Fanatic (1965)

Best movie of this year hands down!

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This was one of the best 60s thriller/horror hag films I have seen. Tallulah Bankhead, who plays the religious fanatic mother, makes this film. Her mannerisms, voice, and look are perfect for the character she portrays. One of her last roles, she really gives it 110%. Stefanie Powers, who plays the deceased sons fiancé, is fantastic in this film as well. She and Tallulah play well off of each other. If you haven't seen this movie yet and are a fan of the 60s thriller/horror hag film genre watch it NOW. You won't regret it.

Before she marries her handsome fiancé (and becomes "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E."), pretty Stefanie Powers (as Patricia "Pat" Carroll) decides to visit Tallulah Bankhead (as Mrs. Trefoile), the eccentric mother of an ex-lover who killed himself some years earlier. Since the death of her son "Stephen", Ms. Bankhead has been in prayerful mourning. At first, she seems simply overly gracious; but, rest assured, Bankhead's religious fanaticism is guaranteed to raise hell for Ms. Powers. Delusional, Bankhead believes "Stephen" died a virgin, and believes Powers should join him after a lifetime of virginity. Powers isn't interested.Luridly but beautifully re-titled "Die! Die! My Darling!" for American consumption, seeing this film listed in your "TV Guide" was the biggest thrill outside of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" It only had one aging ungracefully movie star, but adds a pretty woman in peril. Bankhead did relatively few movies, and even fewer as she grew older. You really couldn't be sure she'd show up, and be sober enough to perform, so each Bankhead appearance is a thankful treasure. Of course, Powers misses many opportunities to escape - but, take Tallulah Bankhead's incredible staying powers into consideration. She's captivating.******* Fanatic (3/21/65) Silvio Narizzano ~ Tallulah Bankhead, Stefanie Powers, Donald Sutherland, Yootha Joyce

Marvelous Tallulah Bankhead is the only reason I consented to see this mid-sixties horror flick. As an actress, Tallulah had a unique on screen persona, with that throaty, raspy voice and those animated facial expressions. She gives this film everything she's got. It's a wonderful, melodramatic performance.But the script is beneath her. It starts out okay. Tallulah plays Mrs. Trefoile, an eccentric elderly woman holed up in her big house with just her servants. Her son has died and, as a result, her clinging to his memory has made her more than a little ... theological. When her son's fiancée pays her a courtesy call, Mrs. Trefoile at first is pleased. Then realizing that her once-to-be daughter-in-law does not share Mrs. Trefoile's interest in the ascetic life, Mrs. Trefoil's attitude ... changes.Some of the dialogue is a hoot, like when the daughter-in-law asks for some salt to flavor her food at dinner. Mrs. Trefoile replies confidently: "We use no condiments of any kind in this house, Patricia. God's food should be eaten unadorned ... For instance this meatloaf is synthetic, compounded of bread, oatmeal, and wheat germ". Marvelous!The problem with the film is that the plot makes the daughter-in-law so weak that she is initially unable to escape the clutches of this old woman. How can that be? Yet, if the daughter-in-law did escape, there wouldn't be any story.Further, casting of the servants is weak. And the Donald Sutherland character is unnecessary.The story is set in England. That's okay. But given Mrs. Trefoile's obsession with biblical scripture, I think the story would have been more potent had it been set in the American South.Opening credits sequence has a whimsical, light tone to it, suggesting that the story should not be taken seriously. And I didn't. The plot is too weak for that. Yet, I greatly admire the effort that Tallulah Bankhead put into her performance. For that, mostly, the film is worth watching.

Religious zealots and well-meaning people held captive against their will are my two least-favorite subjects for movie material, and here they're combined for a really queasy effect. The plot, based on Anne Blaisdell's book "Nightmare", is somewhat helped along by frisky bits of levity dotting the scenario, but not by the general hysteria which is inherent in the film's U.S. title, "Die! Die! My Darling!". Tallulah Bankhead plays the Bible-thumping, embittered mother of a dead man whose prospective daughter-in-law (Stefanie Powers) pays her a social call. I don't see how keeping this girl captive in the rambling estate would bring Tallulah any satisfaction, and Powers' helplessness does nothing for her--nor for the viewer, who is also held prisoner (it's the Idiot Plot Syndrome: if she acted smartly and got away, there would be no movie). Richard Matheson's script had promise, but he's facetious instead of cunning, and moments such as Bankhead revealing she was once an actress on the stage are nothing more than campy prodding (and it backfires since Tallulah's nutcase could use a little show-biz color to brighten her up). Donald Sutherland has an early role as a mentally-backward assistant with a heart of gold (a clichéd role no matter who played it); Powers manages to retain her dignity despite not being able to use common sense. Hammer Production looks good but is otherwise running low on petrol. *1/2 from ****