Fanatismo Macabro

Two ways we enjoy movies are 1) to share the emotional life of characters in a great story, regardless of the performer, and 2) to watch a great performer, regardless of the story. "Die! Die My Darling" [or "Fanatic"] falls into the latter category; here, Tallulah Bankhead is the great performer. Bankhead was, it is popularly believed, in the depths of alcohol abuse when she made this classic melodramatic thriller. Yet, she turns-in a terr(or)ific performance. Alcohol abuse may have helped her to slur some lines in that unique drawl of hers, but the well-experienced actress that she is - underneath the numb - shines thru by having clearly planned ahead to alternate her episodes of sweetness and rage, and performs them with well-crafted notes. It's an absolute tour-de-force: That ET-like bourbon voice of hers croaking out commands to her servants; like a witch shrieking "Liar!" to Stefanie Powers (and slapping her silly!); and looking like a backsliding soul at her most pitiful digging in her closet for a secret stash. And my favorite image: force-feeding a sermon to Stefanie Powers at gunpoint (Bankhead holding the Bible *and* a gun in her hands!). The story that sets all this into motion: Bankhead receives a visit from her dead son's one-time fiance, played by Stefanie Powers. Bankhead, a religious fanatic [thus the other title to this movie], presumes her son's betrothal to Powers means that they *are* husband and wife - FOR ETERNITY! Powers plays along, at first, but reveals little truths that counter the religious Bankhead's plans for her son's eternal peace; Bankhead, then, turns determined to "save" her son's Grace by keeping Powers pure. And so it goes from that, with escalating animosity. Bankhead is great. The production design is great (sets and color), and Yootha Joyce as the housemaid Anna is also terrific. Powers, however, grossly overacts; but, to her credit, she lets Yootha Joyce really lay into her with obviously no stunt-doubles between them. That was fun. Oh, there's also a couple homage to PSYCHO: recall that scene in Psycho when Vera Miles screams and flails an arm to set swinging the overhead lamp upon entering the fruit cellar. There's an instance when Powers screams and does the same with an overhead lamp. At that moment, listen to the soundtrack: it shrieks for a measure or two like Psycho's shower scene shrieking violins. Cool. I'll let you find the second "borrowing" from Psycho; it's not as obvious. For some campy fun, definitely rent this'n. Powers is a snitty over-acter, and she'll annoy you, but you'll feel she gets what she deserves when the Ol' Lady smacks the stuffing out of her. Plus, Bankhead simply saying the line "Milk?!" will make it all worthwhile - and that's just at the beginning...!

Bette and Joan got the ball rolling and, thankfully, Tallulah hopped on board and got in on the mid-'60's bandwagon of formerly glamorous mega-stars starring in exploitive suspense films. This film was made, literally, during Bankhead's last gasps of life and she gives it her ALL. She plays a fanatical widow, deeply devoted to her dead son and husband and steeped in literal Biblical translations and practices. When her late son's girlfriend (Powers) comes for a visit, she attempts to forge a spiritual bond with her and indoctrinate her into the rigid and fundamental ways of her life. However, worldly Powers will have none of it and soon has to pay for her transgressions. The thing kicks off with a symbolic, so-1960's credit sequence of a cat chasing a mouse (while blaring music blasts away.) Soon Powers arrives at Bankhead's rundown estate and the fun begins. Every glance, every nuance, every crackled, garbled word of Bankhead's performance is so interesting and right on, it is REQUIRED VIEWING to watch her a second time in order to catch all the hooty lines she spits out. Her inimitable growl of a voice ranges from blithely polite (as she spouts her platitudes on the simplicity of a clean life) to outright maniacal ("He died in a car accident!!") and she's a complete joy to behold. The woman was almost never seen without her smear of make-up and her shoulder length hair, but here she dissolves into character with almost no make-up and her hair in a sedate bun. Even though Powers often overacts certain reactions and intentions, she makes a good adversary for Bankhead. They square off against each other pretty well. Some decent British supporting actors round out the cast including a menacing and bothersome Vaughn and a barely recognizable Sutherland, quite convincing as a mentally handicapped odd job man. The film is dated in its hair/clothing and some of it's jerky camera work and music, but still manages to be quite creepy and suspenseful. It's Tallulah's show all the way, though. The relish with which she attacks this final screen role is a treasure to witness. Unforgettable.

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.

It's most unfortunate that all the smaller-scaled psychological thrillers Hammer produced during the mid 60's remain somewhat in the shadows of their more grotesque and Grand Guignol featuring horror & Sci-Fi productions (like the Dracula and Frankenstein franchises or the Quatermass trilogy), because there are quite a few of genuine treasures to discover! "Fanatic" a.k.a. "Die! Die! My Darling" is such a wondrous example of an original and highly atmospheric but sadly underrated Hammer thriller. Richard Matheson's screenplay – adapted from a novel by Anne Blaisdell – is terrifically tight & uncomfortably credible, the atmosphere is uncanny throughout and Tallulah Bankhead's performance as the insane religious freak truly stands as one of the greatest in the history of horror cinema. Whilst visiting England with her new lover, all-American girl Pat Carroll plans to pay a visit to Mrs. Trefoile; the mother of her ex-fiancée who died in a car accident before they ever had the chance of getting married. Mrs. Trefoile acts a bit whiny and exaggeratedly religious at first, but still fairly harmless since the visit is meant to be brief and formal. However, Mrs. Trefoile turns into a totally religion-obsessed fruitcake when she learns Pat isn't a virgin anymore and never actually intended to marry her son in the first place! She gets more fanatic than Jesus himself and locks Pat away in the secluded mansion's attic with the intention to cleanse her soul and prepare her to reunite with the son in the afterlife. The concept of this film is simply stupendous, if you ask me, and veteran writer Richard Matheson makes sure that every tiniest possible detail in the script gets covered. There are also some very intriguing sub plots, like the awkward relationships between Mrs. Trefoile's servants and the gradual unfolding of what exactly happened between Pat and Mrs. Trefoile departed son. There are a few clearly noticeable similarities between this film and Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho", which leads to some obvious twists and a fairly predictable finale. But then again, you can't blame the film for this since pretty much every horror movie made after 1960 is influenced by "Psycho" in one way or another. Tallulah (I even love typing her name) Bankhead obviously steals the show in every scene she's in, but the rest of fine cast deserves a word of respect as well, including a young Donald Sutherland as the mentally disabled gardener. Next time you set up a list of favorite Hammer films, make sure you watch "Fanatic" first and I guarantee it will be in there somewhere.

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!