'The City of the Dead' has all the hallmarks of what should be a great horror film. It's got witches. It's got devil worship. It's got Christopher Lee. It's Milton Subotsky, technically the first from the Amicus team. Unfortunately, it falls apart on basic film craft; acting, direction, storytelling, editing.
There truly is so much promise, from the opening credits that feature beautiful creepy shots of hooded people, a prelude of some dark secret society. However, in a way, this opening is emblematic of the main failure of the film: it telegraphs everything you're going to see before it happens.
The plot involves a witch who is burned at the stake during the witch hunt days and curses the town that did it to her, a curse that hangs over the town to this day. In modern times, a young student travels to the town to work on her term paper about witchcraft.
Along the way, everything from Christopher Lee's overly suspicious performance to the town's overly haunted house vibe to the townspeople's overly obvious staring to the innkeeper's overly creepy and combative manner telegraphs everything that's going to happen. The student reads from a book of witchcraft that telegraphs what will happen in the next scene. Even the jump scares are telegraphed; you see the look of fright before you see the scary bit.
A little basic filmmaking would have gone a long way here. Leaving more to the imagination, crafting more subtle performances, hacking out unnecessary exposition, allowing us to buy into characters being innocuous or even trustworthy before revealling they are bad actors.
And speaking of bad acting, Venetia Stevenson is just god-awful, obviously chosen for her appearance in women's lingerie rather than her skill as an actress. She's entered a town that's as over-the-top creepy as Disney's Haunted Mansion yet acts like it's any ol' small town, just a cheery little ray of sunshine. Of course, the script could have given her a bit of an edge, which would have made her character semi-believable.
Anyway, I'd recommend watching 'Rosemary's Baby' for real secret society frights or 'Hot Fuzz' for a piss-take. This one doesn't have enough mystery or laughs to make it worthwhile.
There truly is so much promise, from the opening credits that feature beautiful creepy shots of hooded people, a prelude of some dark secret society. However, in a way, this opening is emblematic of the main failure of the film: it telegraphs everything you're going to see before it happens.
The plot involves a witch who is burned at the stake during the witch hunt days and curses the town that did it to her, a curse that hangs over the town to this day. In modern times, a young student travels to the town to work on her term paper about witchcraft.
Along the way, everything from Christopher Lee's overly suspicious performance to the town's overly haunted house vibe to the townspeople's overly obvious staring to the innkeeper's overly creepy and combative manner telegraphs everything that's going to happen. The student reads from a book of witchcraft that telegraphs what will happen in the next scene. Even the jump scares are telegraphed; you see the look of fright before you see the scary bit.
A little basic filmmaking would have gone a long way here. Leaving more to the imagination, crafting more subtle performances, hacking out unnecessary exposition, allowing us to buy into characters being innocuous or even trustworthy before revealling they are bad actors.
And speaking of bad acting, Venetia Stevenson is just god-awful, obviously chosen for her appearance in women's lingerie rather than her skill as an actress. She's entered a town that's as over-the-top creepy as Disney's Haunted Mansion yet acts like it's any ol' small town, just a cheery little ray of sunshine. Of course, the script could have given her a bit of an edge, which would have made her character semi-believable.
Anyway, I'd recommend watching 'Rosemary's Baby' for real secret society frights or 'Hot Fuzz' for a piss-take. This one doesn't have enough mystery or laughs to make it worthwhile.