The City of the Dead (1960)

In the realm of horror films, the line between creepiness and cheese is often very fine. While not a bad film by any means, this film often walks this line very unsteadily. Nan (Venetia Stevenson) is a wide eyed naive student of the overtly sinister professor of witchcraft (from a historical perspective of course!) Driscoll (Christopher Lee). The prof persuades Nan to visit an obscure little town in Massachusetts to continue her studies of the black arts. Truthfully, Nan is the most naive person ever and despite the fact the town continually drowns in a sea of fog and is packed full of strange staring people she isn't put off at all...

Unfortunately for Nan, the owner of the hotel (Patricia Jessel) she is staying in is a (supposedly) long-dead witch. Nan is soon dragged off to an underground crypt to become a blood sacrifice. The witches, however, need another young maiden. They have their eyes on the grand daughter of the priest, Patricia (Betta St John). Meanwhile Nan's brother Richard (Dennis Lotis) has turned up in town looking for his missing sister...

The film is very atmospheric, almost to the point of self parody. The dark arts are to the fore in this film, and the film can be pretty dark at times. The ending of the film is great fun and ridiculous, if you like a touch of the macabre.