The City of the Dead (1961)

This one has similarities to Psycho as the heroine of the piece is killed about halfway through the film at a remote hotel, but this is a way different film about witches, devil worship, and not trusting Christopher Lee.You see, at the start of the film we get a quick intro of a witch called Elizabeth Selwyn being burned at the stake while her partner in crime Jethro watches. Turns out though she really is a witch and starts laughing! Fast forward to the end of the fifties, and student Nan Barlow is all hooked on the history of witches by her teacher Christopher Lee, who suggests that if she's so interested in witch burnings, she should head for the New England town of whitewood and check out the history there.This she does, much to the protests of her boyfriend and her teacher brother. Heading to Whitewood, she discovers that the place has a really bad fog problem like some late eighties Italian film director has been let loose on the place, the locals are creepy bastards who love staring at her, and the landlady of the local hotel is a dead ringer for Elizabeth Selwyn! Don't worry though, her name is Mrs Newless, although it's not established if her first name is Htebazile.After meeting a grand total of two friendly people in town (the blind priest and his granddaughter), Nan's in serious trouble from devil worshipper and disappears. It's up to her brother and boyfriend to get to the bottom of what's going before someone else is sacrificed for Satan.Very atmospheric, not to mention foggy, with a lot of visual references to fire, great use of shadow with even a noirish quality to it all, Horror Hotel may not be the most eventful film but certainly has a certain vibe to it all. Loads of echoes of this in future films like Messiah Of Evil and The Devil's Rain. Nice to see Christopher Lee being part of a group of bad guys rather than the main bad guy - it also reminded me a bit of Carnival of Souls too

A curious student visits a mist enshrouded village to investigate the historical case of a witch burned at the stake, but she finds more than she expected ...Wonderful opening scene - although not original, the madness of the faces sets the mood for what is a fairly straight horror thriller that sadly doesn't follow through the emotional arcs of its good guy characters. The witch is played brilliantly, and the camera loves some of these actors, including Lee. However the opening is followed by several scenes where the dialogue is clunky and on the nose, as the themes are nailed on. At the start of the third act there's a lame sequence of car journeys, and the fight scenes are lame and hobbled.The village location is all studio, so a very creepy atmosphere, although they overdid it with the dry ice machine. Particularly good is the placing of disquieting villagers in the gloomy streets and the odd looking characters picked out by car headlights. Also the reverend in his church retreats into shadow almost perfectly in the last utterance of his warnings. And there's a good match cut with a birthday cake.The music swings from full on strings, to mellow jazz - the latter makes for a memorable scene of couples dancing with strange intimacy, but there's also an inappropriate accompaniment to a scene in a car. Also one more hiccup with the sound - count the bell tollings.Overall, not so original and fairly uneven in the script,direction and editing, but it has some great sequences and beautifully eerie moments. Also interesting to see the comparison from other reviewers to another 1960 movie. And on the Lovecraft trail, maybe Dagon is another good comparison. Wickerman too.

John Llewellyn Moxey directed this atmospheric thriller about a young college student named Nan Barlow who, over her boyfriend's objection, goes to a small New England town called Whitewood to do research for her paper about witchcraft that her Professor(played by Christopher Lee) has requested. Once there, she stays in the Raven's Inn run by a woman named Mrs. Newless, but in reality she is a much more sinister figure who lures her to a most unexpected exit...Meanwhile, her boyfriend goes to the town to search for Nan, but instead finds the daughter of the town reverend, who warns them to get out to escape the evil... underrated(and serious-minded) horror has fine acting and eerie direction, with a most striking finale.

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.