Simply A Masterpiece

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

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.

Satanistic horror films will not be for every taste. They are spooky. They are nightmare inducing. They give you the heebie jeebies about the unknown elements of the underworld. Unlike Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, the Wolf Man or other famous horror movie creatures, Satanistic themed horror films warn us of an element of humanity out there that God-fearing Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists try to avoid. Even atheists, with their non belief of any deity (good or evil) might find themselves creeped out or uncomfortable in dealing with the feelings that emerge when confronted with the world of Satan worshipers or witchcraft or other elements of evil that involve casting spells or placing hexes. The good news is that a good majority of these show the perspective of good triumphing over evil, and if you are an audience like me, you might find yourself screaming at the TV screen as the villains get what is coming to them, especially with the element of surprise that erupts on your first viewing of films like this. Only the evil Nazi's of those propaganda filled World War II movies can stir me up more, but the reaction is the same. I want these vile people to suffer for the torment they put decent people through in order to achieve a despicable goal.I keep finding in my classic film search more gems of the horror genre that I was unaware existed. Many are wretched third rate, Z grade cheapy's, but even a few cheapy's can be quite good, and this is one of those. Fortunately color free, this becomes all the more chilling and atmospheric with its black and white photography in its Massachusetts set small community who in the 1600's attempted to burn witch Patricia Jessel at the stake. Having just seen "Saint Joan" on Broadway, the idea of anybody burning to death is cringeworthy, but this witch is a vile, cursing creature who obviously deserves her fate, and in the background, Christopher Lee is seen praying for the return of Satan after having just denounced Jessel. The skies start thundering and rain appears, resulting in laughter from the sinister looking female about to be barbecued. Fast forward 300 something years later to a modern day university, and discussions of the underworld and Satanism lead by Lee leads student Venetia Stevenson out to the small town where this took place where nothing seems to have changed but the decay of the buildings. She ends up in an old inn where Jessel reappears as the innkeeper, politely checking her in, and inevitably leading Stevenson to her fate.Like Janet Leigh in "Psycho", Stevenson makes a dramatic exit, although it's unclear as to what happened. Her brother (Dennis Lotis) sets out to find her, and meets minister's granddaughter Betta St. John who had earlier lent Stevenson a book on the occult. It becomes very clear that this town is still stuck in its 17th Century ways, that strangers are not welcome unless they are ripe for the heinous ambitions of those who remain, and that some sort of spell has turned this community into an evil variation of Brigadoon where nobody who pops in unexpectedly is guaranteed to leave alive. The tension builds up, more revelations are brought out, and some really twisted events bring Lotis and St. John together where they must pull out all their faith to fight the forces of darkness that here seem possible to destroy. The film reminds me of the two part TV movie "Dark Secret of Harvest Home" with a bit of the gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" thrown in. Jessel reminds me of "Dark Shadows'" matriarch Joan Bennett, but there's nothing kindly about her outside her passive/aggressive politeness that is easy to see through. She's one of the great forgotten screen villains, and gets a great exit. This is one film you must watch without distraction, but not before you go to bed. It is the stuff that horrific nightmares are all about!

Alternatively titled Horror Hotel, which is admittedly a more fitting title, seeing as the outdoor set that consists of no more than a few wooden facades (with spooky low-hanging fog) can hardly be seen as a city. Not sure if one influenced the other or not, but the setup is similar to Psycho (also 1960), where the main heroine disappears after the first half and people whom she knows search for her.It begins with a witch being burnt at the stake (the puritans with the hats sure look funny). The story is fairly predictable, with a fun villain played by Christopher Lee, who lures young women to be sacrificed on two occasions of the year. It's amazing his activity hasn't attracted much attention, since he seems to recruit the women from university classes held in his swanky room with a plethora of interesting artifacts related to witchcraft or tribal superstitions and loads of expensive alcoholic beverages (nice advertising shot for afficionados). His success as a lecturer hinges on getting his students hammered, obviously (really bad pun). Seems weird for such a little town to have two university girls disappear each year... and somehow related to Lee's character... You know you're going to a good place when it's always night time and the fog is unrelenting, and some weird guy named Jethro (looks and sounds like a serial killer) hitches a ride with two different young women and disappears before even opening the door, then you're given obvious red flags by a servant woman who has a speech impediment, a crazy, old blind man, and the mean horse-faced villainess. The often film noir-esque lighting is the highlight of the film. Sufficiently spooky with rich, high contrast blacks and whites-many of the interiors are well-lit, though not draped in darkness--but the inn in particular has deep pools of blackness, many practical lights strewn about the frame--such as a burning fireplace and lamps--and a heavily flickering light from above that appears to be simulating a torch. Really excellent example of horror film lighting here. Even the stereotypical horror set really looks quite nice, though a softer, grainier image and maybe a bit less low-hanging fog might have made it look more convincing (but, frankly, the obviously fake graveyard is great), but that's just a minor quibble. Art direction and score are also decent for a b-horror film (the chants remind me a bit of The Wicker Man).One of the more interesting parts is probably how they perfectly mirror the walking scene of both Nan and Richard. The denizens all stop at the exact same locations to watch both the hero and heroine--even the camera work appears to be the same, if not roughly the same. Definitely gives the impressions that those who inhabit the town are long dead and have repeated the same process since 1692. Though I'm rating it a 4, I did enjoy the film, and I'd recommend it to those looking for a decent B&W supernatural b-movie horror.

"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.