Amazon.com video review:
Also known by its alternate title City of the Dead, this 1960
horror
thriller makes the most of its low-budget, studio-bound limitations to
offer an abundance of eerie atmosphere frequently compared to the chilling
horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft. Christopher Lee stars as the seemingly
benevolent Professor Driscoll, who sends his eager student Nan (Venetia
Stevenson) to the town of Whitewood, Massachussetts to research local
legends of witchcraft. In a coincidental parallel to Alfred Hitchcock's
Psycho (which was released the same year), the young heroine is
killed off early in the film when she is used as a human sacrifice by a
present-day coven of witches led by Lee himself. (Talk about teacher's
pet!) As it turns out, the entire town is overrun by monklike zombies who
perform gruesome nocturnal rituals in the local graveyards. Nan's bereaved
boyfriend struggles to eliminate this monstrous brood--at the cost of his
life! Heavy on mood and light on plot, this is vintage horror for die-hard
fans--perfect as a Halloween perennial. --Jeff Shannon
