City Of The Dead aka Horror Hotel (1960)I had never heard of this movie, starring Christopher Lee, but because there is an 'Of The Dead' at the end of the title, I was prepared for yet another Romero ripoff. I was wrong for several reasons: The movie, set in America but made in England (the actors had to use American accents as they all were English) was actually called Horror Hotel. The American release used the other title, eight years before Romero's film. It also is not about zombies per se, but witchcraft and devil worship.
A B&W movie, most of it is dark, and they really overdid the fog machine effects (after all this was NOT England), but a well crafted movie with a good storyline, a little slow but still effective and worth a look. Set in Whitewood, Mass. (don't know why they didn't just use Salem), the plot revolves around a witch named Selwyn being burned at the stake but making a pact with Satan before she 'dies', guaranteeing her immortality as long as she keeps sacrificing virgins. This movie was interesting, but some really neat stuff popped up when I looked up more information about it.
For one, there are the censored lines for the American version - stupid because it sets up the plot. They are: - "I have made my pact with thee O Lucifer! Hear Me, Hear Me! I will do thy bidding for all eternity. For all eternity shall I practice the ritual of Black Mass. For all eternity shall I sacrifice unto thee. I give thee my soul, take me into thy service."
- "O Lucifer, listen to thy servant, grant her this pact for all eternity and I with her, and if we fail thee but once, you may do with our souls what you will."
- "Make this city an example of thy vengeance. Curse it, curse it for all eternity! Let me be the instrument of thy curse. Hear me O Lucifer, Hear Me!"
Why censored? Dunno. It's not like America didn't have it's share of witches, monsters and demon movies.
Also, this movie was made the same year Psycho was made and there are interesting similarities: In Psycho a unique aspect is getting to know a character who is the main protagonist in approximately half the movie and is then killed. Same happens here. In both it's a beautiful young blonde. In both they travel to an out-of-the-way hotel and there meet their demise. You can't really say one copied the other since they were both released the same year in different countries. The only other film I can think of that spends so much time with its main characters just to kill them off in the middle of the movie was Grindhouse's Death Proof (2007) which is also a pretty good film - the second half anyway.
You've also seen or heard of this movie more than you think. The metal band Iron Maiden use scenes from this film in the video clip for "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter". Also King Diamond uses clips in their "Sleepless Nights" video, while Rob Zombie used Christopher Lee's opening words ("Superstition, fear and jealousy") to similarly preface his track "Dragula" from Hellbilly Deluxe. In addition, the punk band the Misfits wrote a song called "Horror Hotel" (the American release title).
This is definitely worth a look. It's original, it's good writing (don't let the movie poster fool you, you won't find anything close to what it depicts in the movie) and Christopher Lee was very handsome in 1960 and always fun to watch.
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