davidcarniglia A very watchable mash-up of sci-fi and horror. That spaceage bugaboo, radiation, gets tossed in rather artfully via a meteorite in Karloff's backyard. The suspension of disbelief is cloaked in both supernatural garb, as Karloff's Whitley initially assumes that the stuff was sent from 'the other side', and the psuedo-science of the Whitley clan's 'research.'Die, Monster, Die! is a sort of updated Frankenstein. Karloff, as Dr. Frankenstein, messes with the forbidden fruits of science, to produce, in this case, not just one monster, but enough for the insect, animal, and (sort-of) human worlds as well. Some of the grotesque combinations are hideous; I agree with those who point out that the special effects are well done. The snail-like thing in the potting shed is completely creepy; the mutated Karloff, with the green glow and mummy-like face, works as both demon and alien.The sets also work well. The house itself, in good gothic fashion, functions as a major character. The dungeon/laboratory is especially haunting; with those expressionist murals on the walls that seem to writhe in the quivering candlelight. Looks a lot like the sets from The Pit and the Pendulum. I'm also reminded of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with its exotic stuff in the greenhouse also growing nasty things.As entertaining as Die, Monster, Die! is, I just find too many holes to rate the movie higher. You could practically ditch Nick Adams' character completely; he doesn't really add anything, except to act as Susan's savior. Even Susan's extraneous. Why does she seem clueless about what's going on in the house? She lives there after all. Except for the scenes with her mother that establish her identity, she may as well be an outsider. The plot would work better if we had the story from Karloff's point of view. Then we could concentrate on the various mutants/monsters. As it is, they seem to just show up randomly to spook Stephen and/or Susan. We never get to see Karloff using the green stone thingie for his malicious 'experiments.' It is cool that the green stuff mutates him as he destroys it. Sort of a 'sins of the fathers' curse from beyond, or beyond space. An ambitious film, let down somewhat by non-mutant characters who act witless, and a series of incidents thrown together (mutated?) into a plot. Still plenty of fun.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1965 and directed by Daniel Haller, "Die, Monster, Die" (aka "Monster of Terror") is a semi-Gothic horror about a young man (Nick Adams) who travels to the estate of his fiancé (Susan Farmer) in England. Unfortunately, her wheelchair-bound father (Boris Karloff) is curiously curmudgeonly and something strange is going on behind the scenes. The movie is based on HP Lovecraft's story "The Colour Out of Space."While this isn't a vampire flick, the opening is reminiscent of Dracula (young man visits old man's eerie chateau). I used to get this mixed up with "The Terror" (1963), probably because of Karloff, similarities in the plot, and they both came out in the early/mid-60s. Regrettably, "Die, Monster, Die" lacks the haunting fascination of "The Terror." It tries to work up a mysterious ambiance, and succeeds to a degree, but the story's mostly tedious and the characters dull. Susan Farmer is fine, but her part is too secondary and nothing interesting is done with her, like Venetia Stevenson in 1960's "City of the Dead," aka "Horror Hotel" (you know what I mean if you've seen that flick).Thankfully, there are some highlights, like the imaginative scene where the protagonist exclaims "It looks like a zoo in Hell," not to mention the impressive monster at the close.FYI: Two and a half years after the release of this movie in the US, a demoralized Nick Adams was found dead from an overdose, which might have been accidental, but it also could've been suicide.THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 15 minutes and was shot in England (Surrey & Berkshire).GRADE: C

AaronCapenBanner Nick Adams stars as a young man who arrives at an isolated village in search of Witley mansion, where he wants to surprise his fiancée Susan(played by Suzan Farmer) The locals are most uncooperative to him, so he sets out alone to the estate, only to be shocked by the state of decay he finds, both inside and outside. Susan is glad to see him, but her wheelchair-bound scientist father(played by Boris Karloff) is not. Both of them soon discover the terrible Witley secret involving a radiation emitting meteorite that has had a devastating effect on the family...Based on the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Color Out Of Space", the film is atmospherically directed by Daniel Haller, but otherwise a misfire, becoming much too silly and absurd, ruining the second half of the film, after a reasonable set-up. A waste of Boris Karloff, who does the best he can.

Lee Eisenberg Daniel Haller had been Roger Corman's art director before making his directorial debut with "Die, Monster, Die!". It's the typical hokum that you can expect of the genre, with Boris Karloff as the patriarch in an English estate hiding a deadly secret. One particularly ridiculous scene is when Nick Adams's character says of himself and his fiancée "We were in science class together," since no one calls it science class in college. Yep, it's one of the many absurd but enjoyable horror flicks from the '60s, this time based on an H.P. Lovecraft story. Not any kind of masterpiece, but still fun. Suzan Farmer is a real fox! Am I the only one who thinks that Nick Adams's character looks like Tintin? PS: the cast members from "A Clockwork Orange" are Patrick Magee (Dr. Henderson here, Mr. Alexander in the latter) and Paul Farrell (Jason here, the homeless man in the latter).