HORROR HOTEL has always been one of my favorites since I first saw it on TV back in 1962. I was surprised to discover that I hadn’t written a review for it so, finally, here it is. This review refers to this VCI edition released under the original British title, CITY OF THE DEAD. Online there any number of versions of this title available but only the VCI release offers the best print and an uncensored one.
This movie was made by a new company called Vulcan which quickly became Amicus Productions who became a mainstay in 1960s and 70s horror through their anthology films such as DOCTOR TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS and TALES FROM THE CRYPT. HOTEL even has one of the icons of modern horror in Christopher Lee who was just setting out on his horror film career (he had done DRACULA one year earlier).
The film opens with a prologue set in 1692. The witch Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel in a masterful performance) is about to be burned at the stake. She places a curse on the town of Whitewood, Massachusetts. The original British version restores about 2 minutes of missing footage surrounding the curse. Cut to the present day (1960) where Christopher Lee is recalling the events to his college class on witchcraft.
One student, Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson), is very interested and winds up going to Whitewood where she disappears. Her brother (Dennis Lotis) goes there looking for her, befriends a local girl (Betta St. John), and then they get swept up in the proceedings. Many horror fans are familiar with what happens next but for those who aren’t, I won’t spoil it.
What makes HORROR HOTEL / CITY OF THE DEAD such a gem is the way that it is made. In addition to a captivating story, the movie features some of the most evocative black and white cinematography I’ve ever seen. For a good example of this check out the way the firelight dances around the room in the Raven’s Inn sequences and how the fog swirls around the town graveyard. There are no shades of gray here.
The performances by a cast of British actors with American accents is very believable and there’s even a similarity to PSYCHO in one scene although this movie was shot first. The only drawback is that the then contemporary college scenes have become dated but not enough to affect the film. With a running time of less than 80 minutes, HORROR HOTEL / COTD proves that in this case, less is more and it’s a movie that I return to again and again when I need a quality old school horror fix.
The Capsule Critic 