Una notte per morire

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.

Ooh whee, is this thing a doozie. I seen it under the title Die Die My darling, which is a helluva lot more fun than Fanatic. Ole toodle loo Tallulah goes bonkers and torments Stefanie through out the picture, which is all you need to know. Seeing one of the worst thespians in cinema (that would be Miss Powers) being tortured by one of the campiest (that would be Ms. Bankhead) heck, there's your picture right there. Great laughs from beginning to end.

The spoiled Patricia Carroll (Stephanie Powers) arrives in London to get married with her fiancé Alan Glentower (Maurice Kaufmann). However, the stubborn Pat decides to pay a visit in the country to Mrs. Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead), the mother of her former fiancé Stephen, who died in a car accident. Once there, the religious fanatic Mrs. Trefoile insists to Pat to stay overnight to go to the mass on the next morning. After going to the church, the naive Pat tells Mrs. Trefoile that she was not going to marry Stephen, triggering her insanity. Mrs. Trefoile abducts Pat to purify her sins and make her pure for her beloved son.

"Fanatic" is a typical production of Hammer: a low-budget movie supported by a great and creepy screenplay and excellent performances. The story is from the same year of "The Collector" (1965) and in both a beautiful young woman is kidnapped, but for different reasons. Tallulah Bankhead is amazing in the role of a deranged and hypocrite religious fanatic, and Stephanie Powers gives credibility with her spoiled character that chooses the wrong words and attitudes in every situation. Unfortunately, the conclusion is commercial and predictable, but could be darker and darker. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Fanatismo Macabro" ("Macabre Fanaticism")

Note: On 30 Nov 2018 I saw this film again.

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.

What inspired casting! The libidinous Tallulah Bankhead as a drab, sober, religious zealot! That alone is worth the price of admission. Thanks to Bette and Joan, the 60s era of Grand Guignol brought some of our favorite glossy "middle-aged" legends back to the somewhat less glossy cinematic limelight. Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters, Olivia de Havilland, Geraldine Page, Agnes Moorehead, and Ruth Gordon all took the Gothic plunge. The prerequisites? Simple. Look like hell and act like a mad bull in a china shop. So why not grand ol' Tallulah, dahling?

Here, the "Alabama Foghorn," as Fred Mertz once called her when she guested (hilariously so) on an episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour," is called upon to play the prim, tight-lipped Mrs. Trefoile, a wacko bible-thumper whose only child died a short time before. When her dead son's fiancee (Stefanie Powers) comes to pay an overdue visit out of respect, she makes a big whoops and tells the old lady that she is about to marry another man. And now the fun begins...

Urged on by her Maker (of course) to exorcise the young girl's demons and restore her purity (she wears that blasphemous red lipstick, you see) and, oh yeah, also to punish her (of course)for her mortal wickedness and ultimate betrayal to her dead son, the old lady (of course) imprisons the young damsel in her medieval-styled lair for a week's worth of (naturally) bible verse and repentance. But then the old crackpot decides she'd be better served if she (you know) takes it up a notch and makes her (of course) a sacrificial lamb instead. See, Trefoile finds out that the girl is still a virgin so (of course) if the girl's still a virgin, her soul can still be (you know) saved and, at the same time, she can be reunited with Trafoile's dead son in heaven, which better serves his memory. You know, kill, I mean save, two birds with one stone.

Seeing Bankhead cavorting around as a dowdy, highly repressed teetotaler while spewing passages from Revelations is an admittedly sinful pleasure. What's even better is that the old girl gets away with it. As bizarre and campy as one could hope for, Bankhead's Mrs. Trefoile is still all prickly seriousness and deadly menace, possessing a convincingly firm, fervent gait. She doesn't really play the joke. Moreover, she manages to slightly stroke audience sympathy with human shadings of loneliness and utter despair. The atmosphere is appropriately claustrophobic and suspense is built up expertly too, with every Bankhead entrance punctuated by creepy, stringy harpsichord music.

Fun too is watching Bankhead's Addams Family-like household run amok, especially Donald Sutherland as a mute, dim-witted servant -- a role I'm sure he'd love to erase permanently from his resume. Poor bruised and bloodied Stefanie Powers does yeoman's work here, gaining our sympathy from the onset and making a wonderfully feisty "straight man" to the Bankhead histrionics.

And just wait until the skeletons come out of the closet. Like you knew they would! Bankhead's final curtain in the flick is a great wallow. And speaking of final curtains, this was regrettably her last feature film.