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Released in Europe under the title, "City of the Dead", "Horror Hotel" graced theatres in 1960. The 76 minute film was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey. Born in Argentina in 1925, Moxey knew from childhood that he wanted to work in the film business. It wasn't until after he spent time serving in World War II that Moxey got his start in the entertainment industry. He began in the editing room, and obtained his first directing job for British television. This was followed by a series of low-budget features in England, the U.K. and television assignments in the United States.
Though Moxey cast a variety of actors into roles for "Horror Hotel", there is only one individual who is recognizable today. The biggest name in the film is one of the less often seen characters, Professor Driscoll. Driscoll is played by the renowned actor, Christopher Lee. Born in London in 1922, Lee attended Wellington College from the ages of fourteen to seventeen. He quit school to work as an office clerk in a variety of London shipping companies until 1941, when he enlisted in the British Royal Air Force. Lee went on to join the Rank Organisation in 1947, where he trained as an actor in their "Charm School". It was there that Lee played a number of bit parts in films such as "Corridor of Mirrors".
Lee went on to obtain numerous parts in film and television throughout the 50s; however, it was not until his association with Hammer Field Productions that Lee achieved star status. It was while working with Hammer that Lee built a reputation for himself by playing the roles of various monsters and villains. Lee starred in "Frankenstein" (1957), "Dracula" (1958), "The Mummy" (1959), and "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in 1959, to name a few. He is most notable for his on-screen personifications of Dracula.
It wasn't until the late 70s that Lee made the decision to move to Hollywood from London. Though he had earned a solid reputation for himself, he found that he was not very successful in the United States, and returned to England.
Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest leading actor, the 6'5" actor is still involved with film today. He made a mark in Hollywood by playing Count Dooku in the 2002 "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones", and perhaps more notably by playing Saruman the White in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Of the entire "Lord of the Rings" cast and crew, Lee was the only member who had the opportunity to meet the author of the trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Though none of the other actors became as successful as Lee, the film is still interesting to watch, If for nothing else than to watch Christopher Lee begin the process of developing into one horror's most recognizable faces.
