Die, Monster, Die!

Some highlights, but mostly tedious RELEASED IN 1965 and directed by Daniel Haller, "Die, Monster, Die" (aka “Monster of Terror”) is a semi-Gothic horror about a young man (Nick Adams) who travels to the estate of his fiancé (Susan Farmer) in England. Unfortunately, her wheelchair-bound father (Boris Karloff) is curiously curmudgeonly and something strange is going on behind the scenes. The movie is based on HP Lovecraft’s story "The Colour Out of Space." While this isn’t a vampire flick, the opening is reminiscent of Dracula (young man visits old man’s eerie chateau). I used to get this mixed up with “The Terror” (1963), probably because of Karloff, similarities in the plot, and they both came out in the early/mid-60s. Regrettably, “Die, Monster, Die” lacks the haunting fascination of “The Terror.” It tries to work up a mysterious ambiance, and succeeds to a degree, but the story’s mostly tedious and the characters dull. Susan Farmer is fine, but her part is too secondary and nothing interesting is done with her, like Venetia Stevenson in 1960’s “City of the Dead,” aka “Horror Hotel” (you know what I mean if you’ve seen that flick). Thankfully, there are some highlights, like the imaginative scene where the protagonist exclaims “It looks like a zoo in Hell,” not to mention the impressive monster at the close. FYI: Two and a half years after the release of this movie in the US, a demoralized Nick Adams was found dead from an overdose, which might have been accidental, but it also could’ve been suicide. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 15 minutes and was shot in England (Surrey & Berkshire). GRADE: C