Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Year: 1960
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: The City of the Dead
Genre: Cult
Plot:
Trying to write a thesis paper, a college student travels to a town in New England to learn more about witchcraft, only to disappear and cause her friends and relatives to come looking for her, only to stumble upon the same secret she did and try to get away alive.
Review:
There is a lot to like in this one, as it was quite an impressive effort. One of the biggest positives here is the fact that there's an absolutely immersive sense of atmosphere in the film that makes it rather chilling, and that starts with the setting of the action. The town here is one of the creepiest-looking places in the history of the genre, with numerous scenes where the town is filled with fog that gives it an artificial feel, almost like something out of a demented dream. There's a claustrophobic sense of being cut off from the world at large as it isolates the action to a central location and amps up the fear dramatically.
In addition, this is one of the most effective uses of fog ever and creates a pervading ambiance in the surroundings. While in most horror films fog tends to hug the ground, this film has it hang higher in the air, and as a result, the movie's plentiful night-time sequences have a convincing sense of place in the film, and this gives the movie a pervading sense of doom. That also manages to have an effect on the other great part of the film, which is the rather expressive and enjoyable action scenes. Opening the film with a witch burning starts it off with great atmosphere, giving a really exploitative feel and getting the important plot points set up with a simple scene, a rather chilling visit through the village when she first arrives, and a rather fun sequence where she intends to join in the party only to get abducted and shuttled off underground, which is quite the dark and chilling sequence.
Other great scenes are its rather strong conclusion, which is full of style and atmosphere while also being quite action-packed. The mass burning starts off the events in a grand style, and the entire scene is full of grand Gothic visuals, and is full of some great ideas that stand out from the rest of the film for that reason. The last big plus here is the fact that this also sets up a lot of what would later become the clichés of the genre, such as the reincarnated witch, the Satanists hiding behind the guise of respectable townspeople, and the occult tomes that provide information about the situation, just some of the more repeatable ones. This really surprised me, with a lot to like about it.
There isn't a lot here, but there is one very huge aspect that seems very off and disconcerting. This one aspect is that it really mirrors scenes and sequences with another horror film that is pretty blatant and not too hard to spot. Our heroine is killed early in the film as the second half of the feature focuses upon a relative and the deceased's boyfriend in pursuit of the missing person, who was last reported to have been residing at a strange hotel before the film climaxes with a retina-burning visual. This isn't a detrimental issue, but it does come across enough here to be of worthy mention.
Overview: ****.5/5
An atmospheric and highly entertaining genre classic, there's a lot to like here, which manages to be quite effective at holding off the minor issues at play, leaving this a genuine genre classic. Those with an interest in this era of genre fare, who are curious about it, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have a lot to like here, as most others might want to heed caution.
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