Neat Hammer thriller that plays more like a black comedy. Stefanie Powers plays a woman who goes to visit the mother of her former fiancé who died. That mother is an insanely crazy religious nut played by Tallulah Bankhead. Dear old Mom has some very definite ideas about right & wrong and she doesn't take a shine to Stefanie at all. After tolerating Tallulah for as long as she can, Stefanie finally tells her that she never intended to marry her son even had he lived. This pushes the old broad over the edge and she locks Stefanie up in a room in her house. She plans to starve her as a means of cleansing her soul. She's a real nut! Tallulah Bankhead, in her final film, gives one of moviedom's great hambone performances. It just has to be seen to be believed. She clearly has a lot of fun with the role. Powers plays it all straight which only adds to the insane joy of Bankhead's performance. Donald Sutherland also has an early role and is particularly ludicrous as a retarded handyman. A fun entry in the "crazy old lady" horror fad of the 1960s started by "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?".
Review of Die! Die! My Darling!
