source: Horror Hotel

Trailer—The City of the Dead

The City of the Dead

Having not taken much time to watch older movies of this genre, I was pleasantly surprised by how comprehensive the film was. Black and white photography rarely seems to look this good, and has been one of the things that has turned me off such films before now. The visuals in City Of The Dead are so sharp and foreboding that they serve to accentuate the small town paranoia perfectly. In terms of the characters, Patricia Jessel as Mrs Newlis and Christopher Lee as Prof Driscoll, are supremely sinister, whilst Venetia Stevenson as Nan Barlow, is hopelessly deserving of the viewers compassion as the witches prey! I've come to love this film, not just for the sake of the film itself, but because it proved me so wrong in my assumption that most movies of this type/age are dull, it's incredibly watchable and tense.

Horror Hotel or City of the dead is a great horror witchcraft film. The characters,directing and writing is awesome. This movie gave me everything I wanted. Definitely worth watching!!!

Since Christopher Lee died recently, I decided to watch one of his movies in his memory. The one that I found is "The City of the Dead", called "Horror Hotel" in the US. This story of a small town in Massachusetts that burned witches centuries earlier is sort of a corny movie, but a really fun one. And boy is Venetia Stevenson one hot babe! (somewhere between Carol on "Mister Ed" and Emmeline in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World") I would call Patricia Jessel's characters the most interesting in the movie. Her soft voice and eerie gaze gave me the impression that Norman Bates's mother was like this back in the day (and the movie has a number of similarities to "Psycho"). But I mostly liked seeing Christopher Lee. I've never seen a movie of his that I didn't like. From Count Dracula to Lord Saruman to Count Dooku to the Nazi in "1941" to the assorted appearances in Tim Burton's movies, Lee was an actor on whom you could always count. You're sure to like this movie.

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.

A more than good b/w horror movie, based on witchcraft and satanism, with a very good cast and definitely a correct atmosphere. A young collegial goes to a small Massachussets town and find a coven of three hundred years old Satan worshippers. Maybe a little dated, but still more than watchable.

Strangers rarely come to Whitewood...and for good reason. For it's inhabited with witches and warlocks...and Christopher Lee! He's absolutely menacing in his role of Professor Driscoll. Horror Hotel (aka: The City of the Dead) is a just an old fashioned horror story, it's even kind of creepy. I think this one is all about the atmosphere; a dark and rickety hotel located in an aging New England town that boasts an excellent use of fog that would make John Carpenter envious. It's something to be seen. Horror Hotel is slightly dated, but not too shabby. After all, "the basis of reality is fairy tales, and the basis of fairy tales is reality"

This is the story of a college student who goes to do research in a small town and promptly runs into strange goings on. Its not giving anything away to say that the events involve witches of the not particularly friendly variety. This movie creeps me out. Even if I hear the music in another room my skin crawls. I don't know what it is but there is something about it that does not sit well with me. Eerily filmed in suggestive black and white this film looks like a half remembered nightmare, perhaps a clearer version of Begotten. I dread the prospect of ever seeing this again, despite owning several versions of it. (Hey, a good fright film has to be treasured) 10 out of 10. Remember keep the lights on while you watch this.