Fanatic | |
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British original poster
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Directed by | Silvio Narizzano |
Produced by | Anthony Hinds |
Written by | Richard Matheson |
Based on | the novel Nightmare by Anne Blaisdell |
Starring |
Tallulah Bankhead Stefanie Powers Donald Sutherland |
Music by | Wilfred Josephs |
Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson |
Edited by | John Dunsford |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date
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21 March 1965 |
Running time
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97 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Fanatic (American title: Die! Die! My Darling!) is a 1965 British thriller directed by Silvio Narizzano for Hammer Films. It stars Tallulah Bankhead, Stefanie Powers, Peter Vaughan, Yootha Joyce, Maurice Kaufmann and Donald Sutherland.
First released in theaters on 21 March 1965 in United Kingdom, it was filmed at Elstree Studios and on location in Letchmore Heath, Hertfordshire, during the summer of 1964. It was Bankhead's final feature film.
An American woman, Patricia Carroll (Powers), arrives in London to get married to her lover Alan Glentower (Kaufmann). Before she gets married, Patricia wants to pay her respects to Mrs. Trefoile (Bankhead), the mother of her deceased fiancé Stephen (who died in an automobile accident several years earlier) at a secluded house on the edge of an English village. Mrs. Trefoile is fanatically religious, and it soon becomes apparent she blames Patricia for her son's death. Patricia reveals to her that she was not actually going to marry Stephen, who, it turns out, committed suicide. With the help of her two married servants Harry (Vaughn) and Anna (Joyce), Mrs. Trefoile holds Patricia captive in an attempt to cleanse Patricia's soul. After Mrs. Trefoile kills Harry, she then tries to kill Patricia. Patricia is rescued by Alan. Anna finds Harry's body, and finally Mrs. Trefoile falls dead with a knife in her back—presumably put there by Anna.