I saw this when I was around 12 or something, when it was on TV late one night and I never forgot it. I had been desperate to see it again ever since but could never remember what it was called, and for some reason I remembered Peter Cushing playing Christopher Lee's role. I looked up the plot on the IMDB plot search and found it, so I got the DVD and its just as brilliant as I remember. Really atmospheric and haunting. Im so glad I found it.
shareI was exactly the same as you. I saw it when I was about 13, never saw it on TV since but have forever had shivers when I thought of the movie. I've just bought it off ebay from America and can't wait to see it again after all these years.
shareAdd me to the list of people who saw this movie when I was much younger and never forgot it. Like many, I had forgotten the title but remembered the movie. It aparently has 2 titles, City of the Dead and Horror Hotel.
Its strange; I was laying in bed and suddenly the name "Ravens Inn" popped into my head. I did a quick search on Google, and came up with the title, "Horror Hotel" which wasnt exactly familiar but the plot certainly was. I found Horror Hotel on ebay on a double feature DVD with "Carnival of Souls". I dont recall seeing that one.
I just purchased it. Cant wait to see it again. Its one of those wierd films that just kind of "stays with you" in the back of your mind, kind of haunting you.
I hope its as spooky as I remember it.
Horror Hotel, brings to mind another movie that was made 10 years later. "Crowhaven Farm" was a 1970 "made for TV" movie, that also deals with witchcraft and some of the towns people who are not who or what they appear to be. It is another one of those movies that you just dont seem to forget. It has not been released on DVD but there are some VHS copies available on ebay if you check around.
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I,m so glad I read your posting!
Besides being the same age it HAS to be the same transmission time I saw the film! It really does remain in the memory!! It may have been the UK networked: "Don't Watch Alone" at around this time, they also screened "Nightmare" "Fanatic" and "Shadow Of The Cat" they are all in my collection now as well as "City Of The Dead"-the original and best title,even the opening credits are delicious to watch-even now!
Well this thread's got me excited! I'm sure I saw this as well. I used to love staying up late to watch old horror movies like this when that is what they showed at 11 or 12 on Friday or Saturday night. Good thing we can recreate that by picking up flicks like this on the cheap. It's about $6 at DDD.
Hammer and Amicus studios really turned out some classic stuff that deserves some serious revisitation!
Remembering that I posted about this movie a while back, I decided to update my comments a bit. I purchased this movie on ebay; it was a double feature along with Carnival of Souls. This movie is still as spooky as I remember it. While it dosnt frighten me like it did when I was younger, I still love the look and feel of this movie.
What really impresses me is the setting for the "Ravens Inn". This place looks like time stood still for years. I love old architecture and the look of the town is SO "atmospheric". Add fog and film in B&W and place takes on a naturally chilling atmosphere and setting.
I was amazed that this is billed as a bottom line budget movie yet it achieves its goal with an absolute minimum of fancy sets and techniques. Patricia Jessel is my favorite character and takes her lead role perfectly.
I think this is one of the classic older films where moviemakers could take lessons on how to achieve maximum results from a minimum of special frills and effects. Here is a case where "less is more".
This is a movie that stands the test of time. It should never be remade, and would most definately suffer from any attempt to try to do so.
Im glad to see thet it is so easy to find on DVD and will now be preserved as a horror classic. Carnival of Souls was also a great "complimentary" movie on the disc. I had not seen it befor but its definately another atmospheric thriller.
My disc has the worst cover art imaginable. I guess the one that just has Horror Hotel alone is a bit better. If anyone owns that disc, I am curious to know if there are any special features on the disc. It would sure be interesting to know a bit more about how and where it was filmed.
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"What is Carnival of Souls like? I will have to look it up" ... I saw Carnival of Souls over at a friends house one time a few years back, it was also very good. It is a low budget film about a woman's strange experiences in a small town as she seems to drift in and out of reality. It has a twilight zone air to it, but the revelation at the film's conclusion will leave you thinking. I'll say no more, for I don't want to spoil it for you! All I will say is that it is very surreal and strange, which makes it great...very original for it's time.
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I actually just watched it tonite for the first time...it came with my DVD of "Carnival of Souls" (which I discovered through some late nite TV surfing, haha). Good and creepy!
Live, live, live! Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!share
I did when I was six when it was on Sir Graves Ghastley. This was one of the better horror films, even though it was a smaller budget flick. It had a great story with a nicely creepy atmosphere. I now have it on a DVD collection too.
shareWow...I remember Sir Graves..AND this movie. Loved to watch Sir Graves on Saturday. I saw 100's of movies on his show during the 70's. Kinda hokey acting, but a great place to watch classic sci/fi and horror.
Anyhow...I saw this around 1969. I was all of four or five years old. I'll never forget it - that was the night I became afraid of the dark. I've wondered through the years what the name of the movie was. I could remember bits and pieces of it, but couldn't recall the names or faces of the actors, or the movie title.
I always meant to "face my fear" and watch it again to see what all the fuss was about..especially now that I no longer am afraid of the dark (or am I?). Guess I'll have to grab it off Amazon.com or something.
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I just got done watching it myself, one hell of a horror movie from those days I must say!
We can DO IT ALLLL DAY LONG, (We'll have to pay more for the light bill if we do it at night!)
My goodness, someone else remembers Sir Graves Ghastley? I remember him on television in the Washington, DC area when I'd go and visit my mom's family. Great memories!!
shareI was the first one to write a review of the film at IMDB. I saw it way back in 1963 at a drive-in with "The Head," and saw it many times on TV. Creepy! Definitely one of my favorite horror movies. By the way, the same director later directed "The Night Stalker."
http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/writer
has anyone else noticed that (with the obvious exception of Christopher Lee) for many of the cast this was one of the last films they made? Check their profiles - spooky......
shareThat is interesting. Most of the cast appeared in only one or two movies after this one, and Patricial Jessel (Mrs. Newliss/Elizabeth Selwyn) died in 1968 of a heart attack, only a year or two before her 50th birthday.
http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/writer
http://www.lulu.com/brianwfairbanks
I got this tape out of the library a few months ago and loved it. Great movie.
Interesting that it was made in 1960, the same year as Psycho, and follows a similar plot device, a young girl goes to a mysterious place and gets killed mid-way through, then her relatives go over there to solve the mystery.
I saw it on Creature Features (Friday Night Horror Film in Chicago circa early 1970s) when I was a kid and scared the hell out of me. Just rewatched it. Great stuff. The scene where they grab her and throw her on that slab and plunge is so quick and she was good actress screaming her head off like any person would. great stuff.
Also recommended is Black Sabbath (A Mario Bava masterpiece of atmospheric horror).
Starduster - Carnival Of Souls is great. But IMO horror hotel is better.
shareThis writer considers Horror Hotel('60) to be one of the greatest chillers ever made!
To Better Days,
BRAD
Like everybody else, apparently, I too was awake when I shouldn't have been, watching scenes from completely terrifying movies on UHF channels on my grandma's black-and-white TV set, and then hastily turning it off and pretending to be asleep when she'd check on me. So I'm still not completely sure if this is the movie I saw. Hope someone can help me…is there a scene in which the innocent young (blonde, kinda schoolgirl-meets-Jackie-Onassis-looking and seriously hot) woman descends foolishly into a basement or underground room where all the Salem witches are waiting for her? If this is the film I think it is, I've been waiting about thirty years to see all of it…it's been driving me nuts that I never knew the name, never heard of any of the actors (at the time) and couldn't remember a darn thing about it other than this scene! Thanks, anyone, for your help (and if you don't want to post you can reach me via the link at the top of any one of my movie reviews, at www.sfreporter.com)!
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Get them to sign on the line which is dotted.
This is the film you're thinking of!
shareYep...this is that movie. I enjoyed this movie but it really tickles me the way teenagers are protrayed as neive and foolish. For instance, when Nan Barlow is driving down a dark road in the middle of nowhere and has no problem giving a complete stranger a ride in her car...lol, I mean what kind of message does that send to the people that watched this movie back in 1961?..Try that foolish kindness today and you will be an Amber alert or just found dead on the side of the road. One other thing...her (Nan) boyfriend...lol, this guy spends most of his time yelling in her face and barking orders and interupting her....I guess she liked the bad-boy type. Oh how times have changed.
But I still get a kick out of this flick.
Hitchhiking was very common and rarely thought of as being particularly dangerous, certainly into the 1980s in Britain.
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@ Someoneo06
In the mid to late 60s, especially in The Summer Of Love era, in Los Angeles, just for an example, youths would hitchhike with total strangers, but there's more to it than the time I have to elaborate.
"You know, my name..."
This low-budget movie with mediocre production values caught lightning in a bottle. It is one of the scariest movies in its genre. I, too, first saw it on a late-night TV rerun, and never forgot it. When I found it on VHS (and later on DVD), I snatched it up. It was as good as I remembered it. It's creepy and effective, and really holds your attention. This is a little gem that should get far more attention than it does.
shareWOW...I'm soooooo glad that so many people saw this (like me) as a kid and have never forgotten it. I've never forgotten the name (I knew it as "Horror Hotel") and it's been over 30 years since I last saw it and I still remember whole scenes. I remember the hidden door in the girl's room, her walking down the passageway to the sound of the chants and how the film cuts abruptly to a birthday cake being cut as the witches bring the knife down on her. The opening of the film (the whole setup) is more memorable than the investigation that comes later and I'm a bit hazy about those scenes. But I do vividly remember the ending (I won't spoil it).
Isn't it amazing that some films we see as children stick with us right up until adulthood.
There's another movie out there (a TV movie) called "Where Have All the People Gone". I vividly remember that one as well and I haven't seen that one in over thirty years either.
Well, guess who directed THAT one also? The SAME director as "Horror Hotel".
I just watched it at work. Getting paid to watch movies rools.
http://www.archive.org/details/Horror_Hotel
this site has lots of old movies. its worth a look.
I first saw this film on "Creature Feature" many years ago, and now own it on video. I must say that it is one of my fave horror movies of all time, and it still holds up. From the eerie music to the witch scenes, I think it's first rate. And, who can forget the marvelous, effective Christopher Lee and the wonderful Patricia Jessel? The only thing that doesn't scare me now, but gave me the absolute willies until actually a few years ago, was the last scene when they show the burnt face of Elizabeth Selwyn.
Great film.
I just saw this last night... I bought it from aamzon.co.uk as part of a triple feature (it came with 'The Corpse Vanishes' and 'The Terror'). I really liked this movie!!!
I'm quite getting into these old black and white movies, and it reminded me of The Twilight Zone for some reason.
Anyway, very good and atmospheric movie, and quite chilling too!
"They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way"