Die, Monster, Die! (1965)

Beautiful, moving film.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

"Die, Monster, Die" is ostensibly based on H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Colour out of Space", but lacks the otherworldliness of Lovecraft's writings. Briefly, Reinhart (Nick Adams) is invited to the manor home of his British fiancée Susan (Suzan Farmer) by the girl's mother who, terrified by the strange things that are happening in the house, is slowly going insane. The local townspeople shun the family, Susan's unwelcoming wheel-chair-bound father (the great Boris Karloff) has a sinister secret, and there is something in the green and glowing greenhouse (and later in the basement). The film follows a similar trajectory to a number of Hammer horror offerings of the same era (the unwelcoming townies, the mysterious house, the imperilled girl, the suspicious deaths, the man with a secret, the climatic conflagration) and, despite its imaginative source material, has little new or interesting to offer. Nick Adams, who at the time was bouncing around the world trying to revive a flagging career (he co-starred in a Godzilla film in the same year) is OK as the rational, heroic fiancée, as is the Karloff, who delivers his lackluster lines in his iconic voice. Makeup and special effects are typical for the era (the gruesome 'melting' face scenes are quite well done) but overall, the movie is neither very entertaining nor very interesting. Without the Lovecraftian paranormal elements, the plot really makes no sense: there is nothing offered to counter Reinhart's 'logical' observations about radiation (which can't explain the madness and 'evil') beyond vague references to Karloff's dead father, whose portrait makes him look like someone wearing a devil costume at Halloween. I wonder if Adams and Karloff ever talked about the Japanese interpretation of Frankenstein's creature in another 1965 film in which Adams starred ("Frankenstein Conquers the World").

Nick Adams stars as a young man who arrives at an isolated village in search of Witley mansion, where he wants to surprise his fiancée Susan(played by Suzan Farmer) The locals are most uncooperative to him, so he sets out alone to the estate, only to be shocked by the state of decay he finds, both inside and outside. Susan is glad to see him, but her wheelchair-bound scientist father(played by Boris Karloff) is not. Both of them soon discover the terrible Witley secret involving a radiation emitting meteorite that has had a devastating effect on the family...Based on the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Color Out Of Space", the film is atmospherically directed by Daniel Haller, but otherwise a misfire, becoming much too silly and absurd, ruining the second half of the film, after a reasonable set-up. A waste of Boris Karloff, who does the best he can.

The American Stephen Reinhart (Nick Adams) arrives by train in Arkham, a small town in the countryside of England. He tries to travel to the real estate of a man called Witley by taxi or bicycle, but the locals are frightened by the name and refuse to help him. Stephen has to walk to the property and he is badly received by Nahum Witley (Boris Karloff), who is on the wheelchair.Stephen informs that he had been invited by his fiancée, Susan Witley (Suzan Farmer), who welcomes him when she sees Stephen. The young man is summoned by Susan's mother, Letitia Witley (Freda Jackson), who is very ill, to have a private conversation with her, and she asks Stephen to leave the real estate as soon as possible with Susan. Further he learns that the maid Helga has disappeared and the butler Merwyn (Terence de Marney) is also very ill.Stephen notes that there are weird things happening in the house, with a woman in black wandering in the garden and screams during the night. He snoops around and finds the Nahum is using the radiation of a meteorite in the greenhouse to turn the wasteland into a place of beauty with giant plants. However the side effect of the radiation has killed Merwyn and affected the health and turned Helga and Letitia into monsters. Now Nahum wants to destroy the stone with tragic consequences."Die, Monster, Die!" is a good sci-fi horror movie with Boris Karloff. The creepy story has a promising beginning but when the mystery is disclosed, it is a little disappointing. I was expecting that Corbin Witley was behind the dark events but the plots changes to science fiction and becomes silly. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Morte Para Um Monstro" ("Death for a Monster")

It was in the 1940's when mankind first discovered the Atomic bomb and many of the scientists working on it, hoped it would usher in a new world for mankind. In point of fact it did. The discovery brought forth the knowledge, the world could more easily destroy itself much easier than before, In the movies, like this horrific film called " Die Monster, Die " the new element called Uranium, did in fact bring a new beginning, it was called The Atomic age and the new element was global fear. In this story, an America has journeyed to England to visit his fiancé. One there, he is surprised to learn the town's people are terrified of the Witley family and wants nothing to do with them. Nevertheless, Stephen Reinhart (Nick Adams) seeks to discover the reason for the fear and is introduced to Mahum Witley (Boris Karloff), his fiancé Susan, Letitia (Freda Jackson) and their man servant, Merwyn (Terence de Marney). The family has an established, though terrifying history, but none so deadly as a monstrous secret glowing in their basement which is destined to infest the world. The movie is a horror of the sixties and has become a cult horror film. A fun monster movie to be sure and with the presence of the great Karloff, certain to be a classic. ****