Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

kevinsinnot Very atmospheric although the acting is a little wooden. Some basic historical research would have helped to make it a little more realistic. Those accused of witchcraft were not burned at the stake in North American colonies. They were usually hanged or drowned.

Wuchak 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+

jacabiya I'm not going to discuss at length this turkey, with incompetent acting and a ridiculous setting in a town covered with fog where visitors come to stay in a hotel for no reason and like to take strolls along weird looking local people. Just wrote this for one of the stupidest scenes I've ever seen: the good guy is firing bullets right at the chest of the approaching Christopher Lee who continues approaching, unfazed, but when the good guy runs out of bullets and throws his gun at him, Mr. Lee ducks! Uf, 10 lines required! Well, good photography by distinguished British cinematographer Desmond Dickinson. For some reason some great cinematographers were working in low budget horror films in the early 60's, for example, Eugene Shufftan in Eyes without a Face.

gavin6942 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.