Die, Monster, Die!

Originally filmed under the more atmospheric title 'The House At The End Of The World', sadly both the American ('Die, Monster, Die!') and British ('Monster Of Terror') titles reflect the quality of the movie.

An adaptation of H P Lovecraft's 'The Colour Out Of Space' it feels more like a Poe adaptation, with its old dark mansion, subterranean corridors and air of family secrets. Unsurprisingly first-time director Haller was Corman's production designer/art director on the Poe series and the end result is a good-looking movie ruined by a poor script.

Karloff is wasted as is the cast, which is a shame as it is a fine one. Freda Jackson, Suzan Farmer and Patrick Magee are genre veterans who have given (or would go on to give) fine horror performances in other movies, here they are just thrown away in small cameo roles or, in Farmer's case, a stiff, disconnected leading role.

Haller would go on to make the far better Lovecraft adaptation, 'The Dunwich Horror', which, while flawed, is well worth checking out.