DIE! DIE! MY DARLING! (1965)

Pat (Stephanie Powers) has arrived in England to marry her boyfriend Alan, but first she has the somewhat unpleasant duty of paying a visit to the aging Mrs. Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead). Back in the States, Pat was engaged to Mrs. Trefoile's son but he was killed in a car accident and she feels she owes the woman a courtesy visit. When she arrives at the woman's rural home, she plans on staying just long enough for a chat, but Trefoile asks her to stay the night and attend church the next day. Pat slowly comes to realize that Trefoile is a religious fanatic who doesn't allow mirrors in the house (vanity), won't permit anyone to wear the color red ("The devil’s color!" she snarls when Pat appears in a red outfit), refuses to eat "carnal" foods—in other words, she's a vegetarian—and quotes scripture frequently. Trefoile even quizzes Pat about whether or not she's still a virgin (she's not but she says she is). Thinking that the woman is nuts but harmless, Pat agrees to stay overnight, but when Trefoile finds out that Pat is planning on marrying another man, she hold her prisoner, preparing to cleanse Pat's soul so Pat will be worthy of being her son's bride in eternity.

This Hammer movie is part of a popular cycle of films in the 60s that involved older actresses becoming "scream queens" in Gothic horror films (WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE, STRAIT JACKET). Bankhead, for as famous as she was back in the day, was mostly a stage star and made few movies—her last one had been in the mid-40s—so it's nice to have this available, even if her role is a departure from the more racy, sophisticated parts for which she was known. She does a fine job in a role that might have served as a model for Piper Laurie when she played a similar prudish fanatic as the mother in CARRIE. Her performance is strong but for the most part, she resists the temptation to overdo it. For me, her best moment is when Mrs. Trefoile, who was a sinful actress in her youth, is tempted briefly to apply lipstick, something she has judged Pat harshly for doing. Ultimately, despite the Biblical trappings, the character is less a religious fanatic (FANATIC is the movie's title in England) and more like Psycho's Mother Bates. Powers is OK, though modern audiences may tire of the way she keeps kowtowing to Trifoile in the first half of the film. There are other characters at the house who help Mrs. Trefolie keep Pat from escaping, and you’ll recognize a young Donald Sutherland as the drooling, metally handicapped farm worker. The musical score, oddly jaunty at times, isn't great, and the look of the movie is dirty and gloomy—as befits the atmosphere. But this is at heart a two-person narrative in the same way that BABY JANE is, and worth seeing for Bankhead. Pictured above is Bankhead with a portrait of her son. [Amazon Prime]