Halloween Countdown 2015: City of the Dead/Horror Hotel ~ the full movie

Horror Hotel is the title for the American market of the UK's City of the Dead. Here it is in all its glory; the entire film on my Halloween Countdown this year. Perfect for your Friday night.

The late Christopher Lee, Betta St. John and an accomplished British cast portray Bostonians who, largely, happen to have veddy English accents for the most part.

A trim and economical film released in 1960, the first by Amicus Productions, it was made at under 90-minutes with double-bill status in mind. I saw this movie, as a kid, at the US Theater in Paterson, NJ (on a double-bill with Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory) and still have great affection for it. One of my favorite horror films of all-time.

The sets and characters are especially unforgettable. Mr Lee, of course, but also Patricia Jessel -- who I think bears a strong resemblance to Annie Lennox, Jonathan Dyall as Jethro Keane, Venetia Stevens as the plucky coed Nan Barlow, and Ann Beach as the sad sack mute hotel maid Lottie.

The overriding message to the film, in my estimation, is don't stand up your boyfriend on a date -- or all hell will break loose. You in danger, girl!

Video Beaverhausen: Oh, Those Bloody Bees!

When someone decides, in a British horror film, to go to a quaint village or a remote little UK island, you immediately know he or she is bound for trouble. Sinister things happen in those places, it would seem, especially when one is trying to recover after a traumatic incident.

In The Deadly Bees (1966), Suzanna Leigh, a very pretty and talented British actress who was quite popular in the US as well as abroad throughout the 1960s and '70s, portrays a very Dusty Springfield-like recording artist who suffers a nervous breakdown. Though this is a daily routine for me, Ms Leigh hopes to chill out on a quaint, isolated island village for a rest cure.

No sooner than you can say, "You in danger, girl!",  our protagonist is plagued by the hives -- the kind with bees in them.

My friends, Tracey and Merv, are beekeepers. They have some rather sprawling property behind their Connecticut home and have become beekeepers. Maybe this film could give them a few ideas. I'll have to put the buzz in their ears.

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Amicus Productions made this film at Shepperton Studios in London. It was one of many films in the horror genre that they did, including Dr Terror's House of Horrors and Tales from the Crypt ~ the last two based on a compendium format originated in the UK by the classic Dead of Night (1945). They even produced a couple of Dr Who movies with the late, great Peter Cushing in the title role.

Amicus shared a lot of talent with Hammer Films, including Cushing, Christopher Lee and director Jimmy Sangster (who directed this film among many others for the studio). Frank Finlay co-stars in this one.

Robert Bloch (Psycho) wrote the screenplay based on a British novel. Special effects are tacky but fun. As an inside joke, there's a song by The Byrds on the soundtrack. (The Byrds and the bees, get it?)

First time ever on dvd and never on videotape.