The City of the Dead Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

The City of the Dead Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 18, 2017

Amicus Productions wasn’t quite Amicus Productions yet when The City of the Dead was in production in 1959, but producing partners Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky were already working together, even if Rosenberg didn’t get an official credit on The City of the Dead. While many associate Amicus with so-called portmanteaus like Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (also available in this region free release sporting much better looking video and more supplements than the bare bones Olive release) and Tales from the Crypt, Rosenberg and Subotsky also had a perhaps unexpected connection to late fifties and early sixties music stars. In fact, Amicus’ first two releases weren’t horror related at all, but were instead It’s Trad, Dad!, an early musical directed by Richard Lester, and Just for Fun, another musical which featured a glut of popular performers of the era. As is mentioned in one of the three commentaries included on this Blu-ray disc, that connection to pop music is also evident in The City of the Dead’s casting, with erstwhile singer Dennis Lotis receiving top billing, superseding even one of the most legendary names in the annals of horror, Christopher Lee. The City of the Dead is one of the more stylish horror films of its era, which is not to say it’s particularly scary. But director John Moxey (Baby Boomers will perhaps remember him better as John Llewellyn Moxey, a veteran television director with credits ranging from The Night Stalker to Murder She Wrote) fills the film will all sorts of interesting flourishes that keep the visuals engaging even when the story tends to lag at times.

A highly enjoyable commentary by Jonathan Rigby recorded for this new release provides the perhaps weird combo platter of two highly disparate films whose similarity to at least passing elements of The City of the Dead may interest some film fans. The film starts out with a witch burning in the late 17th century in the (fictional) town of Whitewood, Massachusetts, in a sequence that Rigby mentions may remind some viewers of a similar opening in Mario Bava’s Black Sunday. Even more intriguing are a number of rather fascinating comparisons, as coincidental as they may be, between The City of the Dead and one of the most influential and iconic horror films of all time, Alfred Hitchcock’s immortal Psycho . Rigby clarifies some of his older comments about the provenance of both this film and Hitch’s thriller, but even though the two films are manifestly different in both content and tone, there are some really kind of almost bizarre links between them which won’t be spoiled here but which Rigby illuminates with a good deal of insight and humor. (Even those who don’t typically like audio commentaries are encouraged to listen to Rigby’s analysis, because it’s not just informative and fun, it’s often funny, plus you get the added bonus of hearing him use words like “crepuscular”.)

That witch is Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel), who seems to be courting not just Satan but townsman Jethrow Keane (Valentine Dyall). In just one of a couple of inventive segues, Moxey abruptly cuts from the conflagration to “current” day (meaning the late fifties), where Professor Alan Driscoll (Christopher Lee) is recounting the horrors of the witch trials to a small coterie of rapt students. Those include Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson, daughter of noted Disney director Robert Stevenson and actress Anna Lee) and her boyfriend Bill Maitland (Tom Naylor). (Rigby provides some kind of amusing information about the prevalence of the name Maitland in various efforts scripted by screenwriter George Baxt.) Bill is a skeptic (of course), but Nan’s interest in witchcraft is piqued, and Driscoll recommends she visit Whitewood to further her studies.

The fact that the first two people Nan meets in Whitewood are resurrected versions of Keane and Selwyn, now going by the name Mrs. Newless, probably lets the cat out of the bag (or the shadowy face out of the cowl, as the case may be, something this release's cover art reveals one way or the other) about the professor’s motives, in just one of the film’s plot contrivances that isn’t handled especially artfully. Newless also runs the local hotel (hence the film’s American title Horror Hotel) where Nan takes a room. There are all sorts of mysterious goings on, including sounds beneath Nan’s room even though Mrs. Newless insists there’s nothing below it, and spectral dancers who show up for a moment in the lobby but who just as quickly disappear.

Suffice it to say that Nan’s fate is perhaps similar to a certain secretary’s in that aforementioned Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, leading to an investigation that includes Nan’s brother Richard (first billed Dennis Lotis) and Bill, as well as Patricia Russell (Betta St. John), a seemingly normal girl whose family hails from Whitewood and who kind of comes off as the town’s “Marilyn Munster” when compared to the rest of the denizens. Also suffice it to say that all hell literally breaks loose in Whitewood once these three descend to find out what has happened to Nan.

As stated above, there’s frankly nothing overly frightening to any of the proceedings in The City of the Dead, but, boy, does this film ever exploit mood about as effectively as any midcentury horror outing has. The town of Whitewood reminded me a bit oddly of the similarly isolated burg in the cheesy old film The Bubble 3D, in that it just kind of sits there artificially like an overly obvious movie set plunked down on a soundstage. But that actually only increases the film’s hallucinatory power, one that is only further amped up by the omnipresent fog and some rather luscious cinematography by Desmond Dickinson. Performances vary from middling (Lotis) to rather wonderfully outré (a cackling Jessel), with Lee typically suave and creepy in about equal measure.

The City of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The City of the Dead is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Arrow's insert booklet offers this on the transfer:

The restoration of The City of the Dead was carried out by Cohen Film Collection at RR Media and supervised by Finishing Post Productions. The 2K restoration utilised a safety 35mm Composite negative and M&E track held by Cohen Film Collection.

This is another nice looking restoration by Cohen and the British Film Institute, one that offers some really solid blacks and generally consistent looking contrast (a couple of isolated moments, including Nan's meeting with Patricia, looked a tad bright to my eyes). Detail levels are often quite excellent in close-ups, offering looks at (as Rigby kind of cheekily mentions at one point) Lee's hairpiece. The film's cinematography is awash in chiaroscuro throughout, and shadow detail is really quite commendable, considering how dark (and often foggy) the frame is. There are occasional slight clarity variances at play, and some very minor damage (note the blanched left side of the frame during the credits), but all in all this a great looking transfer with an organic grain field and no compression artifacts, despite some recurrent challenges like the omnipresent fog.

The City of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The City of the Dead sports an effective LPCM Mono track, one which supports the film's dialogue (and occasional scream) very well, despite an unavoidable narrowness and perhaps just a tinge of brightness in the uppermost registers. A bifurcated score by Douglas Gamley (providing some kind of The Omen-esque cues) and Ken Jones (providing some of the jazz the ghosts dance to) sounds clear if not especially full bodied. There's no problem at all with regard to distortion or dropouts.

The City of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Horror Hotel (HD; 1:16:18) is the somewhat shorter American version of the film which was released in 1963.


• Interview with Christopher Lee (HD; 45:12) is an archival piece tied to the DVD release and has some fun background information.


• Behind the Scenes (HD; 16:37) presents footage of Lee looking over the DVD.


• Interview with John Llewellyn Moxey (HD; 26:25) is another archival piece with some fun info on how and why Moxey started incorporating Llewellyn in his name (hint: those who remember the brief respelling of Dionne Warwick's last name as Warwicke may have a clue).


• Interview with Venetia Stevenson (HD; 19:36) finds the actress rather self effacing, suggesting all she brought to the project was an American accent.


• Trailer (HD; 1:33)


• Gallery (HD)


• Audio Commentaries

  Audio Commentary by Jonathan Rigby

  Audio Commentary by Christopher Lee

  Audio Commentary by John Llewellyn Moxey

As they tend to do, Arrow has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet with essays and production photos.

The City of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is the rare horror film where a lack of scares isn't the evident death knell (no pun intended) it might otherwise be, if only because the film's mood is so impressive. Some of the performances are a bit lackluster, but Jessel and Lee make wonderful villains, and Moxey really stages this film very effectively. Once again Arrow has provided a release with excellent technical merits and a wealth of interesting supplements. Recommended.