The City of the Dead (1961)

How sad is this?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

RELEASED IN 1960 and directed by John Moxey, "The City of the Dead" (aka "Horror Hotel") takes place in Massachusetts when a curious college gal (Venetia Stevenson) vacations in the remote village of Whitewood to investigate its infamous roots in witchcraft/satanism. When she doesn't return her brother (Dennis Lotis) and her boyfriend (Tom Naylor) come to find out what happened. Christopher Lee plays her solemn professor while Patricia Jessel appears as the town's hotel proprietor. Betta St. John plays the the only normal person in the strange hamlet.The movie was released in the UK at the same time as Hitchcock's "Psycho," but this one went into production six weeks earlier. I point this out because they share a plot similarity that was groundbreaking at the time (which I'm not going to give away). The film appears set bound, but it doesn't really matter since it was shot in B&W. Regardless, there's an effective spooky ambiance with fog galore. The intelligent and winsome Venetia Stevenson shines as the principal protagonist. WATCH OUT for her surprising "Whoa, Mama!" scene (surprising for 1959, when the film was concocted).FYI: The film was not released in the USA until two years later (1962), albeit with the name "Horror Hotel." Important dialogue bits from the opening burning-at-the-stake sequence were censored from the American version, which was the version I viewed. Key scenes were used in the Iron Maiden video for their song "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" (1990).THE MOVIE RUNS 78 minutes and was shot at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, England. WRITERS: George Baxt (screenplay) & Milton Subotsky (story).GRADE: B+

A young coed, Nan Barlow, uses her winter vacation to research a paper on witchcraft in New England. Her professor (Christopher Lee) recommends that she spend her time in a small village called Whitewood.The script was originally written by George Baxt as a pilot for a TV series starring Boris Karloff. The producer Milton Subotsky rewrote it to be longer, including a romantic subplot about the boyfriend who goes looking for Nan after she goes missing. The film was produced by Vulcan Productions, although because it was made by Subotsky and producing partner Max Rosenberg it has been considered the first of their Amicus Productions.I definitely get that Amicus feel out of this picture. But it would definitely make a good double feature with "Burn Witch Burn", as both are covering similar themes from around the same time, but sufficiently different enough to not be an overlap. I would have to say "Burn" is the better film, but only marginally so.

When an attractive blonde by the name of "Nan Barlow" (Venetia Stevenson) takes the advice of her professor "Alan Driscoll" (Christopher Lee) and goes to a small town in Massachusetts to study about witchcraft she soon ends up getting more than she bargained for. Now, although filmed in black and white this picture definitely manages to create the eerie setting necessary for this type of horror movie. The acting was excellent--especially by the aforementioned Venetia Stevenson and Christopher Lee. Likewise, Patricia Jessel (as both "Elizabeth Selwyn" and "Mrs. Newless") performed in an equally noteworthy manner. And while the special effects weren't that great in comparison to today's standards this movie still managed to generate more excitement than many of today's films costing quite a bit more to produce. In short, if you're looking for an above average horror movie which features witchcraft then you might want to check this one out.

Top-billed (on posters advertising the film) Christopher Lee is actually more of a supporting player in "The City of the Dead", a mature, well-handled horror piece. He's joined by equally talented performers like Patricia Jessel, Valentine Dyall, and the lovely Betta St. John, and they're all superbly directed by John Llewellyn Moxey ("The Night Stalker") in this tale of a resurrected New England witch cult. It's an interesting role for Lee: as an uptight university professor who is secretly a member of the coven (and who points a hapless female student in the direction of the spooky, decaying village where the group performs its sacrifices to Satan), he skulks, stares furtively from the corners of his eyes and generally lacks the authority of a Dracula-type character. In other words, he's more fun to watch here than in many of the roles with which he is normally associated! A solid, stylish fright flick that gets all the little details right, "The City of the Dead" is highly recommended. It's a shame that horror filmmakers have abandoned the time-tested formula used so effectively here by Moxey.