Widow's Bay (2026-Present) & Horror Hotel aka City of the Dead (1960)

Hollie and I discuss the first season of Apple+'s new horror-comedy Widow's Bay as well as the 1960 supernatural horror film, Horror Hotel (aka City of the Dead), that may have inspired elements of the show.

Podcast may contain minimal profanity.

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Transcript

Sean 0:02

Welcome back to Scenes from the Screen, where we talk about all types of films and TV. Obscure... forgotten... prestigious... rotten. From must see to "Are you kidding me?" Big screen and small, we cover it all. Who knows? You might discover a new gem or be reintroduced to an old favorite. My name is Sean, and I'll be your host. Well, this week is going to be similar to last week. Hollie is back again, of course.

Hollie 0:24

I'm back again.

Sean 0:26

Back again. Like tag team. So this week we are going to flip it a little bit. Last week we did a movie and then a TV series, which was still based on the same source material. This week, though, we're going to start with the TV show. And I selected the movie, but I didn't tell you why.

Hollie 0:42

No, you didn't tell me why, and I'm dying to know.

Sean 0:45

I know you are. So we're going to start off with Widow's Bay. Now, Widow's Bay is on Apple Plus. It is a series listed as a horror comedy. It is, I think, more way more horror than comedy. But there are comedic elements about it.

Hollie 0:59

There were some funny humor moments.

Sean 1:02

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. But I think especially as the first season goes on, it really leans more into horror.

Hollie 1:07

Yes, definitely. I agree.

Sean 1:09

It stars Matthew Rhys as Tom Loftus. He is the mayor of a island town in New England that the residents believe is cursed. He wants to turn it into the next Martha's Vineyard, so he really wants to get tourism in there. The problem is that the residents say that if yes, he does that, the island wakes up and kind of rejects strangers.

Hollie 1:30

I think they they were warning him against it because the more people on the island, the more people can get hurt.

Sean 1:37

True, true.

Hollie 1:37

Or killed.

Sean 1:38

Right. And I don't know if they if they made that abundantly clear in the first episode, because the first episode, and I'm I'm I I know we watched it, and we will tell you if there's going to be spoilers, but we're going to try not to spoil anything because literally the first season just ended two weeks ago.

Hollie 1:52

Right, so I'm going to try not to ruin anything for anyone.

Sean 1:55

Yeah, because she she'll ruin it before I do. And just to let everybody know we do have Hannah with us, our little pitty boxer mix, and uh, she's snoring right now from her day out in the sun. She may uh perk up a little bit, so if you hear anything, we'll let you know.

Hollie 2:07

You can hear her in the background.

Sean 2:09

Right, because she may have something to add, she watched it with us.

Hollie 2:11

She does enjoy our TV shows.

Sean 2:13

She does. So, yeah, so the first episode, yeah, I I was my first thought was Matthew Rhys was miscast.

Hollie 2:20

I felt exactly the same way. I didn't, I don't know if it's because of the things I've seen him in the past, or he just didn't seem comfortable in that part.

Sean 2:30

I I agree. I think you're right. That hit the nail on the head. He did not seem comfortable with it.

Hollie 2:35

And the humor he couldn't pull off uh in the first episode.

Sean 2:38

Whatever, right, whatever they required him to do, it right, he he did not. And I think I think it was almost the the they didn't know where the character was, which is odd because if you created the show, and it's created by a former uh Parks and Rec writer, Katie Dippold, who you may remember her, she was actually in the show. Remember the woman who when they had the cat adoption outside, and she she actually donated the cats. Yeah, yeah, that was one of her appearances on there. But uh show we love Parks and Rec is one of my all-time favorite comedies.

Hollie 3:07

Definitely worth watching comedy.

Sean 3:10

Right. So she I know she knows what she's doing with it being a writer on that show.

Hollie 3:13

I think it might have been not so much him as it was the audience, because I think as the show moved on, his flatness and his character, we got to know more. And I accepted him in that role better as I got to know him.

Sean 3:31

I completely agree. I mean, I I did too, as the episodes went on, whatever reservations I had about him went away.

Hollie 3:37

I agree.

Sean 3:38

And I think again, I think it's the flaw in the writing and the character in the first episode. Because...

Hollie 3:43

It wasn't a grabber first episode.

Sean 3:45

It was not. And and two, I was I was really confused because uh and he's not from the island, he's not a native to the island, but he's lived there a long time, and it just seems like this kind of came out of ...

Hollie 3:54

Well, you don't know how long he's lived there. Well, as long as at least 15...

Sean 3:58

As long as his son has lived there, right. So he's been there a while. So it kind of I mean, it for him to kind of react to these curses like in in the way that he did, I think was was very misleading, you know, and not that he should have jumped in right away... it was an awkward introduction.

Hollie 4:13

It was, and and as you watch the show, he should have been more aware because he he knew things that you he knew. You know he knew later, but then you realize he should have known that in the first episode, but he acted like he didn't.

Sean 4:28

Exactly.

Hollie 4:29

That I guess was would be the writing then.

Sean 4:31

It... yes, it would be. And again, you don't want to reveal everything right off the bat, but I think the the character introduction was so awkward at that point, and that had me questioning like, well, you know, yeah, I know he's mayor, but how long has he been on this island? Like I said, that was just that was the one big thing I had. The characters do uh get better and they do change, and that's the way they should be.

Hollie 4:51

Right, I agree.

Sean 4:52

And the one character again, he's minor, but I I love him in anything, he's always the star of any show. Stephen Root.

Hollie 4:57

I was just gonna say, Stephen Root was phenomenal. I wouldn't say he's minor, I'd say he's he's not lead, but he's second to the lead.

Sean 5:06

Yes, correct.

Hollie 5:06

His character definitely becomes more prominent as the series goes on.

Sean 5:10

It does.

Hollie 5:11

But I loved him in this, and I grew I agree. He was just phenomenal in Office Space, and then when he was the what was he, the producer or something in that other show...

Sean 5:20

News Radio?

Hollie 5:20

NewsRadio. He's just very funny. He's very always flat though. Like he never, he's always the straight, even when in Office Space where he was quirky, he was still not overtly trying to be funny.

Sean 5:33

No, that's...

Hollie 5:33

But he is.

Sean 5:34

...he's very good at being the deadpan almost. And no matter what. I mean, you can have variations on that deadpan character, but he's really, really good at pulling that off.

Hollie 5:42

He was very I really was excited that he became more prominent as the series went on.

Sean 5:47

Yeah, and and one of the reasons I I was interested in watching it because I again I I he was he was in uh an earlier film that we reviewed, Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice.

Hollie 5:58

Oh, yes, I forgot he was in that.

Sean 5:58

So he was a minor, yeah. He was it kind of a kind of a cameo in that, but he was in it. Um but yeah, so I I mean overall my feeling about the first season was it's definitely not groundbreaking television.

Hollie 6:11

No, it's not a series. I'm glad I watched it, and I will watch if it comes back, I will watch the second season.

Sean 6:19

It's been renewed.

Hollie 6:20

So I will keep watching it and I'll be happy to watch it, but I'm not gonna be like, oh my goodness, like some shows we watched, we're like, okay, I can't get enough of this. I have to keep watching, I have to keep watching. It's not gonna be that for me, but I think it's entertaining enough.

Sean 6:33

And it was, I think it was fun to binge watch it like we did because thanks to whatever Prime deals or now I don't even know if it was Prime, it might have just been the carriers themselves, but uh getting Apple back because we do we've had Apple before for Severance, which is a great show. That's that is groundbreaking television.

Hollie 6:49

I think there's a lot more Apple TV up like the watch that I just didn't have time to yet.

Sean 6:53

Yeah, I agree, and like I said, we'll hold on to it for we have it for a while, but yeah, so, like I said, this this did get better as it went along. I I felt, like I said, it wasn't groundbreaking, but I wouldn't say don't watch it. Like like you said, it was enjoyable.

Hollie 7:06

It was definitely entertaining, yeah. And I did like Matthew Rhys, and I liked him in things, and there's something very he's just like the guy next door, but in a crazy like there's something very endearing about him. So I I did enjoy him in it. But there's someone else, you know, I absolutely love in everything, and he popped up in this, and I didn't know he was gonna be in it.

Sean 7:27

And that's Hamish Link later.

Hollie 7:29

Yes, I love him. I there's something about him he he's funny when he's not even supposed to be like not funny like ha ha ha, but like quirky and the way he played his character, I thought was so well done, especially in the the one episode that we watched where he was he was different, he was with Matthew Rhys, and I love the way their back and forth went that scene with him and Matthew Rhys...

Sean 7:54

That was a dialogue back and forth, I agree.

Hollie 7:56

...and then you're like, oh, and he's such a shit. Like, I just thought he was really good in that, and I was glad to see him in it a few times. That was nice.

Sean 8:03

Yeah, and he may pop up again. You never know.

Hollie 8:06

Yes, you never know. That is true.

Sean 8:06

You're right. I mean, we really liked him in Midnight Mass.

Hollie 8:09

What was he in before Midnight Mass?

Sean 8:10

I know he was in Legion on FX.

Hollie 8:13

He was on a TV show, wasn't he?

Sean 8:14

He's been I think New Adventures of Old Christine, maybe.

Hollie 8:16

There's something I I'm looking him up as we speak because there was some TV show he was in.

Sean 8:21

I mean, he's been in quite a quite a bit.

Hollie 8:23

Yeah, I mean he's been out. I mean...

Sean 8:25

Which is good. I mean, because he definitely should work. He's very talented.

Hollie 8:29

He as in The Life of Chuck. I don't remember him in The Life of Chuck.

Sean 8:31

I don't remember him in that either. We did watch that. Yeah, like I'll have to go back. Oh, I do remember him. He was one of the teachers, I believe.

Hollie 8:38

It's worth watching anything that he's in. I'm I'm gonna be real honest with you. I just... he's good to watch.

Sean 8:44

But I will say that the the show is slightly predictable.

Hollie 8:48

Well, yeah.

Sean 8:50

You know, I I mean you look at what came before it because I know I've seen it compared to this and my first thought was Twin Peaks. It's like a comedic variation on you know, it's a it's a weird town full of quirky characters, things like that.

Hollie 9:02

I think they there's a lot of uh Stephen King type Stephen King esque in it with the...

Sean 9:09

With the locals.

Hollie 9:10

...the the town being uh what do you what's that area?

Sean 9:13

New England.

Hollie 9:14

New England town and the what they and the horror to it. So but I think that it really kind of misses the mark a little bit with it. It's not like you said, it's just not blowing my mind. Like there's nothing really that new about it. And it was the the end of the first season was beyond extremely predictable. As soon as the idea came out that they needed that one person, I was thinking it was either between one or two people, and we were we had one of the two people.

Sean 9:44

It also reminded me of I know no one's gonna remember this show, and it's called Highcliffe Manor, and it was a comedy on CBS back in 1979, lasted for six episodes. Of course, I watched it.

Hollie 9:55

Yeah, nobody remembers that.

Sean 9:56

No, it was about a woman who Shelley Fabres, she inherits a mansion, and it's almost like a Dark Shadows-ish type of thing, but it's a horror comedy. Ernie Hudson was in it from Ghostbusters, you know, Winston Zeddemore.

Hollie 10:06

That's an interesting cast right there.

Sean 10:07

It was entertaining as far back as I can remember. Now, if I watched it again, it probably would think no.

Hollie 10:11

Right, it probably wouldn't, you know, the mustard.

Sean 10:12

It would no, not at all. No, and a lot of stuff doesn't. My concern with Widow's Bay is the eventual endgame, because there's only so much you can do before it gets buried in mythology, which I'm I'm worried that it's gonna do, like the X-Files did, like Lost did, even Supernatural. That was supposed to be only five seasons, and of course they stretched that out.

Hollie 10:34

You can't have that many seasons of Widow's Bay. If you do if you want to do it right. I I can see it maybe going maybe three, but anything more than that, it's gonna be too campy.

Sean 10:42

I mean, if it was on Netflix, it would have been canceled already because Netflix just cancels the season. Yeah, they just shows after one season I don't care how good they are. Yeah, that's that's what I'm concerned about. I mean, I certainly hope that doesn't happen, but you know...

Hollie 10:53

A second season, I mean, I don't necessarily need a second season of that. I don't feel like it...and then the cliffhanger-ish ending, but not like a cliffhanger that you need answered for the story.

Sean 11:06

I agree. It doesn't leave you wondering, "oh my god, what's gonna happen?" you know what I mean, if you you know, you come out with something, yeah, I'll watch it.

Hollie 11:13

It's gonna be neat to see what they're gonna do with it, but I don't think it, yeah. It wasn't like, oh, I'm gonna be up at night thinking about this character, which is a lot of really great TV shows I've done.

Sean 11:22

And again, like I said, it's it's enjoyable. I I I would definitely recommend watching it. That you know, if you have time, it's it's not something you go, oh my god, you gotta just...

Hollie 11:30

For for Hamish and Stephen Root alone. I mean...

Sean 11:32

...and Rhys, and Kate O'Flynn, who plays Patricia. She's really good.

Hollie 11:36

She was...I really didn't... the first one or two episodes. I her character annoyed the piss out of me. I'm like, she was supposed to be quirky, and I got that. And and I was fine...

Sean 11:48

She was also kind of mean in a way.

Hollie 11:49

...but she was just like, I don't know, it was too stereotypical, I think. It was too, I can't think of the word, when you when you're doing too much of that quirkiness without any realism to it. But then as as again, like the Stephen Root character, as her character developed, I got to like her a lot. And I I really enjoyed the actress by the end of the show.

Sean 12:10

I I did too. And like I said, that that it was it was a pretty weak pilot overall.

Hollie 12:16

It really was. And I like when you first said that we're gonna watch this, and we watched the first episode, I was like, oh, I might be done with this. But it had that horror relation, and and I like everything horror, so I'm like, okay, I like everything New England. I mean, that's a fantastic place...

Sean 12:32

Oh ya do?

Hollie 12:32

Yes I do. So I can't do a New English act New England accent, so don't try. So uh, but I it it definitely got better. So if you if you watch it, the first episode is not gonna blow you away, but give give it a minute.

Sean 12:46

Give it time. It's not like some shows where like, oh, it drags out. Well, maybe the second season. It it's it doesn't hit the ground running, but it picks up speed pretty quickly.

Hollie 12:54

It I think by the second and towards the end of the second episode, I was kind of all in. I didn't like...

Sean 12:59

That sounds about right.

Hollie 13:00

...I didn't like you know have to watch even if I was exhausted to have to watch the third, but I was interested by then.

Sean 13:07

It's like short enough to do bite size. Yeah, they're about anywhere from 30 some minutes to maybe I think the last one was like a little bit less than an hour, shy of an hour. So, you know, it's really not gonna take up a lot of time... which is good. I I I mean, I do like that. And it's it's only 10 episodes for the first season, which again that's that's all you need. I remember when shows used to be 22, 24. I mean, I Love Lucy was like 30-some episodes, but they were all good. I mean, back then, there and there's some of them are still good, they're timeless, but you can't really do that anymore.

Hollie 13:35

But that's repetitive and it's only half hour long, which is what with commercials, it comes out to what 18 minutes?

Sean 13:41

Yeah, but commercials weren't. I mean, now it's what 22 minutes, I think. It used to be 28, 27, somewhere around there. So you really had to fill a lot of...you had to be good too.

Hollie 13:51

Right. Tell me why you related these two because I don't get it.

Sean 13:55

So the movie is Horror Hotel, which is also known as City of the Dead. And the reason I related it, do you remember when Matthew Rhys's character's son was watching a movie with his, I guess, the girl from Boston? They were sitting on the couch and they were watching a movie, and that face came out. It looked like it was just this creepy black and white movie they were watching.

Hollie 14:14

I remember them watching a black and white movie.

Sean 14:16

That was it. That was Horror Hotel. And I said, Okay, well...

Hollie 14:19

That's the connection?

Sean 14:20

...that's the connection. And...

Hollie 14:22

Did you know they were watching Horror Hotel, or did you...

Sean 14:24

I did not know what the movie was, I had to look it up, so because I was kind of curious, I'm like, boy...

Hollie 14:28

...because then I'd have to...

Sean 14:28

...that looks that scene looked creepy.

Hollie 14:30

...I have to flick you.

Sean 14:31

But well, but wait, there's there's more.

Hollie 14:33

Okay.

Sean 14:34

So you know, we watched the movie, and when I looked into it, I thought, and when we did watch it, I think it was it was kind of an inspiration for Widow's Bay.

Hollie 14:44

I could I could see somewhat. I mean, I I...

Sean 14:47

Which is an odd film to like pull out. I mean, they had to put that in there for a reason. It's not like they just well, it's just pick a random horror movie because the town is cursed in Horror Hotel.

Hollie 14:58

Well, I mean, is it really cursed?

Sean 14:59

It is because the witch at the beginning, and I'm not gonna spoil anything for you here.

Hollie 15:03

We can, we can spoil...

Sean 15:03

We can spoil a 1960 film, yeah. So at the beginning, a witch is burned at the stake and she curses the town, so no one can leave.

Hollie 15:16

I mean, she does but, at the same time, I mean, it's about a witch. It's not about like necessarily...

Sean 15:16

I get that, but it's still about a crazy. There's fog in it, which there's a fog in Widow's Bay.

Hollie 15:21

Lots of fog in City of the Dead.

Sean 15:22

Right, and the townspeople were they're not funny, quirky, but they are quirky because it is straight horror. Although it's you know 1960 horror, so...

Hollie 15:30

Yeah, I wouldn't really go that it was like you know, terrifying.

Sean 15:34

Oh, it's not terrifying, no, but it's an odd movie.

Hollie 15:36

It's very odd.

Sean 15:37

And you know what what it reminded me of was well with the the opening shots were almost like they were done in 3D because the people stick their face in the camera and they're they that torch they move towards the towards the camera.

Hollie 15:48

It reminded me of uh a TV show, Twilight Zone.

Sean 15:50

Yeah, it was...

Hollie 15:51

A very Twilight Zone feel...

Sean 15:53

It did.

Hollie 15:53

...because the main character well, the main actress was normal-ish.

Sean 15:57

She was normal and she goes to the small town. So Christopher Lee.

Hollie 16:00

And Christopher Lee, who is you know, dynamite and everything, but I truly did not really enjoy him in this. And I don't know if it was just because I didn't really like the movie, or I needed to see more of him. I kind of felt like he was not used to his potential.

Sean 16:14

It was more like uh like a cursory kind of well, here Christopher Lee's in it to sell the movie, you know, that might have been it. Well, I I brought up to you and I replayed the scene where he has a bit of dialogue and he says superstition, fear, and jealousy. And I said, Do you know where that came from?

Hollie 16:28

And I did not know.

Sean 16:29

Yep, and it's the opening to Rob Zombie's Dragula song, which you know, I I hear weird things like that.

Hollie 16:36

And you gotta wonder why Rob Zombie picked that line out of...

Sean 16:39

Well he does that.

Hollie 16:39

...a very obscure horror movie. Like I could see the horror movie stuff because that's Rob Zombie, but a horror movie, like uh my family were big...my mother is a huge Christopher Lee fan. I knew all Christopher Lee and Frank Langella and the other guy, I can't think of his name right now. What's the other guy's name?

Sean 16:58

In terms of a vampire?

Hollie 16:59

The old three guys that were always in old horror...

Sean 17:01

Well, no, Frank Langella wasn't one of those. Frank Langella...

Hollie 17:04

He was Dracula.

Sean 17:05

He was Dracula, but he wasn't one of the you're thinking Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing.

Hollie 17:07

Peter, no, the other guy. I'll I'll think of it.

Sean 17:10

Okay.

Hollie 17:10

It might have been Peter Cushing, but I watched a lot of those movies. So, you know, Christopher Lee was someone my mother always talked about, and it's just I think like you said, it was probably they put him in it just to sell the movie. But the story I thought was pretty interesting because I do like the witchcraft stuff again in New England, burning the witches. I was at I've been to Salem. So that aspect of Burning Witches was interesting, but I think the movie went to the fact that they were real witches, and the history is that they weren't. So that was a little different for me.

Sean 17:47

Here's the weird thing I thought about it too is that so this was made in 1960, and again, spoiler alert, but again, it's you know, how many years...

Hollie 17:55

Unless...we can spoil a 1960 movie.

Sean 17:55

... so the lead female who goes to the town, like in Psycho, again, spoiler alert, she she's out of the picture....

Hollie 18:06

Yes, I thought...

Sean 18:07

...pretty not pretty early, but I mean it's really like halfway through the film.

Hollie 18:11

Halfway through the movie. The main the main character is dead.

Sean 18:13

Yeah, so that only that's that would have surprised me.

Hollie 18:15

You didn't see her die.

Sean 18:15

No, you didn't see her die, but...

Hollie 18:16

I mean you saw the knife, but you didn't see her die, but so I'm thinking, did they kill her? They couldn't have not in 1960, they wouldn't have done that, especially a a B movie in 1960. I did like that part, and I did like the woman who played the witch.

Sean 18:29

She was good.

Hollie 18:30

I didn't I don't know who the actress is, but I did enjoy her. I thought she was...

Sean 18:34

Patricia Jessup, maybe I think is her name. I I believe so, I'd have to look that up.

Hollie 18:38

Another thing that really bothered me in this movie was the the phrasing and intonation of some of the characters, like the boyfriend, he would talk... like this, and it was really, really annoying. But another character did the same thing, and I don't know if that was something that they were told to do, but I can't remember...

Sean 18:56

I mean the acting back then is very you know...

Hollie 18:57

I mean, I've seen a lot of movies from back then, they didn't all do that.

Sean 19:00

That weird intonation, and you know...

Hollie 19:02

He was annoying as anything. That actually was...

Sean 19:04

Yeah, right. The the boyfriend was annoy...so the brother was a little annoying.

Hollie 19:07

The brother was really annoying, he's such a uppity bastard. I could stand it.

Sean 19:11

The the movie was written by, and this is uh this is one of the things I wanted to share with you because so I you you may not know the name, but once I get into it, you'll know who it is. So it was written by Milton Subotsky.

Hollie 19:21

Oh Milton Subotsky!

Sean 19:22

You remember Subotsky? I pointed him out in the credits, remember?

Hollie 19:24

Yeah, you did point him out in the credits, but I do not know a Milton Subotsky.

Sean 19:28

So he was the co-founder of Amicus Films, which Amicus created all of those the films like House that Dripped Blood and Torture Garden and the...

Hollie 19:39

Torture Garden?

Sean 19:39

Torture Garden. We saw that as well. But they are the what's the word that Creep show was it was the anthology film. So they he they did a lot of anthology films back then.

Hollie 19:50

And you do love your anthology.

Sean 19:51

I especially the British ones, and I am I am a sucker. You give me when my friend told me this was oh god, 20 some years ago, he's like, Hey, have you ever seen The House that Dripped Blood? No, and it was only on I think Turner Classic movies or AMC at three in the morning, and I stayed up to watch it because that was the only way I could see it at that point.

Hollie 20:07

But don't you think the reason why you like anthology films so much is that you have a very short attent... attention span?

Sean 20:13

I like shorter films because you could tell a really good story, and and you know it's not it's not even that because I and I don't want to get into like the length of movies because movies now are too long and they don't have a story to support that. It's it's more of the narcissism of the director or who you know, whoever studios, whoever's a lot of times that's the director, but but yeah, I do like anthologies because I do like short stories, especially if they're very well done.

Hollie 20:39

But they have to be very well done.

Sean 20:41

Yeah, and the I mean these are fun. It's not like they you know they they base on some of the old EC comics and like Vault of Horror, you know, things way back in the 50s, and you know, like Tales from the Crypt did, which is another Tales from the Crypt was actually another Amicus production, I believe.

Hollie 20:55

Do you remember when we were watching this what my biggest pet peeve was in the in the whole movie. What did I what annoyed me the most, if you remember when we were watching?

Sean 21:03

I can't remember.

Hollie 21:04

The the girl's name.

Sean 21:06

Oh, right.

Hollie 21:07

So like if you're writing a story and you can create any name in the world, why would you pick the name Nan?

Sean 21:14

Nan. It was different back then.

Hollie 21:14

Because it didn't flow and it doesn't have any like when you're listening, your ear's not gonna catch up the word Nan. I mean it was just a terrible...

Sean 21:23

Maybe that's why they killed her halfway through the movie. Like, we're getting really tired. You know what? You were right.

Hollie 21:27

Let's kill Nan.

Sean 21:28

Let's kill Nan.

Hollie 21:29

Nan's not Nan's useless.

Sean 21:30

But Milton Subotsky, his his last movie that he produced, and when I saw the fog roll in in this film, was, and I know you do love it, The Monster Club.

Hollie 21:40

Oh, that's a good movie.

Sean 21:41

See, that's another anthology.

Hollie 21:43

But that's also... wasn't Christopher Lee in that?

Sean 21:45

No, it was Vincent Price was in that. Christopher Lee was not in The Monster Club.

Hollie 21:48

And the other old guy.

Sean 21:49

Donald Pleasance was in that.

Hollie 21:50

Yes, okay.

Sean 21:51

But yeah, remember that one where they the guy goes to scout a location and it's called Loughville, and there's that fog in the town the whole time. There's the creepy ...yeah, they're basically they're all ghouls. It's it's a it's an anagram for Ghoulville, but it's called Loughville. The the fog reminded me of that in this film. I was like, oh, it's like they're living in Loughville.

Hollie 22:09

I didn't like the name either.

Sean 22:10

What Horror Hotel?

Hollie 22:12

Yeah.

Sean 22:12

Yeah, the Horror Hotel didn't fit. City of the Dead fits a little bit better.

Hollie 22:15

City of the Dead is...

Sean 22:15

But still it's not really a great...

Hollie 22:17

...neither title really captures...

Sean 22:19

But I think back then it's like what grabs people.

Hollie 22:21

Well, I I just I read that Horror Hotel was the American name because of course we have to change names of everything. But um Horror Hotel, it wasn't... it was an inn. It's not a hotel. Just saying...I mean I know it's the same thing.

Sean 22:34

Horror inn doesn't really have the same ring.

Hollie 22:35

Well, I mean it shouldn't, it shouldn't have been you shouldn't have focused on that...

Sean 22:39

They had to have alliteration

Hollie 22:39

...building was not necessarily the I mean it was the prime setting for the sacrifice, but it wasn't like things were jumping out at her and things in that hotel.

Sean 22:49

That's true.

Hollie 22:50

So I I just didn't like the name. I didn't think it reflected the movie at all.

Sean 22:54

Uh it didn't , right. But you know, it's it's like I said, sometimes I like watching some of these old goofy movies. And again...

Hollie 22:59

Sometimes?

Sean 22:59

...that one that one I chose for well, that one I chose for a reason. I wouldn't have I probably wouldn't have watched it other than the fact the connection it had with Widow's Bay.

Hollie 23:06

I would have never thought to look at to figure out what movie the character, the actor.

Sean 23:10

I always do. I I like to see like well, maybe hey, they probably did get their inspiration from this, albeit you know, certain things.

Hollie 23:17

I mean it's it was New England and New England.

Sean 23:19

Somebody had to have seen that movie, so... to put it in there.

Hollie 23:22

Horror hotel was not necessarily an island.

Sean 23:25

No, it wasn't an island.

Hollie 23:26

It was an area, but not an island.

Sean 23:28

And so in Horror Hotel, the final bit of trivia, which I liked about it. So it was uh directed by John Llewellyn Moxey. We've actually seen uh I know one movie you've seen with me. This was while you probably don't remember it. I I had it, I had to look it up to jog my memory. Home for the Holidays, which was a made for TV movie about...Sally Field's in it, I think Jessica Walter... where these four daughters they come home and their dad dies. There's a killer, they they think that his wife is poisoning him or poisoned him. I like I said, I vaguely remember it right. Um, because it was it wasn't, I mean, it had really not to do with him, it just wasn't a great story. But he also did the movie The Night Stalker, and that was great. I love I love anything Kolchak. So, but yeah, it was I just thought that was kind of interesting too.

Hollie 24:12

It wasn't the worst movie you've shown me, but it wasn't definitely one that that I'm gonna be like, oh, I remember what now I'm gonna remember watching it because of the name. The name irritated me, Nan irrit irritated me, but I did like the storyline. I do like stuff about Salem and the witches and and witchcraft and all that stuff, but being someone who who studied that a little bit and know the real story of it, it kind of you know, the feminist I am kind of pisses me off that they made her a real witch.

Sean 24:45

Yeah, I mean I can see that.

Hollie 24:46

I do, I like because she didn't have to be a witch to come back and be pissed off and and curse the town. You know, she didn't have to consort with the devil.

Sean 24:55

Oh, but I mean, but it was just a regular human, they don't usually come back. They had to have some kind of supernatural reason to do that.

Hollie 25:02

Maybe she could have met the devil after that.

Sean 25:04

Yeah, right. I'm on my way down to hell. Look at that, it's the devil. How you doing? Okay, well, you know what? We're gonna but she already said she was gonna curse the town, so ...

Hollie 25:11

But if she cursed the town, why did all those people why were they all witches too? Like what happened?

Sean 25:15

That I have no idea.

Hollie 25:16

They didn't tie in like Christopher Lee had no reason to be a witch or to be in the devil's cult or the satanic cult or whatever you want to call it.

Sean 25:26

Well, he was a child, or no, he was like lineage of some kind.

Hollie 25:30

Yeah, I mean, but she was the only...

Sean 25:33

Right. I don't know why that yeah, I I have no idea why that happened, but again, it's not there to make sense. It's probably yeah, that's probably a movie they showed at the drive-in, and you know, everyone's like, oh, Horror Hotel, and you know, but yeah, it is what it is, you know, it's cheesy.

Hollie 25:47

Yeah, but my 2026 brain wants to know why things are happening.

Sean 25:52

I agree, I agree.

Hollie 25:53

So it's hard to go back to movies sometimes.

Sean 25:54

All right, so we'll do it on rewatchability. I'm gonna say I I would not re-watch Horror Hotel, aka City of the Dead.

Hollie 26:00

No, I would not re-watch it either.

Sean 26:01

Should you watch it? Hey, if you have nothing else, it's only an hour and eighteen minutes.

Hollie 26:05

Right, you did tell me let's watch this movie, it's only an hour and eighteen minutes and I'm like, ok.

Sean 26:08

Which was extended because it was on Tubi, so it had ads...

Hollie 26:10

We had commercials.

Sean 26:11

...but I believe it's on AMC Plus. If you have that, you can watch it on there. Widow's Bay, I would not rewatch the first season if it was on.

Hollie 26:18

It's not rewatch, but it is uh something I I would recommend watching, and I would, and I am I am going to be pleased when the second season comes out. And I'm gonna be wanting to watch it. It's not gonna be like, oh, it came out today, we've got to watch it today.

Sean 26:33

No, I would probably do it like we did the first season with maybe binge watching.

Hollie 26:38

Wait til things come out and it's not gonna be a water, what do you call the ones? Water cooler?

Sean 26:40

A water cooler show, yeah.

Hollie 26:42

It's not gonna be a water cooler show.

Sean 26:43

Nothing really is anymore.

Hollie 26:44

Apple TV has a lot of them. That one with...

Sean 26:47

I never hear...

Hollie 26:48

Yeah, because you don't work, you don't go to water coolers anymore.

Sean 26:50

But what's oh the water coolers don't really exist anymore.

Hollie 26:52

The one with Jennifer Aniston, that was a really huge one.

Sean 26:55

The Morning Show.

Hollie 26:55

The Morning Show.

Sean 26:56

I think there's so like niche audiences now where you know a lot of people you have to have like every streaming service to see everything, which you know you can only kind of pick and choose, I guess, at certain times. You know, like hey, we'll get Apple this month, we'll do you know, and that's maybe do a revolving thing so we catch up on all of these shows because we do have a couple...

Hollie 27:15

I do want to see The Morning Show though. I just want I do want to see. Although another show people talked about was The White Lotus, and that that did not...

Sean 27:22

I did not like The White Lotus at all. No, that's that first season was just not ...I wouldn't watch it anymore.

Hollie 27:27

I might try the second season just to see if it gets better.

Sean 27:29

I'm done.

Hollie 27:29

Parker Posey.

Sean 27:30

Yeah, I like Parker, but I'm I'm done. So...

Hollie 27:33

Anyway.

Sean 27:34

Okay, well, so we're gonna have to come up with something again. We're you know, we're trying to do a little bit of big screen, a little bit of small screen. Uh so maybe you'll be back next week. Maybe we'll...

Hollie 27:44

I think we need to do a comedy.

Sean 27:46

We do need to do a comedy. We'll find something.

Hollie 27:48

Unfortunately, I'm afraid because you find them and they're always like weird.

Sean 27:53

Well, sometimes you like them though.

Hollie 27:55

I do enjoy them sometimes, but you're more obscure sometimes your movies.

Sean 28:00

I know a perfect one we can do.

Hollie 28:01

Oh shit.

Sean 28:02

All right, so yeah, we will do that soon. Well, thank you for being here again.

Hollie 28:07

You're welcome. I'll come anytime. All the way downstairs.

Speaker 28:11

That wraps up another episode. So make sure you hit that subscribe button and download new episodes every Saturday on your favorite podcast platform. For Scenes From the Screen. I'm Sean, and thanks for listening.