Die, Monster, Die! (1965)

Back in August, I wrote about the recent adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s short story “The Color Out of Space”, and mentioned one other previous movie adaptation of the story—so why not write about that as well? It is very interesting to look at two different versions of the same story, released over fifty years apart, and how they reflect the horror movie trends of their times—hey, they even both feature big actors in analogous roles! The 1965 version, given the incredible title Die, Monster, Die! In North America (and the slightly more sedate Monster of Terror in the UK), was partially brought to us by American International Pictures, who had just finished their run of Roger Corman-directed Edgar Allen Poe films (the director of this, Daniel Haller, was the set designer of those movies)—and this is definitely in that vein, presenting a horror world of huge, dilapidated English estates, wary villagers, and Boris Karloff in his twilight years. This was the kind of horror movie that was kind of on its last legs by the mid-sixties, and while this isn’t a period piece as many of its predecessors were, it has the feel of something from an older time—even its veering into science fiction territory feels old-fashioned. It makes for a very loose adaptation of the source material, one with less of the lingering dread but one still based on ideas of legacy and familial dysfunction.