Fanatic (1965),
dir. Silvio Narizzano, Hammer Film Productions
Also known as Die!
Die! My Darling, the 1960’s saw the rise of a new subgenre in horror: Psycho
biddy. Usually starring a faded starlet playing against type, this proved to be
rather popular. Hammer contracted their screenwriter duties out to noted
author Richard Matheson and the end result was flawed but genius in parts.
Patricia Carol (Stephanie Powers) is returning to England
after some time abroad with her new fiancé Alan Glentower (Maurice Kaufman) in
tow. Soon after arriving, Patricia leaves to spend a day in the countryside
with the family of her former fiancé Stephan. Her reasons are decent enough;
Stephan died in a car wreck sometime before and she wishes some closure before
she marries Alan. Alan is not thrilled with the idea, but he lets her go
without incident.
So with that established, Patricia speeds to the Trefoile
manor home, a massive gothic mansion in the middle of nowhere. Mrs. Trefoile
(Tallulah Bankhead) is not pleased to see her; in fact she seems to hate and
look down on just about everyone. Mrs. Trefoile, you see, is quite firm in her
beliefs and anyone who fails to measure up is clearly hell-bound.
Along with Mrs. Trefoile there is also the maid Anne (Yootha
Joyce), her husband Harry (Peter Vaughan), and handyman Joseph (Donald
Sutherland). Anne is browbeaten and under strict orders to make everything as
bland and plain as possible. Joseph is apparently suffering from some mental
malady, and Harry is Mrs. Trefolie’s last living relative so he stands to
inherit the whole estate when the old woman passes thus he is more than content
to let the old woman act as she pleases.
Patricia is not welcomed but Mrs. Trefoile takes her in all
the same; it would be rude, after all, to let her daughter-in-law to stand
outside. Yes, daughter-in-law, because as far Mrs. Trefoile is concerned an
engagement is equal to marriage. When Patricia informs her that she is engaged
to someone else…well let’s say Mrs. Trefoile doesn’t handle it with quiet
dignity and grace. No, she is going make Patricia a worthy bride for Stephan if
she has to whip the sin out of her herself. Besides, she reasons, since Stephan
is already in heaven it wouldn’t be that bad if Patricia joined the angels and
met her husband.
Patricia is not a fan of this idea. She can’t count on much
help though, as Anne is utterly subservient to the boss, Joseph doesn’t seem to
understand the situation, and Harry only sees her as a means to alleviate the
boredom of living with a modern day Puritan.
Bankhead owns this film. She careful measures every scene in
the film before devouring it whole. Sadly everyone seems to fall by the wayside
when she’s on camera. The first half
almost plays like a comedy, however, and that does make the story seem like a
placeholder until Bankhead starts to swallow the scenery.
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