The camera closes in on Elizabeth Selwyn as she struggles on the stake, until we have an extreme close-up of her face. The shot is being played backwards. The camera had really pulled back from her.
City of the Dead has an accidental similarity to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) (1960), which was released in the same month. The two stories have a similar structure. Both have as protagonists attractive blonds who are unexpectedly killed off less than halfway through the film while staying at a remote hotel/motel. Both have a sibling--in Psycho it's a sister, in City of the Dead a brother--who go looking for them. Both siblings are joined in the investigation by someone of the opposite sex--in Psycho it's the missing woman's lover, in City of the Dead it's a newfound friend. And both are joined by a third person who gets killed: the private investigator is stabbed to death in Psycho, the missing woman's boyfriend is stabbed in the back in City of the Dead. In addition, there are two similar scenes: in Psycho someone sitting in a chair is turned to face the camera with a rotten face. In City of the Dead, the figure in the chair is revealed to be the burned body of the witch.
Countless distributors have released The City of the Dead (1960) onto VHS and DVD. This film is in the public domain, which means any distributor can legally sell copies without paying royalties. Beware. Many small distributors market copies of public domain films with poor picture and sound. Others are more reputable and deliver good transfers of the best available prints. Shop around. Note that the 2001 DVD from VCI Home Entertainment preserves the original UK title and contains two minutes that are not present in other American DVD releases.
Watch Horror Hotel, aka The City of the Dead (1960), on archive org here.
It is also available online with a horror host at Cinema Insomnia hosted by Mr Lobo on Vimeo and on the Roku network OSI74.
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- How long is The City of the Dead?1 hour and 18 minutes
- When was The City of the Dead released?September 12, 1962
- What is the IMDb rating of The City of the Dead?6.7 out of 10
- Who stars in The City of the Dead?
- Who wrote The City of the Dead?
- Who directed The City of the Dead?
- Who was the composer for The City of the Dead?
- Who was the producer of The City of the Dead?
- Who was the executive producer of The City of the Dead?
- Who was the cinematographer for The City of the Dead?
- Who was the editor of The City of the Dead?
- Who are the characters in The City of the Dead?Richard Barlow, Alan Driscoll, Elizabeth Selwyn, Patricia Russell, Nan Barlow, Jethrow Keane, and Lottie
- What is the plot of The City of the Dead?A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discovers a startling secret about the town and its inhabitants.
- What is The City of the Dead rated?PG-13
- What genre is The City of the Dead?Horror, Mystery, and Thriller
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