Villain(s)  Witch

Actor(s):  Christopher Lee, Venetia Stevenson, Betta St. John, Dennis Lotis

Brief Description  The City of the Dead (released in the United States as Horror Hotel) is a 1960 British supernatural horror film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey in his directorial debut. Produced by Vulcan Productions (later evolving into Amicus Productions), the movie is celebrated as a atmospheric masterpiece of folk and Gothic horror. Despite being filmed at Shepperton Studios in London, it is set entirely in a fog-drenched Massachusetts town and features a predominantly British cast speaking with American accents. The film is highly regarded for its striking black-and-white cinematography, its pioneering use of a mid-movie structural twist (reminiscent of Psycho, which was released the same year), and a commanding performance by horror icon Christopher Lee.

Plot:
The movie opens in the fictional village of Whitewood, Massachusetts, in 1692. A witch named Elizabeth Selwyn is condemned to be burned at the stake by the town elders. As the flames rise, Selwyn makes a pact with Lucifer: in exchange for eternal life, she curses the town and vows to worship the devil forever. Another devil worshipper, Jethrow Keane, looks on as the pact is sealed. In the present day (1960), Nan Barlow, a passionate college student, is researching the history of witchcraft for a class assignment. Her professor, the intimidating Alan Driscoll, recommends that she spend her vacation in Whitewood to conduct firsthand field research. Despite warnings and skepticism from her brother Richard and her fiancé Bill, Nan drives out to the isolated, perpetually fog-shrouded village.

Upon arriving, Nan finds the town stuck in a bleak, eerie time capsule. The local church is run-down, the blind reverend lives in fear, and the locals stand around like silent, ghostly statues. She checks into the Raven's Inn, managed by a stern woman named Mrs. Newless. Unbeknownst to Nan, Mrs. Newless is actually the immortal Elizabeth Selwyn, and Jethrow Keane is still by her side. The coven requires two human sacrifices a year—one on Candlemas Eve and one on the Witch's Sabbath—to maintain their eternal youth. Nan explores the inn and discovers a hidden trapdoor leading to an underground cavern. Before she can escape, she is trapped by the coven. In a shocking plot twist midway through the film, Nan is bound to an altar and sacrificed by the witches. When Nan goes missing, her brother Richard and fiancé Bill launch an investigation.

They travel to Whitewood, where they meet Patricia Russell, the granddaughter of the local blind reverend. Together, they begin to connect the dots. They discover that Professor Driscoll is actually a high-ranking member of the satanic coven. Patricia is soon captured to be the coven's next sacrifice. Richard and Bill locate the underground cavern just as the coven prepares to sacrifice Patricia. Realizing that the witches cannot be defeated by physical means alone, Richard grabs a large wooden cross from the local churchyard. When he brandishes the cross, its shadow falls upon the immortal witches. Because they have traded their souls for eternal life, the holy shadow causes them to spontaneously combust, reducing Elizabeth Selwyn and her followers to ash. Professor Driscoll falls to his death, and Patricia is saved as the curse over Whitewood is finally broken.