Hammer Films Double Feature - Volume Three: Maniac, Die! Die! My Darling! - Blu-ray

This review is for the bluray, pairing Maniac (1963) with Die! Die! My Darling! (1965) aka The Fanatic. By contrast, the DVD reviews appearing for this Double Feature on Amazon relate to entirely different movies.*** PICTURE AND AUDIO QUALITY ***Firstly, even though this is a budget release with two movies sharing the same disk, the picture quality is excellent.THE MANIAC: Never before has a movie about a blowtorch-wielding maniac looked so gorgeous - there's some film grain, which isn't a bad thing since it gives the monochromic images a sort of rich texture. The source print must have been very clean because it looks absolutely pristine, and is presented in its original 2.35:1 widescreen format. This movie is a pleasure to watch. The imagery is captivating, reminding me that black and white cinematography is an almost lost art form. In the realm of photography, an expert B&W photographer can capture essence and emotion of a character or moment better than most other photographers do in colour. The monochromatic images and texture of this movie did something similar - expertly drawing me into the place and period of this film. I wasn't expecting it ... but I thoroughly enjoyed the experienceDIE! DIE! MY DARLING: By contrast, this movie is shot in colour (in 1.85:1 ratio) and the print used for the transfer wasn't so clean. The image is still very crisp, clear, and not so grainy ... but there are dust spots throughout which become distracting. I realise that this is a budget transfer but surely the producers could have paid less than minimum wage to a trainee video engineer in some cheap third-world country (India, China, Bangladesh, New Zealand or Los Angeles) to use the Spot Healing tool in Adobe for a few days to fix this up. It would have made a huge difference. Fortunately, despite these momentary distractions, this movie's plot and memorable characters will quickly draw you back in.Audio quality for both films is good - and is crisp and clear. Unfortunately I can't offer any meaningful analysis since I generally just play my movies back through the TV speakers and not through any fancy audio systems.Although not specifically audio-related, its important to call out that (unlike the Hammer Double Features vol 1 & 2) THIS RELEASE INCLUDES SUBTITLES. This is an important feature for those of us getting on in years - or who live in small household shared with others who lack appreciation of classic Hammer films.*** ABOUT THE MOVIES ***Both films are psychological thrillers or horror - falling into Hammer's "mini-Hitchcock" category. Neither are graphic in any wayTHE MANIAC: This is the lighter of the two films. Sure, there's a blowtorch wielding maniac somewhere in the background, but much of the film is focused on the romance of a visiting American painter and a local French woman whose husband is locked in an asylum - and is then convinced to help him escape. A mystery then ensues when the plans don't work out as expected. Although its probably not the best in this genre, Jimmy Sangster's script still has some interesting plot turns - and the characters are all fun to watch even if none of them stand out for any particular reason.DIE! DIE! MY DARLING: For me, this is the better of the two movies - and one of my favourite Hammer films of all time. It deals with an unsuspecting American woman visiting the mother of her deceased fiancé. Something that starts out as mildly awkward rapidly descends into terror as the grieving mother proves to be a mentally unbalanced religious fanatic - holding her guest hostage. This movie fits into what's known somewhat derisively as the "Psycho biddy" genre ... but its a wonderful example with strong performances and an escalating sense of tension throughout. Sure, it only gets a measly 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes - but those negative ratings obviously came from talentless hacks masquerading as reviewers, and not from true Hammer fans.There are a couple of reasons why this movies is so great.Firstly, its very well written. The screenplay comes from Richard Matheson who gave us "I Am Legend" - adapted into the 2007 film with Will Smith, along with two earlier adaptations: Last Man on Earth (1964) with Vincent Price, and The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston. He wrote three film adaptions of Edgar Allan Poe classics for Roger Corman - resulting in House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), and The Raven (1963) - which were easily the strongest entries in Corman's Poe series. He also wrote another Hammer classic, adapting Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out ... along with scripts for Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and original Kolchak TV movie.Secondly, there are strong acting performances. Stefanie Powers is terrific in her role, but Tallulah Bankhead's is the absolute standout. Peter Vaughan, Yootha Joyce, and Donald Sutherland round things out.For someone who grew up in the 1980s watching shows such as Hart to Hart, STEFANIE POWERS epitomises the vision of a smart, glamorous, capable, and self-reliant woman ... and is certainly not the type to easily succumb to the machinations of a raving looney. Powers plays her part extremely well - she's believable, sympathetic, and a portrays a character who's strong in her own right. But its TALLULAH BANKHEAD who manages to steal every scene. Her performance is utterly unnerving and the stuff of nightmares - all delivered in a quietly spoken husky voice (reputedly the result of smoking over 100 cigarettes daily). This movie was Bankhead's final film and its clear to see that she was truly one of the greats of her time. Speaking of strong female characters, we also get YOOTHA JOYCE in an early film role. Although she has only a minor part in this film she'll be familiar to British and Commonwealth audiences as Mildred Roper who, with the exception Maggie Thatcher, might have been one of the strongest female role model in the UK of the 1970s and 80s. The males, Peter Vaughan, Donald Sutherland, and Maurice Kaufmann all play their parts well ... but its the females who rightfully dominate this movie.In summary, this Hammer Double Feature comes highly recommended for anyone looking for a couple of classic movies, and to explore Hammer's offerings outside its better known gothic horror genre.

Picture quality is the best, replaced my old vhs copy, a Hammer Film, so good.

It’s Hammer, fans understand this! I love Die Die My Darling

A Two Movie Dvd In Beautiful Blu-ray Mill Creek Keep them coming I have 6

All Hammer film noir movies are excellent!Never watched one I didn’t enjoy.I

Both films look great on blu ray. Well worth the investment.

Very good,thank you.

The hammer films are great, they always seem to have a twist a great studio A+

Excellent films, great digital production.

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