It’s time for that ultra-special graduate school paper on the topic of your own choosing. What will the topic be? The history of Lancashire? The works of Edgar Allan Poe? What about witchcraft? Despite having no reason to choose the topic other than having a slight interest in witchcraft (the history of witch craft, despite never saying likewise), Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) embarks on a trip to research her topic. On the recommendation of her professor, Alan Driscoll (Christopher Lee), Nan breaks plans with her brother to travel to Whitewood, Massachusetts. 

Arriving in Whitewood, she discovers that everybody is a tad creepy, and watch her as if Nan will break everything she touches. The only people in town who appear friendly to her are Lottie, the mute daughter of the innkeeper, Mrs. Newless (Patricia Jessel); and Patricia Russel, the manager of local museum. Everybody knows Professor Driscoll however. Having only given his last name to everybody she meets, every resident of Whitewood appears to have met the professor at least once in their lives.

As Nan’s stay continues, strange things occur around her. She keeps hearing parties happen outside her room, but everybody has been gone for hours when she checks. There is a trap door on the floor of her hotel room which the innkeeper insists goes nowhere. And what about the reverend’s warnings about the town’s pact with Satan?

Horror Hotel was originally released in England in 1960 as The City of the Dead, having all British actors. To make it feel more like Massachusetts, all the actors were required to speak with an American accent. This absurdity of this may have been the reason it was not released in America until 1963, but also given a different name to prevent audiences from realizing what they were about to watch.

Ignoring this production aspect, the film uses many horror tropes that continued use to this day. Kidnapping and rituals are a key point of the film’s plot, as an entire centuries-old satanic ritual to sacrifice a virgin appears on screen. While these were normal for what I would have expected, I was shocked to see how many times a woman was shown in her underwear. This only occurs twice, but for 1960 this often was still more than I would have expected, even for a PG-13 rating in this year—a rating I suspect was for the murder and sacrifices.

While the film isn’t spectacular, it is a fun watch if you are only used to seeing an older Christopher Lee. At the time of this film Lee was 38 years old, but looks younger than this in the few scenes Professor Driscoll appears. This was especially a shocker as the first time I saw Lee was in Lord of the Rings.

You can watch Horror Hotel in its faded black and white goodness on YouTube.