Horror Hotel - Page 3

08-23-2003, 07:35 AM

Hey Ash,

When I bought it the status was "available for immediate delivery" or something like that. I got a shipping notification within hours of ordering it (I ordered it in the morning). I watched the disc last weekend and it is fantastic. Hope you can get a copy of it. Its worth every penny!

dwatts · 11-28-2005, 03:53 AM

I watched this one again tonight. It just gets better and better, doesn't it? Such a superb movie. Time for me to buy a decent version of it methinks. I have the Madacy release for goodness sakes!

Erick H. · 11-28-2005, 07:44 AM

I bought the VCI CITY OF THE DEAD from deep discount for $6.00.Just watched it tonight ,overall the transfer is quite nice,a little scratchiness during the opening credits and just a wee bit of shimmer in one scene ,but overall quite pleasing(it was remastered from the vault negative in the British film archives).The interview with Christopher Lee is worth the price alone,it's about 45 minutes long and he discusses a wide range of topics,fascinating viewing for Lee fans.There's also interviews with the director and leading lady.The disc is a steal.
Somebody mentioned the Roan release of DEMENTIA 13,I bought that used on e-bay for about $10.00 and it is,to date,the best version of the film I've seen.The sound of the film has always been a bit dodgey,but overall it is solid enough on this disc and the picture is reasonably clean.It is also the only letterboxed version of the film I've seen available.It's just barely wide,roughly 1:66 .The disc boasts the trailer.a print recreation of the fun "D-13" test (to see if you are mentally sound enough to see the picture,fun !) and a very good audio com track by the leading man.If you can track this down at a halfway reasonable price,it's worth getting.

shape22 · 03-04-2013, 07:51 PM

I pulled this one out of my unwatched pile the other night, knowing very little about it. It's a schizophrenic experience. But in the end I enjoyed it a great deal.

The 2nd half of this film is much better than the first. The first 40 minutes or so play out almost like a bad episode of Karloff's Thriller. Up until that point I was wondering why I'd heard so many good things about this one. Supporting performances are lousy and the music is extremely ham-fisted--even for the era. And the plot is so neutered it seems like a TV movie or a film from a much earlier date.

Maybe that was all intentional since it effectively lulled me to sleep--which made the ensuing gut punch a lot more effective. The plot abruptly shifts gears about halfway through with a very effective shock scene that totally changed my mindset. After 40 minutes of hokey, tired, and tame plotting it really grabbed my attention.

Everything that follows seemed much better to me: the atmospheric black and white photography, some awesome stagebound exteriors swirling with artificial fog, and an exciting climax with some memorable imagery. And as a bonus you get a very gaunt Christopher Lee trying mightily to approximate an American accent. I don't recall seeing him try that anywhere else.

There are some can't-miss similarities to Psycho that would support a whole other discussion--including one plot device that earned Hitchcock a great deal of acclaim. Since the two films were released in approximately the same time frame I wonder if he deserves less credit for it than he got.

If you're a fan of the Universal classics or 60s Bava I think you'd probably enjoy this one. And the VCI DVD goes for less than $8 used at Amazon. Check it out.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

08-23-2003, 07:35 AM	#31
Hammerfan Guest Posts: n/a	Hey Ash, When I bought it the status was "available for immediate delivery" or something like that. I got a shipping notification within hours of ordering it (I ordered it in the morning). I watched the disc last weekend and it is fantastic. Hope you can get a copy of it. Its worth every penny!

11-28-2005, 03:53 AM	#32
dwatts HackMaster Join Date: May 2002 Location: Crashed Posts: 16,580	I watched this one again tonight. It just gets better and better, doesn't it? Such a superb movie. Time for me to buy a decent version of it methinks. I have the Madacy release for goodness sakes!

11-28-2005, 07:44 AM	#33
Erick H. HackMaster Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7,437	I bought the VCI CITY OF THE DEAD from deep discount for $6.00.Just watched it tonight ,overall the transfer is quite nice,a little scratchiness during the opening credits and just a wee bit of shimmer in one scene ,but overall quite pleasing(it was remastered from the vault negative in the British film archives).The interview with Christopher Lee is worth the price alone,it's about 45 minutes long and he discusses a wide range of topics,fascinating viewing for Lee fans.There's also interviews with the director and leading lady.The disc is a steal. Somebody mentioned the Roan release of DEMENTIA 13,I bought that used on e-bay for about $10.00 and it is,to date,the best version of the film I've seen.The sound of the film has always been a bit dodgey,but overall it is solid enough on this disc and the picture is reasonably clean.It is also the only letterboxed version of the film I've seen available.It's just barely wide,roughly 1:66 .The disc boasts the trailer.a print recreation of the fun "D-13" test (to see if you are mentally sound enough to see the picture,fun !) and a very good audio com track by the leading man.If you can track this down at a halfway reasonable price,it's worth getting.

03-04-2013, 07:51 PM	#34
shape22 Maniac Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 981	I pulled this one out of my unwatched pile the other night, knowing very little about it. It's a schizophrenic experience. But in the end I enjoyed it a great deal. The 2nd half of this film is much better than the first. The first 40 minutes or so play out almost like a bad episode of Karloff's Thriller. Up until that point I was wondering why I'd heard so many good things about this one. Supporting performances are lousy and the music is extremely ham-fisted--even for the era. And the plot is so neutered it seems like a TV movie or a film from a much earlier date. Maybe that was all intentional since it effectively lulled me to sleep--which made the ensuing gut punch a lot more effective. The plot abruptly shifts gears about halfway through with a very effective shock scene that totally changed my mindset. After 40 minutes of hokey, tired, and tame plotting it really grabbed my attention. Everything that follows seemed much better to me: the atmospheric black and white photography, some awesome stagebound exteriors swirling with artificial fog, and an exciting climax with some memorable imagery. And as a bonus you get a very gaunt Christopher Lee trying mightily to approximate an American accent. I don't recall seeing him try that anywhere else. There are some can't-miss similarities to Psycho that would support a whole other discussion--including one plot device that earned Hitchcock a great deal of acclaim. Since the two films were released in approximately the same time frame I wonder if he deserves less credit for it than he got. If you're a fan of the Universal classics or 60s Bava I think you'd probably enjoy this one. And the VCI DVD goes for less than $8 used at Amazon. Check it out.