Fanatic

1965 "She's One Mean Mother-in-Law!"
6.3| 1h37m| en| More Info
Released: 21 March 1965 Released
Producted By: Hammer Film Productions
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A young woman is terrorized by her fiance's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.

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Reviews

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Wizard-8 The basic plot of "Fanatic" (a.k.a. "Die! Die! My Darling!") - a person being held captive in a mansion by some kind of fanatic - probably wasn't even new back in 1965. I've certainly seen plenty of newer versions of this plot. But I didn't mind seeing this plot again in this film, because in this case it is professionally made. The script is well written, with no character coming across as especially stupid (well, except for Donald Sutherland's character, but you know what I mean.) And the cast compliments the well written characters; Tallulah Bankhead is creepy and comes across as a believable threat, Stefanie Powers shows determination and smarts, and Peter Vaughan is a real creep. Although you can guess what eventually happens, it's a credit to Silvio Narizzano's direction that keeps things lively and suspenseful, with no dead spots. The only flaw with the movie is the odd pale makeup put on Sutherland - what's up with that?
slayrrr666 "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
lastliberal This Hammer classic has been renamed to Fanatic. Maybe to capitalize on the fanatic in The Mist. I haven't see that one, but Mrs. Trefoile was bad enough.Played by Tallulah Bankhead, who I last saw in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, Mrs. Trefoile was a scary hag that lost her son and blamed his fiancé, Pat, played by Stefanie Powers, known most notable for the TV series "Hart to Hart." Mrs. Trefoile kept Pat locked up so she could "convert" her to be worthy of her son.Peter Vaughan, an actor with a hellacious amount of credits (173), was really funny as he kept trying to get into Power's pants. Don't blame him for trying, but the hag kept interrupting.One minor character of note was Donald Sutherland in his fourth or fifth movie.Great horror from the House of Hammer.
moonspinner55 Religious zealots and well-meaning people held captive against their will are my two least-favorite subjects for movie material, and here they're combined for a really queasy effect. The plot, based on Anne Blaisdell's book "Nightmare", is somewhat helped along by frisky bits of levity dotting the scenario, but not by the general hysteria which is inherent in the film's U.S. title, "Die! Die! My Darling!". Tallulah Bankhead plays the Bible-thumping, embittered mother of a dead man whose prospective daughter-in-law (Stefanie Powers) pays her a social call. I don't see how keeping this girl captive in the rambling estate would bring Tallulah any satisfaction, and Powers' helplessness does nothing for her--nor for the viewer, who is also held prisoner (it's the Idiot Plot Syndrome: if she acted smartly and got away, there would be no movie). Richard Matheson's script had promise, but he's facetious instead of cunning, and moments such as Bankhead revealing she was once an actress on the stage are nothing more than campy prodding (and it backfires since Tallulah's nutcase could use a little show-biz color to brighten her up). Donald Sutherland has an early role as a mentally-backward assistant with a heart of gold (a clichéd role no matter who played it); Powers manages to retain her dignity despite not being able to use common sense. Hammer Production looks good but is otherwise running low on petrol. *1/2 from ****