Reverend John Keyes and his wife, Lorna, on their way to a new congregation out west, break down in the desert and are rescued by the residents of a nearby town. At first warm and welcoming, the townspeople become more and more solicitous of John and insistent that he stay on as their minister, against the wishes of Lorna, who goes unheeded and slowly becomes deathly ill. Will John realize the danger before it is too late?
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Reviews
Boring
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Like many people on this site, I saw this movie only once, when it was first televised in 1971. Certain scenes linger in my memory and an overall feeling of disquiet is how I remember being affected by it. I would be fascinated to see it again, if it was ever made available for home video.Possible spoiler: I wonder if anyone else would agree that the basic plot setup and characters might have been derived from a 1960 British movie, originally titled City of the Dead, retitled Horror Hotel for the American release? There are some similarities also to a later British film The Wicker Man.One detail remains with me years after seeing the film. It's a small but significant moment near the beginning of the film. As I recall, a minister and his wife have stopped to aid some people by the side of the road, circa 1870, somewhere out West. The friendly seeming Ray Milland introduces himself and his ( daughter?), Yvette Mimieux, a beautiful young mute woman. While the preacher is helping Ray Milland with the wagon, a rattlesnake slithers into view and coils menacingly, unobserved by any of the characters except Yvette Mimieux. She doesn't look scared at all, but stares at the snake with silent concentration, until it goes away. With this strange little moment, we already realize there's something highly unusual about these seemingly normal folks, though the possible danger to the minister and his wife remains vague and uncertain for a long time.That one little scene stays with me vividly after all these years, along with many others. The film has a haunting quality about it that won't let go, and it's not surprising that people remember it so vividly. Someone ought to make this available for home video!
So, finally I know it exists. Along with the other Uk contributors on here I saw this on what MUST HAVE BEEN it's only UK screening in the 70's. I remembered the title, but got nowhere when I mentioned it to people. It scarred me (that's 2 'r's) but when you go to bed with doom whizzing about your brain and listening all around for impending terror, then isn't that what a TRULY CLASSIC horror movie is all about?? I can barely remember the intricacies of the movie, but what I do recollect is my shivering flesh and heightened senses. Can anyone confirm my suspicions that this is black and white? Again, if anyone has any info on how to obtain a copy of this, please get in touch...
This one is a classic late sixties,early seventies horror flick in that the bad guys win in the end. Reminds me a lot of the Orsen Welles's picture "Necromancy". I remember Yvette Mimieux from the film "H.G.Wells' The Time Machine. One of the main characters is played by Roy Thinnes. He starred in a classic Science Fiction TV show "The Invaders". He also starred in a Science Fiction Movie called "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun". Also a favorite of mine. This TV movie came out right about the time that Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" TV anthology,and just prior to Sabastion Cabot's "Ghost Stories" TV anthology. The everyone is in on it Plot Device also sort of reminded me of "Murder on the Orient Express". The dark gloomy bad guys always win was a trend in both film making and especially the Horror segment of the industry in the 1960's to 1978-79. Another movie with the same sort of atmosphere is "The Torture Garden" with Burgis Meredith. My favorite part of this movie is the scene as they are leaving town in a pick-up truck and you see that San Melas is Salem in the rear view mirror.
I cannot believe how unknown this movie is,it was absolutely incredible. The ending alone has stuck with me for almost thirty years. The road sign through the rearveiw mirror blew me away. If you liked "RACE WITH THE DEVIL" you will love this movie
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