Die, Monster, Die! (1965) – Film Review

Director: Daniel Haller
Cast: Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson
Certificate: 15

By Sarah Morgan

“Let’s make a film based on HP Lovecraft’s story The Colour Out of Space,” said one film executive back in the mid-1960s. “But I don’t like  the title, so what should we call it instead?”

“Monster of Terror,” said one of his colleagues. “Or The House at the End of the World,” suggested another, while a third quietly put forward “Die, Monster, Die!”

“Hell, they’re all great,” replied the head honcho. “Let’s go for all three!”

And that’s how this 1965 movie ended up with three different titles. Well, maybe – I’ve taken a wee bit of artistic licence there.

“Rather marvellous”

But no matter what name it’s going by (this nice, shiny new blu-ray opts for Die, Monster, Die!), director Daniel Haller’s production is rather marvellous, thanks in no small part to the presence of a cinematic legend – Boris Karloff.

Although backed by American International Pictures (AIP), it was filmed in the UK in early 1965, mostly at Shepperton Studios, but with some location work in the Surrey village of Shere and at Oakley Court in Berkshire; film fans may recognise the latter, which has appeared on screen many times, most notably in various Hammer Films projects, as well as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the 1978 comedy version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

It also has a token American star – Nick Adams – in the key role of Stephen Reinhart, who travels to England to visit his fiancee, Susan Witley (Suzan Farmer). The pair met while she was studying in his homeland, and he’s expecting a warm welcome. Unfortunately, although Susan and her mother, who is suffering from a mysterious ailment, are pleased to see him, nobody else – from the local villagers to Nahum, her scientist father (Karloff) – wants him there.

A strange series of events take place in and around the Witley residence, but how are they linked to Nahum’s experiments and a meteorite that landed nearby the family home?

“Not terribly frightening”

Although inspired by the aforementioned Lovecraft story, it’s a very loose adaptation. It’s also not terribly frightening, although the special effects – including Nahum’s transformation into… well, you’ll have to watch it to find out – work well.

Karloff was approaching the end of his life by the time the film was made and was confined to a wheelchair. But he loved to work, so was willing to tackle almost any role. A consummate professional, he delivers his lines with gusto and is, quite frankly, the main reason to watch the movie.

Die, Monster, Die! was Haller’s directorial debut, and if you think it resembles an entry in Roger Corman’s Poe cycle of films, that’s perhaps because Haller worked on those too in his original role as an art director. He returned to Lovecraft for 1970’s The Dunwich Horror, which is interesting, but not a patch on this.

Special features include a chat between film historian Vic Pratt and Karloff’s biographer, Stephen Jacobs, insights into Adams’ short but eventful life from writers Ken Hollings and David McGillivray, and The Peaches, a very swinging Sixties-style short film from director Michael Gill, father of future newspaper columnist AA Gill, who makes a brief appearance in the piece.