City of the Dead

City of the Dead (aka. Horror Hotel) (1960)

This movie opens up in the distant past where a witch is being burned at the stake for her crimes. She pleads with the Devil to save her and apparently he does. The action then moves forward to “modern” times where a young woman named Nan is sitting in a lecture by her professor (played by Christopher Lee) about witchcraft. After class she lets him know she wants to study more about witchcraft and he recommends that she go to a small town called Whitewood. After a few strange encounters with the locals she is carried off to the crypts beneath the Inn she is staying at. After a couple of weeks her brother comes looking for her and ends up trying to save another woman from a terrible fate at the hands of the coven of witches that makes up the population of the town. But what happened to Nan? And how can he hope to stop the coven with the Devil in their corner?

This is a pretty cool little movie. The opening of the movie is a great setup and reminds me a bit of Bava’s Black Sunday which also came out in 1960. The story is kind of slow until Nan arrives at the town. After that it is one creepy situation after another as the movie builds to it’s climax. The movie also isn’t afraid to pull the rug out from under the audience as it takes an unexpected turn at about the halfway point that even surprised an old horror vet like me. Oh and the ending to this movie is one of the best that I’ve ever seen. The performances are all very good. Of course there is Christopher Lee, who isn’t used much but takes full advantage of his limited screen time to turn in a really good villain. I also really liked Venetia Stevenson as Nan who sadly decided to retire not long after this movie. Not only is she stunning, but her performance is an asset to the movie. To be honest I can’t think of a single weak performance in the movie.

This being a movie from 1960 there isn’t much in the way of special effects. There aren’t any creatures just people doing terrible things. Now there are a couple of neat effects with people bursting into flames, but that is about all you get to see on screen. That said the film is shot in such a way that there are a couple of good death scenes that are jarring and will stick with you. The movie also uses what is obviously a set covered in fog to creature a surreal feeling that plays will with the rest of the movie.

Before I finish my review up there is one more thing that I have to mention. I found out while researching for this review that Horror Hotel was the first movie for the company that would eventually be renamed Amicus, which I think is pretty damn cool. If you are interested in checking out City of the Dead there is an excellent DVD from the fine people at VCI Entertainment. Go to www.vcientertainment.com for more information.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer