Die, Monster, Die! is the 2nd entry in Lovecraft week. It was released in 1965 and was directed by Daniel Haller who would also go on to direct The Dunwich Horror in 5 years. This stars Boris Karloff, Suzan Farmer, and Nick Adams.
The movie is loosely based on Lovecraft's The Colour of Outer Space, which was his attempt to create a truly alien outer space creature. However, aside from the crashing of a meteor that strangely affects life, the movie is very different. The original story is the second hand account from Ammi Pierce of what happened to the "blasted heath", an area outside Arkham where a metorite had landed years ago. The metorite was examined, but no one could explain its effect on the nearby vegetation. The media seeps globs of "Colour" that eventually drive a nearby family insane while eroding the vegetation into grey dust and tainting the water. The family goes missing one-by-one before Pierce shows up with several other men only to discover everyone is dead as the "Colour" and the metorite leave the planet. This also takes place over years.
The movie is significantly quickened, and most of the cast are inventions. Some of the family members are loosely based on their equivalents in the story, but the names are changed. They've also created a romantic plot between the Ammi-clone and a member of the family.
So while these changes are a little disheartening and detracts a lot from the Lovecraftian spirit, it's still a pretty good movie. It plays a lot like a great 50s-60s style ghost story with a mysterious secret and a figure in black stalking the woods. It was actually really fun to watch. Some of the character motivations and behaviors are a little strange in the beginning, but when cool stuff starts to happen it doesn't really matter.
As far as faith to the source material this is probably the weaker of the two, but it was actually a more entertaining movie.
Next up: The Resurrected, sometimes known as Shatterbrain.
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