Good concept, poorly executed.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

After Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) made cinematic waves and raked in the profits as a result, studios were eager to deliver their own take on mad-man horror cinema. Hammer's unique brand of British Gothic and literary monsters was begin to wobble as audience's tastes moved on as a result of the leaps and bounds being made in the genre in Europe and the U.S.. Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) made a success out of bringing a once- Hollywood great, Bette Davis, out of a forced early retirement and turning her into a screen psychopath. Hammer pinched Davis for themselves in The Nanny (1965), and repeated the trick again the same year with Tallulah Bankhead in Die! Die! My Darling!, or to give it its blander, more widely-used alternative title, Fanatic.American Patricia Carroll (Stefanie Powers) arrives in London to marry her handsome beau Alan (Maurice Kaufmann). After admitting that she has been exchanging letters with the mother of her former, now-dead fiancé, she heads off on her own to pay a visit to her would-be mother-in- law when Alan disapproves. Patricia believes that she is doing a nice thing. and the old lady Mrs. Trefoile (Bankhead) seems harmless enough at first, if a little nutty. She is being guilt-tripped into staying the night, and ends up staying much longer than she had planned, as the true extent of Mrs. Trefoile's religious zealotry reveals itself. There are no mirrors in the house as vanity is a sin, lip-stick and red clothing are banned, and the food consists of unrecognisable slop. Just as Patricia is about to leave, she lets slip of her intention to re-marry, causing Mrs. Trefoile to lock the poor young lady away until she learns the evil of her ways.It may not be the most memorable entry into the fleeting 'psycho- biddy' fad, but Die! Die! My Darling! has its fair share of moments courtesy of a tight and witty script by Richard Matheson, and a fiery performance by Bankhead, in what turned out to be her final appearance (she died the following year). Powers cuts a likable but frustrating lead, as she fails time and time again to make any real attempts to escape outside of making the occasional feeble struggle. Any in the audience used to the hardened, capable heroines we tend to get nowadays will no doubt be shouting at the screen. There's a terrific supporting cast, which includes husband-and-wife servants Harry (Peter Vaughan) and Anna (Yootha Joyce), and a young Donald Sutherland as the simple-minded Joseph. You may not have the desire to see it more than once in your lifetime, but it makes for a cosy Saturday afternoon B-movie.

Until I saw her name on the final credits, I thought that she was one of Britain's legendary leading ladies of the stage. Tallulah Bankhead was an American actress more known for her off stage parties and sexuality but she was also a very talented actress on stage and in film. In this delicious role, she plays British woman, Mrs. Trefoile, a disturbed and distraught older woman. When American actress Stefanie Powers who played Patricia Carroll, who visits her after her son's tragic death. Patricia is soon held prisoner in the large country estate. Harry and Anna are a couple who work for the old lady. They follow orders with regards to their demented employer. Bankhead gives an unforgettable performance. Powers also holds her own against her. Peter Vaughan and Yootha Joyce play the couple who serve Trefoile. It's an interesting film especially for Bankhead's performance. She spent most of her acting career on stage than film.

Welcome to the Tallulah universe! What a force, what presence, what skill! Right now I can't think of any other actor that has captivated me more than Ms. Bankhead. And I can say that about practically every film she has made. She so completely dominates the screen there is precious little space for anyone else.Now a few words about the film. Other than the at times silly soundtrack there's not much to fault here. It's a solid thriller with its share of surprises and gotcha moments. All the elements are tied together very well. For instance we learn why the caretaker couple, Harry and Anna, stay with their obviously deranged employer (the inheritance). I particularly liked Mrs. Trefoile's retort when Pat offered Anna tons of money to let her go. It's precious, so precious I won't give it away here.This is my third viewing and I must admit to having new-found respect for Stefanie Powers. She more than ably acquitted herself in the face of that on-screen hurricane that is Tallulah Bankhead. Perhaps she was inspired in the presence of excellence.

"Die! Die! My Darling" is a decent enough film if only it would've toned down a certain area.**SPOILERS**Arriving from New York, Patricia Carroll, (Stephanie Powers) decides to visit Mrs. Trefoile, (Tallulah Bankhead) due to their past, leaving her boyfriend Alan Glentower, (Maurice Kaufmann) behind to go alone. Almost immediately, she begins to grill her about all sorts of religious services and learns that she has fallen from where she used to be. After finally getting tired of it all, she tells her off, only to find herself held captive in the house. Undergoing intense torture and torment in an effort to cleanse her and her soul after she tells her to repent for her sins and she refuses. With her boyfriend looking for her around town, he finds where she is and races to the scene before anyone else can happen to her.The Good News: There isn't much here that really works. One of the main ones is that just about any scene in the basement really do the film good. The first encounter, where the traitor is lead into the cellar and then finds out the trick and the eventual payoff is a grand reward. The later scene down there, where the discovery is made and the aftermath is found qualifies as it's main jump scene. It's a very well-done scene and looks quite realistic for the condition in the time allotted. The discovery of it also brings about a fantastic sequence later on, where the thing is seen off in the distance to deliver a fantastic scare. What also works for the film is the few brief fighting scenes between the prisoner and the help. They're short but fun, and are a much needed distraction from the rest of the film. The longest one is obviously the best, where the two have a pretty nice tussle around the room breaking a decent amount of furniture and both sides getting the upper hand at times. These here are the film's good points.The Bad News: There isn't much wrong with this one. One of the biggest ones is all the religious banter going on. The constant quoting of religious text, themes and morals does nothing but get old after awhile and really wear quite thin after all the mentions. The state of all this means that it gets aggravating since it passes the point of casting someone in that way and beating the idea into submission, which this one crosses early and then keeps on going for more. There's also a couple of problems with the other parts of the film, mainly for the few times of a repeated scene where they have a brilliant opportunity to escape and not take the chance. Several times, a broken window was there to be used and all that resulted was a hysterical round of yelling out into the open countryside. It's a problem, but the extreme religious stuff is the real with this one.The Final Verdict: While not that bad, one of the main things wrong with it is that there's so much religious talk that really gets this one down. If that's a turn-off, then this one will really feel lackluster, while those who are in the mood for a decent Hammer film will find this one to hit the spot.Today's Rating-PG-13: Violence