Synopsis:

Boris Karloff stars with Nick Adams in this terrific/horrific mad-scientist-gone-ultra-mad film! Karloff is a scientist whose family harvested a radioactive meteor when it plummeted to the Earth, two generations ago. Thinking the family Satan worshippers (no doubt because of the effects of the meteor's radiation on both flora and fauna) the locals in the adjoining village all but shun the very name of the family. After receiving a cable to come and collect Karloff's daughter, Nick Adams is met with a stereotypically chilly British greeting from the townspeople whenever he mentions Karloff or the family name. Unable to procure any transport to his hosts' residence, Adams hoofs it through the foggy and treacherous hillside. Once at the family manse, Adams is rebuffed by a wheelchair-bound Karloff who if he had his way, would send Adams back home in a box. When the lovers are finally reunited all the good stuff begins to happen! Fainting butlers, shrieks in the night, dissolving faces, a knife-wielding-mutated-maidservant and a greenhouse full of deformed sideshow attractions are all served up in American international's Die Monster Die! It's worth noting that the film is based upon H.P.Lovecraft's short story, The Colour Out of Space, for those literary fans who just couldn't get enough from the film!

Audio/Video:

The audio is presented in a chilling mono platform that serves up course after course of diabolical terror in a very aurally pleasing way! The video is presented in an anamorphically enhanced widescreen platform that while full of scratches and flecks delivers a great and terrifying image. The colors are for the most part better than anticipated for a film of this type as they are rather rich in their presentation. If you are looking for transfer errors, make no mistake, you'll definitely find them here. But really, if you are into this title, I'm thinking that issues like these are not on the cusp of your "things-that-will-ruin-the-movie" list! I know they weren't on mine!

Extras:

The sole extra for this title is the film's trailer.

Overall:

MGM's Midnite Movie series has some really great campy entries. the Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of The House of Usher, X, the Man with The X-Ray Eyes and now Die Monster Die!, just to name a few. All of these films are just as much fun watching them now as they were all those years ago on every UHF channel they hit. I took some liberties in my descriptions, since these are such fun movies to watch! After all, when the tagline for the film is Can you Face the Ultimate in Diabolism?, you gotta sit back and say, I think I'm really gonna enjoy this one! And for $9.99 how on Earth could you go wrong! Great fun and one heck of a hoot for nostalgia's sake! Recommended