. . . DIE, MONSTER, DIE! Set in one of the quaintest vermillion oases of the Emerald Isle--Arkham--DIE, MONSTER, DIE! centers around naïve American "Stephen Reinhart's" first opportunity to visit the verdant homeland of his sweetie, and to meet her parents. Steve arrives just in the nick of time, as his Irish lass is a total orphan by the time he leaves a couple days later (due in no small part to the brace of battle axes Steve chucks at her Pop's noggin!). It turns out that the pot at the end of Ireland's rainbow is green--NOT gold--and Steve's hosts are living smack dab atop it. Thanks to this translucent chartreuse Ground Zero, everything grows greater and greener in Ireland. Of course, certain small sacrifices must be made within the family units, but this sort of thing has been the lot of the Irish since "Johnny Swift" reported on their substituting babes for taters during the Great Potato Famine of the 1700s. On the other hand, the famed "Luck of the Irish" plays out in spades during DIE, MONSTER, DIE!, at least for the local grave diggers.

An okay but flawed movie in the spirit of the Corman Poe films (1960-1965), this has its moments but is let down by a sluggish pace and a familiarity with the proceedings. By now the "outsider goes to crumbling house and meets owner with dark secrets" plot had been done to death and it shows here. Plus, the imported American lead, Nick Adams, is hopelessly miscast, nothing more than wooden throughout the film's running time and hardly charismatic.I was hoping this film to be a Lovecraft tour-de-force but I was disappointed : Lovecraft's source material is barely used in the film, and the makers saw fit to add in an ancestral black magic subplot seemingly lifted from THE HAUNTED PALACE instead. Only in the last half an hour do things really pick up and become quite exciting, but by then we really don't care that much anyway. Everything that happens in this film is predictable. The acting, aside from Karloff's, is mundane too, with Suzan Farmer a forgettable love interest and Freda Jackson (THE BRIDES OF Dracula) given too little to do. Patrick Magee (DEMENTIA 13) is also wasted in his one-scene cameo as the town's doctor, a character whom I would have liked to have seen more of.Still, the ending itself is pretty good, with some tacky but effective special effects work. The special effects, while low budget, are still a lot of fun, especially the monster who just looks like somebody covered in tin foil and with green lights shining upon them. There are some fun clichéd bits - the skeleton behind the door shock is routine, yet reminded me of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, and some lame ones, but sadly the silly bits outweigh the good. Just watch a moment where a woman is attacked by a mutated plant in the greenhouse - it's as stupid as it sounds, although not without its merits. On the plus side, the sets and scenery are quite nice and claustrophobic, and Boris Karloff is very good in his role. Despite being in a wheelchair and nearing the end of his life, Karloff gives a nicely sinister performance in his finest tradition and it's great to see the old master at work.DIE, MONSTER, DIE! is a cheesy B-movie, nothing more. It's worth seeing if you're a Lovecraft or Karloff fan, yes, but the outlandish title promises a lot of fun which just doesn't appear, sadly. Check out the 1987 movie THE CURSE for another version of Lovecraft's story, which is about the same in terms of quality.

This film was originally called "Die, Monster, Die!" But later changed to "Monster of Terror", in truth both titles don't really do the film justice, maybe something like "Meteorite of Mutation" would have been more accurate. What you have here is an American International Pictures film directed by Daniel Haller and based on a story from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space". The big draw to this film is the presence of Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson and Suzan Farmer - although the keen eyed watchers will notice Patrick Magee too. Stephen Reinhart (Adams), an American science graduate with an attitude (you'll notice why comparisons where drawn to James Dean, not just in appearing with Dean in "Rebel without a cause" but also his on-screen broody, moody presence) visits the small village of Arkham (a fictional place created by Lovecraft, not to be confused with the Arkham of the Batman universe) in England to see his fiancé. Upon arriving in the village the locals are rude and unhelpful upon learning that he is due to visit the Witley estate. Nobody wants to help him or point him in the direction of the estate, he even gets rejected at the bicycle hire shop, he ends up walking there himself. He is greeted by Nahum Witley (Karloff), his fiancé Susan's (Farmer) father, who is a wheelchair bound former scientist. Nahum tries to warn Reinhart away before he sees Susan but it doesn't happen, Susan has asked for help with her mother (Jackson) who is bedridden and undergoing a hideous change which makes her sensitive to light and seems to be decaying her body slowly. Letitia, Susan's mother, also tries warning Reinhart, asking him to take Susan far away from the estate. Reinhart does try to leave but Susan doesn't want to and rebuffs his attempts. Strange things start to happen, notably Merwyn (Terence De Marny) the butler dies. Reinhart begins exploring and asking questions, before too long he starts suspecting Mr Witley is the cause of the problems, this comes to a head when Reinhart and Susan break into the greenhouse and find a mysterious green glowing rock which seems to be helping plants and vegetation grow to gigantic proportions, not to mention the fact that alien lifeforms seem to be living in the greenhouse too. Initially the assumption through the film is that Witley had been dabbling with evil and the black arts however the truth is much more simple; some years ago a meteorite crashed near the estate and Witley had been harvesting the radioactive properties of the space rock. Witley was under the impression the rock was sent from heaven from one of his ancestors and the problems occurring are an ancestral curse, instead his old scientific mind doesn't see the truth. Can Reinhart save Susan and himself before it's too late or will Witley's insanity prevail and allow radiation to eat everybody up? This is a great looking film considering it was made in 1965. Despite it looking like a widescreen film it wasn't shot like this, post production magic makes it look better than it actually is. Colour is vivid throughout it's only let down by some of the special effects in the later parts of the film but I can forgive these blemishes on the film as it's older than I am and CGI wasn't possible back then. There is a constant mist or miasma surrounding the location which adds to the Gothic feel of this picture. The acting is great, Karloff and Adams both deliver believable and dark performances while Susan is a ditsy damsel who needs saving from herself as much as anybody else. Patrick McGee's appearance seems to be a typically pointless appearance much like his appearances in other films. The story is a little confusing to some people I know who have watched this but it's not that difficult if you persevere with it, it's just a little odd in it's own Gothic horror way. I think the first half of the film is more mysterious and suspense filled which conflicts with the last half as this is more of a creature feature horror film. All in all this is an enjoyable if slightly nostalgic film which while outdated by today's standard is a fun 80 minutes for horror fans. I'm awarding this 6 out of 10.

I will say it straight off the bat, I'm a pretty big fan of HP Lovecraft. I regularly re-read his stories, and find that his way of looking at horror is greatly affecting my own approach to writing. But what is it about his stories that just doesn't generally work for the big screen, unless drastically altered? Look at Stuart Gordon's films for example, as he has probably filmed more Lovecraft stories than anyone else. But Re-Animator, Dagon, From Beyond and Castlefreak hardly reflect much of the authors intellectual horror and psychological approach. They borrow some key plot elements and run a mile with it, and are so enjoyable in their own right to avoid any serious criticism of being a poorly rendered adaptation. Apart from the Lovecraft Society produced 'Call of Cthulhu', they rarely stick to the original source material.The story, 'The Colour Out of Space' is probably my personal favorite Lovecraft story. It's dark, physical and downright scary in parts. So what happens when it gets made in the 60's under the watchful eye of AIP and Roger Corman? You get a movie that tries to bend Lovecraft material into Poe material, with mixed results.The plot starts off in similar fashion to the likes of The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum. Stephen (Nick Adams) arrives in Arkham train station (woooooo!), and tries to get a lift out to the old Witley Estate to visit his lady, Susan. The locals refuse to help him, which sets off immediate alarm bells. When he eventually does arrive, he is met with hostility from the wheelchair bound Nahum Witley (Boris Karloff, overacting and kind of wasted), telling him to leave his daughter alone. Susan's mother is sick in bed and hidden behind curtains, but she urges Stephen to leave the house at once, but to take Susan with him, as the house is cursed. It seems that some kind of evil is at work, turning the house guests into deformities! It is up to Stephen to figure out how the current madness links with the past in order for him to save the love of his life...When Die, Monster, Die! eventually gets going, it is a lot of fun, if you are in the right kind of mood. But the problem is, the first half hour is very slow, and as I mentioned, bears too many similarities to greater films for you to be truly sucked in. The problem may be with how bland and uninteresting a lead actor Nick Adams makes. He speaks in a broad New York accent, and he seems pretty dumb and un-involved compared to other AIP leading men. Act, Motherf*cker, Act! Suzan Farmer fares a bit better as the lead lady, but that may be that I was just staring at her ample hooters. No surprise she went on to work on some Hammer films. If you can get past the first half hour, you do get some treats, such as; the creepy shawl covered lurker at the window, a skin crawling shriek heard on the moors, a cool face melting moment, a creepy mist filled greenhouse with distant crows cawing (reminded me of the Resident Evil game) and mutant plants attacking, and of course, the sight of Karloff running around covered in green glowing paint! Apart from all of this, the film looks great. The house is atmospheric, and the fog machine must have gotten paid overtime for it's outstanding performance here. But as I said, this all feels like a Poe set up, shoe horning in some Sci-Fi in the last act. I guess Lovecraft wasn't a big name like Poe back in the 60's. Don't let my lacklustre review put you off however, as I said, this one is a bit of a hoot. Just don't expect The Masque of the Red Death or Re-Animator.