MovieChat Forums > Die, Monster, Die! (1965) Discussion > Saw this on TCM on Halloween

Saw this on TCM on Halloween

posted 17 years ago by sdsungod
9 replies | jump to latest

TCM did a great Boris Karloff film marathon on Halloween night. This was the only one that was in color, and it was used to great effect with the glowing green stones and all. I had never heard of this movie before, but it was a very strange coincidence that, after I put my kids to bed, the movie "The Body Snatchers" was on, as I had just read the Robert Louis Stevenson short story the night before! So I caught the end of "Body Snatchers" and then was treated to "Die, Monster, Die!" which was a very pleasant surprise. I guess because I didn't have any expectations about it, I enjoyed it very much and I am surprised it isn't more well known. I suppose if it was a famous classic, then it wouldn't have seemed like so much fun since I would have had high expectations. I especially liked seeing Patrick Magee, who I always think of as the old man who uses "classical" conditioning for revenge in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange," looking like almost exactly the same guy.

"Enough of that technical talk, Foo!"

[–] brandomarlon2003 16 years ago

Not a great movie but an entertaining popcorn film and one of Boris' last good movies before he did some really awful Mexican-produced horror films shortly before he died.

[–] Kurtz9791 16 years ago

"Targets" (1968) should have been Boris' last film. It is a great underrated film, and would have been a fitting end to his career, since Karloff is basically playing himself in the film.

[–] clearbluepeace 16 years ago

I'd like to see this movie, as it seems to be based on an old favorite short story of mine by H. P. Lovecraft, called "The Colour Out of Space". An interesting note: the same story was the inspiration for the segment in "Creepshow" called "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill."

I really have to recommend "The Colour Out of Space" -- an excellent story.

[–] VCR 16 years ago

On now!

I'll give him 20 more minutes-and that's it!- Airplane!

[–] MystMoonstruck 16 years ago

I'm watching it, too! I know it's not the strongest film and certainly not up to H.P. Lovecraft's works. Neither is "The Haunted Palace". But, they're far better than some of the horrid works purportedly based on HPL, including "From Beyond"! Later, I plan to watch "The Shuttered Room" for the first time in at least three decades then "The Dunwich Horror", which I've come to appreciate over the years.

I held onto my comic book based on this film for ages before finally selling it at a collectibles show. They were amazed that I'd read it so much yet kept it in good condition (Very Good, actually). Remember when they used to do that: print a comic book version of popular films? I think Gold Key did it fairly often, if memory serves.

~~MystMoonstruck~~

"A kind heart butters no parsnips!"~Anna Lee in "Bedlam"

[–] monsieurzy 16 years ago

you are correct, Stephen King did "borrow" this eerie H.P.Lovecraft story for his segment in Creepshow..and he did a fine job of turning it into CRAP.
..when will he give up??

[–] Pharaoh-in-de-Nile 15 years ago

Actually he would have borrowed it for his short story 'Weeds' which was written long before that segment in 'Creepshow' was made.

I actually think Stephen King does some of the better non-Lovecraft mythos (which 'Weeds' isn't) stories come to think of it. He is a massive fan of Lovecraft and so I don't doubt that Lovecraft's story inspired his.

"Nothings gonna change my world!"

[–] monsieurzy 15 years ago

dont know if I'd say "better non-Lovecraft mythos", but King was definitely a fan and it shows in some of his earlier short stories (found in Night Shift)...either way the Creepshow segment is pretty lame
..and let us not forget that H.P. Lovecraft was himself often "borrowing" from the "Divine Edgar"...his At the Mountains of Madness owes a massive debt to Poe's Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

[–] zaraath 12 years ago

Jerusalem's Lot (the short story, not the novel) is very effective. Crouch End is also pretty good.