The Worst Film Ever

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

"Horror Hotel" and "City of the Dead" are the same feature. On March 3, 1692 the small community of Whitewood burned the witch Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel) for consorting with the devil. In modern time Professor Alan Driscoll (Christopher Lee) teaches a course on witchcraft. Student Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) wishes to conduct research for a term paper by going to a small Puritanical town. Driscoll programs her GPS for Whitewood....okay he writes down directions on scratch paper.Okay, the movie was a flashback to old TV horror sets. The "town" and graveyard was unashamedly on a stage covered up by the presence of Transylvanian thick fog. The film plot was classic, but dated. Available on some multi-packs.

I remember the first time I ever saw this film as a child on a late night horror hosted program. Called "HORROR HOTEL" (the name given the film for its American release) it was one that stuck with me years after I had seen it. Whenever I saw it was on TV I made a choice to watch it again if possible. I'd seen it released on DVD in various packages and from different companies but knew that most of them were low quality releases for the film so I never bothered. I pleased to now say that a definitive version of the film is available and includes some fantastic extras with it.If you've never seen the movie it starts off with a young female college student named Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) looking into witch trials in American history. Willing to do extra credit she takes the advice of her professor Driscoll (Christopher Lee) to visit a small village called Whitewood where he came from. 300 years ago Elizabeth Selwyn was burned at the stake there for witchcraft and he tells her she could find plenty of information on the topic there, suggesting that she stay at The Raven's Inn run by a Mrs. Newless (Patricia Jessell). As viewers we immediately recognize Mrs. Newless as Selwyn, the witch burned at the stake years ago and seen in a short prologue at the beginning of the film.Strange things begin to happen immediately and it isn't long before Nan is soon marked to be a sacrifice to a coven of witches that still remain in Whitewood. Before that can happen Nan's brother Richard (Dennis Lotis) shows up in town as well in search of his sister. He is befriended by a blind priest and his granddaughter Patricia (Betta St. John) who runs a local store. Richard and Patricia soon become enamored with one another as she helps him try to find out what happened to Nan. Having befriended Nan when she arrived even Patricia is wondering what's going on. Before the film ends witches will rise, a coven will threaten non-members and a twist will reveal itself.What makes this film work on all levels is the atmosphere it creates from the start of the film. The town of Whitewood is creepy as all get out, with a low lying mist forever working its way across the ground. It seems as if daylight has never reached this village and the odds of it ever doing so again are slim. Add to that the eerie factor on display from events that happen throughout, from dancing guests that disappear to strange individuals who can be found in the town to the fact that the priest has a church with no one in attendance and you get the impression early on that this is not a town to remain in for long.The appearance of Lee in the role of the professor, a man who takes the subject he teaches seriously, lends a certain amount of horror credibility to the entire film as he had played Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Mummy in the previous 3 years. His time on screen is short but valuable in establishing many moments of the film. Jessell does an amazing job of moving from mad to subtly threatening in her role and adds to the overall creepiness on screen.Although over 56 years ago (!) the film holds up amazingly well. Made at a time just before people began to honestly fear a resurgence in devil worship and cults between the Manson family and the release of "THE EXORCIST", the movie uses both themes to instill fear in the viewer. I'm sure there was some fear of both prior to the film's release but at the time movies had no problem using those themes to create a horror tale. While that continues today most are wary of using either for entertainment purposes and more people are fearful of watching films like this than at that time. That this film can still make you feel dread and concern over the topic is a testament to the power it has.VCI has released the film before but this Blu-ray version offers a pristine transfer of the film, the best I've seen to date, as well as numerous extras to go along with it. The film itself offers both the U.S. version as well as the lengthier British version. Extras include an archival interview with Christopher Lee and a behind the scenes interview with Lee when he was signing autographs for a previously released VCI edition released in 2001. There is a new audio commentary track by Bruce G. Hallenbeck (a British film authority and contributor to "LITTLE SHOPS OF HORRORS MAGAZINE"), liner notes by Mike Kenny, a trailer for the British title of the film and a gallery of photos that include lobby cards, stills, posters and more.If you loved this film as a child or having discovered it on TV years after it was released then by all means you'll want to check out this edition of the film. As I said it retains the creepy factor after all these years, might still inspire a nightmare or two and is the best version of this movie that can be found right now. The folks at VCI have outdone themselves with this release. All that's missing is a horror host to introduce the film to take me back to my youth.

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.

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.