Belief in witches is as old as ancient world civilizations and usually equated with evil. The witches in John Moxey’s 1960 classic Horror Hotel do not disappoint and they continue to instill the fear of a mysterious force, a world trapped in the New England of Puritan colonial times. The Church is powerless against them and modern beliefs and practices fail to adequately describe them. Horror Hotel is the story of one prominent witch, cheating death at a flaming stake while her neighbors chanted, “Burn witch! Burn witch!” – What keeps her alive is blood.
The Use of History Adds Plausibility to the Story
Her name was Elizabeth Selwyn, in the 17th Century but she lived as Mrs. Newless and in the 20th as proprietor of the Raven’s Inn at Whitewood, Massachusetts. She lived through the blood sacrifices of young women on Candlemas Eve as well as the Witches Sabbath. Several dates are given for the Witches Sabbath in history, including Halloween. This then making Horror Hotel an excellent choice of an old B-grade film for All Hallows’ Eve.
The story begins with the burning of Selwyn in 1692. This was the year the Salem Witch Trials began in Massachusetts, but here the accuracy ends. No accused witches were burned at Salem; witches were hung. Additionally, Moxey’s Selwyn is a fictional character. But the opening scene sets the tone as another Puritan, seeing her agony in the flames, shouts, “Help her, Lucifer!”. Witches tend to live on, at least in movies, and usually with the help of the devil.
Setting the Stage for the Whitewood Witches
The low-budget Horror Hotel was filmed in black and white but this makes all the difference. There is little light in Whitewood and the shadows foretell a malevolent spirit that appears to have invaded the town. It is a place where the devil has won, according to the aged and blind church vicar, Reverend Russell. Several times during the year witches arrive for their unholy celebration, and always when the fog is the thickest.
Nan Barlow, played by Venetia Stevenson, is a college student researching witchcraft in colonial New England. Her professor, Alan Driscoll, recommends Whitewood as the ideal place to pursue her research. Neither her brother, another college instructor, nor her boyfriend approves. None of them know that Driscoll, played by Christopher Lee, is part of the Whitewood coven of witches.
Nan was deliberately sent to the village in order to satisfy the blood lust of Driscoll’s fellow witches. Nan’s brother, Richard, however, scoffs at the idea of her going to Whitewood to research. Driscoll’s classes shouldn’t be tolerated in academia.
The Predictable Plot of a Popular Halloween Theme
Nan checks into the Raven’s Inn but slowly begins to realize that all is not well in this village that time forgot. The old vicar advises her to leave and Mrs. Newless’ servant girl Lottie – a mute, attempts to warn her. Only the vicar’s granddaughter appears normal and befriends her. She came to Whitewood to help her grandfather and is busy organizing the old village library. Needless to say, there are several books on witches and Nan is only too eager to borrow one.
After Nan met her fate, an action the audience could well anticipate from the building up of the plot, her brother Richard, accompanied by her boyfriend Tom, arrive in Whitewood to investigate her disappearance. Will the witches win? In the final scene, Tom, severely wounded, struggles to carry a cross through the old cemetery. Only the shadow of the cross can ultimately destroy the various witches.
The witch in most stories lives by stealing life from others. Yet in the end, witches die - because they are evil and contradict the hopes and passions of an innocent hero or heroine. In Horror Hotel Elizabeth Selwyn is conquered by a combination of courage, love, and modern ingenuity. Tom Maitland, Nan's boyfriend, uses the very thing the witches fear the most, and it works beautifully in black and white. Selwyn doesn't scream, she merely withers.
Why Horror Hotel is a Good Halloween Choice
This B-grade horror flick is enhanced by better-than-average cinematography as well as a mournful chant during scenes depicting the witches at their worst. The frightening aspect of Horror Hotel rests in the universal fear of witches, the supernatural, and the fact that the story line appears to be historically plausible.
Horror Hotel was produced at a time when much in film was left to the imagination. There are no special effects, there is no enduring soundtrack, and no memorable lines to quote. It is what the film lacks, however, that qualifies it as a good Halloween movie: simple black and white images that conjure up innermost fears that trump the obvious.
Horror Hotel, originally titled The City of the Dead. 1960. Dir. John Moxley. Perf. Christopher Lee; Dennis Lotis; Betta St. John; Venetia Stevenson. Walterscheid Productions. Running Time: 76 minutes. (VHS)
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