Silvio Narizzano (1927–2011)

First class slice of "hagsploitation" from Hammer that brings the requisite psychological chills and a number of superbly constructed sequences clearly inspired by Mario Bava's approach to colour. The story by Richard Matheson has beautiful young American, Patricia (Stephanie Powers) arriving in London with her fiancé Alan (Maurice Kaufmann). Patricia decides to visit to Mrs Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead) the mother of her dead ex-fiancé Stephen. Unfortunately Mrs Trefoile turns out to be a religious fanatic obsessed with the memory of her dead son. She imprisons Patricia and at the point of a gun subjects her to insane religious indoctrination and multiple humiliations. "Fanatic" ("Die! Die! My Darling!") is great fun with Tallulah Bankhead, in her last performance, delivering a crazily effective character, spitting bile and hatred in between her gunpoint sermons from the Book of Revelations. It is a tour-de-force of over-the-top scenery chewing that somehow works and gives the film a strong centre around which the narrative spirals. Stephanie Powers is strong and effective and does well to hold her own against Bankhead's powerhouse performance. The production design of the film is first class with Mrs Trefoile's large home being a great gothic mansion full of strange staircases, odd landings, baroque designs and off-centre angles which deliver more than a hint of German expressionism. The cellar set is particularly effective with strange, disorientating shapes and ceilings, Director Silvio Narizzano uses these sets to great effect and gives the film a cloying, claustrophobic feel. The scenes in the cellar are cleverly directed with Narizzano splashing the set and actors in washes of lurid light. Shocking reds, greens and purples, clearly inspired by Mario Bava, flood in from no discernible source adding to the psychotic feel. From performances, to script, to sets and through to the directorial approach there is somethings deliciously melodramatic and enjoyable about "Fanatic" making it possibly the best of Hammer's'60s psychological thrillers.… (more)