Daily Archives: February 27, 2017

The City of the Dead (AKA “Horror Hotel”)
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey
Written by George Baxt; Story by Milton Subotsky
1960/UK
Vulcan Films
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Prof. Alan Driscoll: The basis of fairy tale is in reality. The basis of reality is fairy tales[/box]

This is a mixture of great cinematography and direction in the horror scenes and some fairly pedestrian 1960 teen drama.

As the film opens, we are in 17th century Whitewood, Massachusetts where a witch, Elizabeth Selwyn, is about to be burned at the stake.  It is clear she really is a witch as her associate’s prayers to Lucifer are answered by a thunderstorm.  This is short-lived however and as the flames climb higher, she puts a curse on the town.

Segue to the present day.  Nan Barlow is fascinated by Professor Alan Driscoll’s (Christopher Lee) class in witchcraft and the occult.  Her boyfriend thinks the whole thing is daft.  Nan decides she needs to do some hands on research for her thesis and Driscoll recommends that she visit Whitewood.  He even recommends an inn.

On arrival, Nan finds things are pretty darn weird in Whitewood.  She is the only occupant of the creepy inn and the innkeeper looks at her with inappropriate interest.  Her visits to the church and to a bookshop only add to her apprehension.  All Nan’s fears are fully justified.

Her boyfriend and brother become concerned after two weeks when she still has not returned.  They travel to Whitewood and more Satanic adventures ensue.

This film was recently restored and you can tell why the effort was made.  The high-key lighting of the horror sequences is drop-dead gorgeous.  The director also has a knack with faces and staging that makes everything in Whitewood pretty interesting.  The modern sequences at college are oddly boring.  The plot is predictable but there are some mild scares.

Restoration Trailer

Murder, Inc.
Directed by Burt Balaban and Stuart Rosenberg
Written by Irve Tunick and Mel Barr based on a book by Burton Turkus and Sid Feder
1960/USA
Princess Production Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Abe “Kid Twist” Reles: [shouting angrily] Take, you see, what you can get your hands on, you take! Don’t ask questions! Take! What you want, take! What I want, I take! Nothing means nothing unless I got it! What do you got hands for! Huh? TAKE![/box]

Peter Falk received a Supporting Actor Oscar nod for his performance in this, the film in which he was “introduced”.  Since he is utterly fantastic and has more screen time than anyone else, the movie is more enjoyable than it has a right to be.

It is mid-1930’s America.  Prohibition has been repealed.  The film is based on the true story of the rise of the organized crime Syndicate, its activities, and efforts to wipe it out. The plot focuses on Lepke Buchhalter (David Stewart), the crime boss in Brooklyn) and the gang of paid assassins that became known as Murder, Inc.  This is led by Abe Reles (Falk).  Reles is a cold-blooded killer but can be explosive if crossed even slightly.

Reles needs the assistance of small-time singer Joey Collins (Stuart Whitman) to lure one of his first contract hits out into the street.  Thereafter, he unwillingly becomes one of his right hand men and Reles makes the lives of Joey and his wife Eadie (May Britt) a misery for several years.

We follow a series of hits and then the long efforts of Assistant D.A. Burton Turkus to bring them to an end.

All the good acting is within the crime family, making the first half of the movie the most entertaining.  When we start focusing on the good guys and enforcement, things get a bit dull.  May Britt is frankly bad and Whitman is just bland.  But whenever Falk appeared on the screen it lit up, and I emerged from the experience feeling thoroughly entertained. Recommended for the curious.

Clip from early in the film