One of my favorite old horror films! Also one of the most atmospheric horror films ever made. To me, atmosphere is definitely one of the most important qualities that's needed in a horror film, and this movie has all the atmosphere that a horror movie needs. The movie is spooky… More
One of my favorite old horror films! Also one of the most atmospheric horror films ever made. To me, atmosphere is definitely one of the most important qualities that's needed in a horror film, and this movie has all the atmosphere that a horror movie needs. The movie is spooky in parts as well and the story is chillingly carried out by a great script. This is the perfect movie to watch on a dark rainy night(perhaps even on Halloween), and although it might not frighten you as much, it's still a fun and entertaining as hell little popcorn flick.
"On 03 March 1692, in Whitewood, Massachusetts, the witch Elizabeth Selwyn is sentenced to be burned at the stake, and her partner Jethrow Keane asks Lucifer to save her. About three hundred years later, the college student Nan Barlow decides to spend her vacation in the town to research witchcraft. Her professor Alan Driscoll suggests Nan to lodge in the Ravens Inn, managed by Mrs. Newless. Once in the village, the naive Nan is advised by the local priest, Reverend Russell, to immediately leave the place, where devil has ruled over for three hundred years, but she decides to stay and find that she is in a coven of evil witches. Nan vanishes, and the granddaughter of Reverend Russell, Patricia Russell, pays a visit to Nan's skeptical brother, Richard Barlow, and her boyfriend Bill Maitland, and they decide to follow her steps. Once in New England, they realize that a group of immortal witches have to sacrifice two beautiful women per year, one on Candleman Eve on February 1st, and the other on the Witch Sabbath, to stay alive forever, and only the shadow of a cross would be able to destroy them."
Yes indeed. This is quite possibly my favorite horror film that's based on witchcraft. Highly Recommended!
Other Reviews:
"Moxey(director) takes the Lovecraftian atmosphere, repetition, and dread of Carpenter and combines it with the plot of Bava while incorporating some ironically coincidental, but nonetheless effective, scenes from Hitchcock."
- The Horror Review
"Horror Hotel is a triumph of atmosphere - the township encased in perpetual fog, the coldly glaring villagers, silhouetted figures staggering across graveyards dragging giant crosses."
- The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
"Horror veteran Christopher Lee probably gives what is his finest performance; and director John Llewellyn Moxey builds the tension like a true maestro, with Desmond Dickinson's enshrouding B/W cinematography a huge asset."
- eFilmCritic
"Although movies about Satanists are a dime a dozen today, one of the first films to accurately portray Satanism is the 1960 classic, Horror Hotel."
- DVD Cult Review
"The four-star level of weirdness earns Horror Hotel a place alongside the most memorable cult movies ever made."
- Hollywood Gothique
"For fans of classic horror there is much to enjoy here, from witch-invoked curses, black magic, and shadowy cloaked figures through to the haunting finale in the graveyard. This is everything a supernatural chiller should be."
- Digital Retribution
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