Watched this chilling classic on Creature Features WNEW TV in New York back in 1970. The scenery, music and lots and lots of fog create an ambiance of this begrimed wood based town of Whitewood, Massachusetts. Walking the streets of this dark venue are the townsfolk basically made up of homely Witches and Warlocks wandering about. You see this town is cursed by Elizabeth Sellwood who was torched by the townspeople for witchcraft some 300 years ago. In return, (just before Lis is a golden brown), tied to the steak surrounded by her peers,as a loud chant of 'Burn the Witch, Burn the Witch' ensues, Elisabeth Sellwood lets a cry of laughter and puts an eternal curse on Whitewood. This story is explained by Modern day College Professor Alan Driscoll played by veteran actor Christopher Lee. Overly attentive student Nan Barlow played by Venitia Stevenson wants to know more about that New England town. Nan wants to do research and get that illusive A on the paper about witches and curses. I feel a road trip coming. Just got to find that Wamport Road to Whitewood and be weary of Hitchhikers named Keane. Upon Nan's arrival she sees the dark misty streets of a discarded town with it's eerie inhabitants but it doesn't phase her at all. Off to the book shop run by normal folk, mortals. Nan is startled by the stark blind old man who answers the door warning her to leave Whitewood. That was the blind Reverend Russell played by elderly Norman Macowan. His niece Pat, (Betta St. John) runs the book shop. Nan and Pat exchange pleasantries among st the grim town's backdrop. Nan asked to borrow a book on the town's history of Witches, Witch craft and the rituals held on Candlemass Eve. Next off to the Inn where a very stark Mrs. Newless (Patricia Jessel) who has the warmth of an iceberg gives her a room complete with trapped door. Our sad figure in all of this is the maid of the inn, Lottie (Ann Beach) who is mute. Lottie tries to warn the naive Nan about the danger that awaits her with warning notes. But a cunning ,watchful Mrs. Newless threatens her repeatedly. What happens to Silent Lottie, Miss Barlow or Pat or anyone who is not a Witch or Warlock in that town? Watch on if you dare? I can only tell you this . Nan misses a birthday party in one of the great editing scenes of all time complete with a Happy Birthday. A note on the background music which at times had a jazzy feel against the gloomy dark exterior but listening to the Warlock/Witch singers gives the atmosphere an unnerving feeling. Great film to watch on Halloween night.

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.

'City of the Dead' (US: 'Horror Hotel') is one of those cult classic horrors that you blearily stumble across in the late night TV schedules, promptly get sucked into, and which the next day you find none of your friends has heard of let alone watched and consequently has you wondering if it wasn't all just a vivid dream. A good part of this lingering feeling no doubt comes from the stifling atmosphere of gloom which the film positively oozes thanks to the fog-soaked contained soundstage sets shot in stark black and white and the presence of the ever foreboding Christopher Lee. In the movie Lee (famous for clocking in the most amount of screen representations of Count Dracula) plays Professor Driscoll, an American demonologist who is encouraged by the interest one of his students, Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevens), has shown in the legend of the 17th Century witch Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel), who was burned at the stake in Whitewood, Massachusetts in 1692, and advises her to visit the town to conduct first-hand research. She arrives and promptly disappears after checking into the Raven's Inn, a local hotel owned by Mrs. Newless, a woman who (unbeknownst to Nan) bears an uncanny resemblance to the Elizabeth Selwyn of lore. Following Nan's disappearance, concerned friends and family trace her to the town and in seeking to discover her whereabouts uncover the occult secrets of the town.The "town cursed by a witch consumed with flames" story comes from the pen of Milton Subotsky (who would later go onto to found Amicus productions which would go toe-to-toe with Hammer Films in the classic British Horror sweepstakes) and unfortunately suffers from having been done-to-death (no pun intended) since, well, the Sixties. Indeed, maybe the film has suffered from a similarity to Mario Bava's classic 'Black Sunday' which was released the same year, has many of the same plot contrivances, and was even also filmed in black and white. This is a shame as while 'Black Sunday' has taken more than its fair share of praise since its release, 'City of the Dead' certainly deserves much more recognition than it has received as the film carries its story along well and maintains suspense throughout with a tight script, good performances, and manages to hit the kind of creepy New England Gothic atmosphere that H. P. Lovecraft was so fond of right on the mark. So while the movie may be dated and lack the ability to scare, if watched alone at night it creates such a vivid atmosphere that you shouldn't be surprised if Black-robed figures appear in your dreams that night. So mote it be.

This was the first movie made by Amicus Productions, who would go on to be Hammer's chief rival in the world of British horror. With such a stellar start as this, it's no wonder they quickly gained a following among the horror masses. The movie revolves around a New England town that burns a witch at the stake, but not before she has a chance to curse the town and all its' inhabitants for all time. Fast forward to present day and young, pretty college student Nan is studying witchcraft. Her professor sends her to this same town to help gather material for her term paper and, naturally, she finds that black magic still runs amok in this foggy little town.There is certainly a lot to enjoy in this movie. I have a special fondness for the satanic/witch cult movies that seemed so prevalent in the 60s and 70s and this movie is full of hooded villains doing the dark lord's bidding. Whether or not they are alive or dead is a mystery I shall leave you to find out on your own. The setting of the film is magnificent. They must have rented every fog machine in England to give this a classic Universal look, full of shadows and mist. There's almost a sense that the town exists in a world of its' own, as in several instances in the film, as travelers approach the town, the ghostly fog seems to signal their arrival in the mystical borders. The town looks great, like something lost in time, full of cobwebs, old cemeteries and a rundown church. The director does an excellent job of using the setting and a lot of chiarascuro (light and shade) to create an unsettling feeling in the movie, where you know that no one is ever quite safe.It's not without a few drawbacks, though. While the look of the movie holds up really well, there are some early 60s style marks that set it firmly in its' place. The acting is never subtle and there are a few scenes particularly (the cemetery climax for instance) where the overacting is fairly noticeable. Nan, our main heroine, seems to be far too naive about the situation she's just entrenched herself in as she cheerfully studies the town's history amidst ominous warnings. We get the obligatory scene that seemed so common in horror and sci-fi of this era where the filmmaker assumes we are idiots with no knowledge and rather than let this background info unfold organically, we are treated to a scholarly debate between two educated men who argue the reason-ability of these beliefs in a thinly veiled effort to teach us what we need to know in their dialog. In this case, a conversation between Christopher Lee and Nan's brother at the beginning of the film. Having watched a LOT of old horror, I can't tell you how many times I've seen this exact thing play out in films from BLACK LAGOON to MOLE PEOPLE. While we're discussing similarities, there are some striking similarities to a pair of movies released just a year before this. There is some tonality in common with Mario Bava's BLACK Sunday as both films revolve around a condemned witch wreaking havoc in modern times. There is also a lot of stylistic comparison to PSYCHO. In both films a young blonde goes to a small town hotel and suffers an untimely fate. In both films, we get a switch of protagonist as our first heroine (who we think will be the main character) suffers a cruel fate and another heroine steps in to solve the murder. I think these are coincidental though as all 3 of these movies would have been in production are roughly the same time.All in all, while not one of the best movies of the 60s that I have seen, this is certainly worth the viewing.