MANIAC
(1963)
Starring
Kerwin Matthews, Nadia Gray, Liliane Brousse, Donald Houston, George
Pastell. Directed by Michael Carreras. (1963/87 min).
DIE!
DIE! MY DARLING!
Starring
Tallulah Bankhead, Stephanie Powers, Peter Vaughn, Maurice Kaufmann,
Yootha Joyce, Donald Sutherland. Directed by Silvio Marizzano.
(1965/97 min).
When
we think Hammer Films, we generally think vampires, mummies, castles,
Christopher Lee and sultry vixens with plunging necklines. But the
studio also cranked out a handful of straightforward thrillers during
its heyday - well, straightforward for them, anyway - such as
the two in this collection.
1963's
Maniac begins rather horrifically, with an angry French
innkeeper avenging the rape of his daughter, Annette, by
blow-torching her attacker to death. He's then committed to an insane
asylum for his actions. Four years later, his wife, Eve (Nadia Gray),
and Annette are still running the inn when lonely American Jeff (Karwin
Matthews) decides to stay for awhile to get-over a recent break-up.
He has the hots for Annette but falls in love with Eve, who dupes him
to springing her husband from the asylum. That turns out to be a bad
idea, but not in a way we're first led to believe.
 |
| "Yes, my refrigerator is running. Why do you ask?" |
Maniac
plays more like a twisted take on The Postman Always Rings Twice
than typical Hammer horror fare. As such, it works pretty well. After
a slow start, the complications keep things
interesting. The performances are strictly pedestrian, but Maniac
makes the most of its low budget with some interesting locations and surprising plot twists.
Before
the title became synonymous with The Misfits, Die! Die! My
Darling! was best-remembered as Tallulah Bankhead's final film. A
decidedly dubious career capper for a screen legend, but
Bankhead goes all-in with an over-the-top performance as religious
zealot Mrs. Trefole, who imprisons her late son's fiancée, Patricia
(Stephanie Powers), forcing her own brand of penance with the help of
an equally-loony housekeeping staff.
 |
| "I commissioned this one back when I was known as Thomas Bankhead." |
The
film isn't remotely scary or suspenseful, though its camp value is
mighty high. Powers makes a bland, irritating protagonist, but Bankhead's
scenery-chewing performance ranks right up there with Betty Davis' in
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,
making it an amusing entry in the "psycho-biddy"
subgenre that was popular at the time. There's also the added bonus
of a young Donald Sutherland as a dim-witted groundskeeper.
Obviously,
neither film is bursting with originality, but both are mildly
entertaining for different reasons. Maniac looks and
feels more like the type of Hammer film we're familiar with, and is the
better of the two. Die! Die! My Darling! is good for a
few morbid chuckles.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
None
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...LIKE CAT CHOW
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