HALLOWEEN FAVORITES: HORROR HOTEL (1960)

HORROR HOTEL (1960)

The legendary Christopher Lee stars in this classic 1960 horror that is still as spooky and effective today as it was then and is one of my favorite films to watch during the Halloween time of year. This chilling horror… also known as City Of The Dead …begins with the burning of witch Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel) in 1692 in the town of Whitewood, Massachusetts. We then cut to the occult studies class of professor Alan Driscoll (Christopher Lee) where eager student Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) intends on writing her class paper by going to New England to investigate it’s occult history first hand. Driscoll suggests she go to Whitewood itself to do her studies and gives her the directions to find the small infamous town. Upon arrival in the spooky village, Nan stays in The Raven’s Inn run by the mysterious Mrs. Newless (also Patricia Jessel) and soon finds that the 300 year old legends of Whitewood may be all too real. When Nan doesn’t return from her research trip, her brother Richard (Dennis Lotis), followed by friend Bill (Tom Naylor), travels to Whitewood looking for her. Richard teams up with the granddaughter of the local reverend, Patricia (Betta St. John), who had met Nan and lent her a book on the occult. What they find is something very ancient, very evil and very deadly…something they may not escape alive.

John Llewellyn Moxey (The Night Stalker) brings loads of atmosphere and a great visual style to this B&W chiller about college students running afoul of Devil worshipping witches in an old New England town. He gives the film an almost non-stop tension and creates some frightening horror sequences and it’s all supported by a sometimes very haunting score by Douglas Gamely. With an almost 300 year old witch, fiendish occult ceremonies and ritual sacrifice, you’ve got a really old fashioned Halloween horror film treat. The graveyard climax is both bone chilling and contains some truly stunning horror film visuals that have stayed with me since I first saw this on TV as a little boy…and when I was a kid, this flick scared the heck out of me!

As for the cast…Christopher Lee is at his sinister best as the professor in occult studies who is far more involved in his subject than his students realize and just may be leading his eager-to-learn lambs to the slaughter. Patricia Jessel brings the evil witch Elizabeth Selwyn to vibrant life and Venetia Stevenson stands out as the inquisitive and ill-fated Nan. The rest of our young antagonists do well in portraying the horror of what they encounter and the film is peppered with some very unnerving supporting characters.

I highly recommend this to any horror fan who appreciates how it was done…old school and in glorious black and white! A wonderfully spooky and delightfully charming horror classic. Also stars Norman Macowan as Reverend Russell and Valentine Dyall as the mysterious Jethrow Keane.

4 (out of 4) classic Christopher Lees!

**************************************************

Some examples of the powerful horror imagery from John Llewellyn Moxey.

RICHARD MATHESON DOUBLE FEATURE: THE NIGHT STALKER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER

SPECIAL EDITION IN HONOR OF RICHARD MATHESON!

I thought I would profile two lesser known titles from Matheson’s illustrious and expansive body or work…

THE NIGHT STALKER (1972)

For a while, this 1972 TV movie was the most watched program in television history. A well made story of a fallen from grace reporter (Darren McGavin) who comes to believe a series of murders in Las Vegas are being committed by an actual vampire (a creepy Barry Atwater). As the authorities (led by movie and TV vet Claude Akins) are in denial, reporter Carl Kolchak decides to confront and destroy the undead fiend himself, if the bloodthirsty Janos Skorzeny doesn’t kill him first.

A solid horror thriller for a TV movie and a strong characterization from Christmas Story dad, McGavin as Kolchak. There is very little blood, as it was made for TV, but director John Llewellyn Moxey (Horror Hotel) directs from legendary writer Richard Matheson’s script based on the book, ‘The Kolchak Papers’ by Jeff Rice. Moxey makes up for the lack of the red stuff by providing a healthy dose of thrills and chills and takes the proceedings very serious, which makes it all work. The Night Stalker is considered a classic by many and it spawned a decent sequel, Night Strangler, before becoming a TV series that sadly took a campy approach to the supernatural stories and the Kolchak character. Classic TV movie is said to have been the inspiration for The X-Files, which returned the favor by having McGavin guest star in 2 episodes as an agent. Also starring Simon Oakland as Kolchak’s long suffering boss, Tony Vencenzo, who would also join McGavin in the sequel and the short lived series. I am proud to say I watched this the night it first aired and it scared the heck out of my 7 year-old ass!

MonsterZero NJ Extra Trivia: There was a brief run new version of the show in 2005 with Stuart Townsend as Kolchak and now talk of a movie version with Johnny Depp as Kolchak and directed by Shaun Of The Dead’s Edgar Wright.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) supernaturally savvy reporters

***************************************************

Not quite a trailer but a promo that mixes scenes from both The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler…

THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1973)

After being chased out of Las Vegas as part of covering up their vampire problem, sequel to the classic Night Stalker has Carl Kolchak now in Seattle and coming up against a serial killer who is part Jekyll/ Hyde and part Dorian Gray. Kolchak’s investigation leads him to a doctor (The Six Million Dollar Man’s boss, Richard Anderson) who resurfaces every twenty-one years to murder victims for a serum that keeps him alive and young. As with the previous entry, Kolchak is the only one who believes there is something supernatural going on and the only one who figures out how to stop it.

For a sequel, it’s not bad and pretty entertaining in it’s own right. Directed by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, Trilogy Of Terror) and again written by legendary genre writer Richard Matheson (Twilight Zone, The Night Stalker and Spielberg’s Duel), the film has it’s share of spooky moments and suspenseful chases as Kolchak once again finds himself alone and trying to stop the fiend, before his serum is complete and he goes back into hiding. The formula didn’t start to wear thin till the often silly weekly series that struggled to keep coming up with supernatural opponents for the intrepid reporter. They probably should have stuck with an annual TV movie instead. Strangler also features Simon Oakland returning as Vencenzo and an adorable and fiesty Jo Ann Pflug as a belly dancer with a soft spot for McGavin’s hard nosed reporter. Also stars legendary actors, John Carradine, Margaret Hamilton and “Grandpa” Al Lewis.

MonsterZero NJ Extra Trivia: A third film written by Matheson was planned, but ABC went with a weekly series instead. The film was called The Night Killers and would have involved Kochak and Vinchenzo working together in Hawaii and investigating a story involving aliens, a UFO and a plot to colonize earth…sound familiar, Mulder and Scully?

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) supernaturally savvy reporters

MZNJ Trivia: A third film written by Matheson was planned, but ABC went with a weekly series instead. The film was called The Night Killers and would have involved Kochak and Vinchenzo working together in Hawaii and investigating a story involving aliens, a UFO and a plot to colonize earth…sound familiar, Mulder and Scully?

***************************************************

Not quite a trailer but a promo that mixes scenes from both The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler…