The City of the Dead (film)
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- For other uses of the term "The City of the Dead" see The City of the Dead.
| City of the Dead | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Llewellyn Moxey |
| Produced by | Max Rosenberg Milton Subotsky Donald Taylor |
| Written by | George Baxt Desmond Dickinson |
| Starring | Venetia Stevenson Christopher Lee Dennis Lotis Betta St. John Valentine Dyall |
| Music by | Douglas Gamley Kenneth V. Jones |
| Cinematography | Desmond Dickinson |
| Editing by | John Pomeroy |
| Distributed by | Trans-World Film |
| Release date(s) | 1960 |
| Running time | 76 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
City of the Dead (US title: Horror Hotel) is a 1960 film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Christopher Lee and Valentine Dyall.
Contents |
[edit] Production
Production began on 12 October 1959 at Shepperton Studios with a budget of £45,000. Milton Subotsky was an uncredited producer of the film, leading some to consider this the first unofficial Amicus Productions film.[citation needed] Officially, it was produced by Vulcan Productions.
[edit] Plot synopsis
On the recommendation of her professor, a young female student (played by Venetia Stevenson) travels to a small Massachusetts town to do some research into witchcraft. She finds the town occupied by the reincarnation of an infamous witch (played by Patricia Jessel) burned at the stake in the 17th century.
[edit] Comparisons to Psycho
This film has been compared to Psycho due to some structural similarities. Both films begin by establishing an attractive young blonde woman as the viewpoint character, leading the audience to assume that she will be the protagonist through the rest of the story. In both films, the blonde travels to a remote location and checks into a hotel or motel run by an eccentic manager. In both cases, the audience's expectations are shattered before the midpoint of the story when the young blonde is abruptly stabbed to death.
[edit] In Other Media
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 to similarly preface one of his track from Hellbilly Deluxe.
[edit] References
- Rigby, Jonathan, (2000). English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-01-3.
[edit] External links
- City of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
- City of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
- City of the Dead at Google Video
- City of the Dead at the Internet Archive
