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everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Captivating movie !

Blistering performances.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Stefanie Powers of later 'Hart to Hart' fame co-stars here as Patricia Carroll, whose previous husband had perished in a traffic accident. Now involved with a man named Alan Glentower (Maurice Kaufmann), she goes to visit her late husbands' mother, Mrs. Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead, in her last on-screen feature film role). She thinks that the visit will be brief, but the crazed old lady is a strict religious fanatic devoted to her routines, and she keeps Pat prisoner, convinced that the girls' wanton ways led her husband astray, and that she needs to save both their souls.Directed by Silvio Narizzano, this Hammer production seems to promise more entertainment than its alternate title "Die! Die! My Darling!" might have one think. Scripted by Richard Matheson, from the novel by Anne Blaisdell, it's a decent story & film but not a great one, at least if one has seen stories (or characters like Mrs. Trefoile) before. It does have one curious, because if one is not familiar with the material, it may have them wondering where it's going to go, or what plot twists might be revealed. Ultimately, however, it sets off no real fireworks.The main asset is a quintet of solid performances. Powers is good as a fairly tough cookie who's not about to feel guilty for the way she lives her life. The wonderfully named Yootha Joyce is compelling as the housekeeper Anna, and the great English character actor Peter Vaughan is amusing as the leery-eyed Harry. "Fanatic" is also noteworthy for offering an okay showcase to a young Donald Sutherland, as the mentally impaired houseboy Joseph. But the real reason to watch this one is to see another great example of a veteran actress making the most of a meaty role in a genre film, as people saw so often during this era. Ms. Bankhead does seem determined to go out in a blaze of glory, tearing down the scenery and then putting it back up just so she can tear it down again.Hammer delivers mild doses of sex appeal (with a lot of opportunities to admire Powers' gorgeous gams) and a little bit of gore, which had always given them an edge when they did their Gothic horrors.Other than Bankhead, there's nothing truly special here, but fans of her and Hammer will still want to give it a look.Seven out of 10.

A young woman is terrorized by her deceased fiancé's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.This was the first film from director Silvio Narizzano, a Canadian under contract with Hammer. Narizzano's most successful film was "Georgy Girl" (1966), which received four Academy Award nominations. Unfortunately for genre fans, it seems that Narizzano spent very little time with Hammer or horror, and we have to settle for this one film, which is barely better than average.The standout role goes to Donald Sutherland, not surprisingly. I mean, Sutherland has consistently been the highlight of any film he appears in. While I am not very knowledgeable on his career, this must be one of his earlier roles... and he nails it.

As thrillers go, DIE! DIE! MY DARLING! really isn't all that bad; it has all the necessary elements of the genre and the acting is several steps above the average for this kind of film.The plot is a tad bit predictable, but not uninteresting: Patricia Carroll (Stefanie Powers) comes to London to marry her fiancé Alan Glentower (Maurice Kaufmann). One day she decides to pay a visit in the country to Mrs Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead in her final film), the mother of her former fiancé Stephen, who died in a car accident. Why? We're not sure; to pay respects, maybe.BIG MISTAKE. Because the old woman is certifiable, blames Pat for her son's death, and before either we or Pat know what we are about, the old bat has the poor woman locked in a room, refusing to give her food, and reading daily to her from the Bible to "purify" her for her "reunion" with Stephen (whose death we find out at some point was in fact a suicide). And the batty old thing has managed to infect her house servants Anna (Yootha Joyce) and Harry (Peter Vaughan) with her peculiar brand of insanity, or maybe there's money in it for them, but they do her bidding without question. Also on the premises is Joseph (Donald Sutherland, unrecognizable in a sensational performance), a developmentally disabled young man who does odd jobs around the house and who might help Pat but in his innocence he runs everything by the old lady.The hour or so that Powers spends fighting to escape has its moments: when Pat tries to outwit Mrs Trefoile (she comes close a couple of times) the excitement picks up; Powers, as always, is fiercely intelligent even when playing the victim. Which makes her lack of success slightly hard to swallow, especially since it's a while before the old bat finally pulls out a gun. In fact, the moment when Pat informs the old woman that her son killed himself, the loony old thing shouts "LIE!" and belts her across the mouth. And Pat just sort of shrinks away. This to me was the one flaw in the plot: Powers's character is intelligent, strong, and not a shrinking violet; WHY she doesn't just punch the old bat's lights out is somewhat of a mystery, but if she had, most of the movie would not exist.The acting, as is often true of Hammer films, is excellent. Tallulah Bankhead brings her own exceptional style to the Grand Guignol proceedings; as a final film, it is nothing to be ashamed of. She runs the gamut from terrifying to hilarious with her usual panache.Yootha Joyce and Peter Vaughan as the mysterious couple who keep house for Mrs Trefoile deliver splendid performances; just enough weirdness mixed with a drop of humanity to keep the viewer guessing. And Donald Sutherland, as I have mentioned before, is so good I didn't even recognize him and I've been a fan for over forty years.The viewer has only one hurdle to jump: to buy the premise that a strong, healthy young woman could so easily be overpowered by a frail old woman. Bankhead is a formidable presence but Powers is forced to play the shrinking violet in some scenes to make her credible as a victim. Some of that doesn't work all that well, but otherwise the movie is jolly good fun.Pass the popcorn.

What a contrast. Stephanie Powers, I think, is perfectly beautiful and very vulnerable looking while Tallulah Bankhead is decrepit and hideous. I love them both. While not a real favorite movie of mine, I loved Whatever Happened to Baby Jane best out of all these type films, it was fun watching Tallulah and a pleasure looking at Stephanie.Around the same time as this movie, Mad Magazine did a spoof on this genre of old, female Hollywood icons making horror movies. They created a composite film called 'Hack, Hack, My Darling', (This is from memory) starring Bette Devious, Olivia de Hackahand, Joan Clawfoot, etc. My favorite line was from this film and in Mad's version Stephanie stabs Tallulah in the back with a pair of scissors. Tallulah moans 'Why did you stab me with those scissors?' and Stephanie replies 'That's 2 for flinching'. I wish I could find that issue of Mad to see how well my memory has held up.