Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 9: Die! Die! My Darling (1965)

I have this cool shower curtain covered with old newspaper ads for horror movies, and I figured I should probably make an attempt to watch all of the films on it I hadn't yet seen. Not sure I'll get to them all this year, but I will get to them

Which brings us to Die! Die! My Darling (AKA Fanatic).

This film definitely falls into the genre of "Hag Horror" (AKA "Psycho Biddies," AKA, "Hagsplotation") since it stars Tallulah Bankhead in her final role, (also, she is literally called an old hag in the movie). Like fellow psycho biddies Davis and Crawford before her, she relishes her villainous turn as Mrs. Trefoile, a fanatical Christian living in a creepy house in the English countryside. When Patricia (Stephanie Powers), the former fiance of her deceased son, decides to pay her a courtesy visit while in the country with her new fiance, Mrs. Trefoile deems Patricia's soul hopelessly doomed, and Patricia's visit lasts a little longer than the afternoon she'd planned for.

Die! Die! My Darling has a weird tone, sometimes coming off as a (not entirely funny) comedy, and sometimes going for the horror. It doesn't completely work, but it is worth a viewing, mainly for Tallulah Bankhead's performance. It's also a beautifully colorful film, and the print I watched on Prime was flawless.

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