¡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.

A creakily atmospheric chiller from the American International stable, 1965's Die, Monster, Die! is a loose adaptation of HP Lovecraft's The Colours Out Of Space and boasts a great exploitation title and Boris Karloff, although it's now more likely to offer fun than frights.

A young heroic type arrives in a remote village looking for his fiancé but finds her family shunned by the hostile locals, and with good reason – her mad scientist father Nahum Witley (Karloff) has recovered a strange meteorite which turns plants into giants and several members of his household into grotesquely scarred mutants.

Clunky acting and a faintly ludicrous script aside, there's a lot to enjoy, from the gloomy sets and portentous dialogue to one of wheelchair-bound Karloff's last meaty roles and a delicious mood of corruption well sustained by director Daniel Haller (formerly art director on some of AI's finest Vincent Price vehicles).

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.

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.

Nick Adams arrives in a town in rural England to visit a young lady he met in college. However, when he tries to get a ride or rent a vehicle to take him to her manor home, the villagers are downright nasty--refusing to help him as well as inexplicably saying nothing about why they are so angry. Eventually, he just walks to her home. However, once there, the welcome is just as chilled and her father (Boris Karloff) treats him like a leper--telling him to go. However, it soon becomes apparent that the girl and her mother want Nick to stay and finally Boris reluctantly agrees to let him stay one night.

This is a movie in search of a decent ending. During the first half of the film, the audience is highly entertained in a tale of possible madness or Satanism and the mood is terrific--eerie and with a strong sense of foreboding. However, despite a wonderful buildup, the ending is a major disappointment and can't help but sink this movie to the "barely watchable" level. The deep and dark secret just seemed rather dull and uninteresting.

It's worth seeing if you are a Boris Karloff fan, but otherwise it's pretty skipable.