Because it's a public domain picture, City of the Dead hasn't really gotten its just desserts in the U.S. Officially, it has been the property of VCI, and that company's 2001 DVD has long been the standard bearer for the film's stateside presentation. Indeed, that DVD is loaded with grand extras including two feature commentaries, on-screen interviews with Moxey and stars Christopher Lee and Venetia Stevenson, and two more minutes of footage than the U.S. edit of the film known as Horror Hotel. That disc also presents the film in its correct aspect ratio.
Reel Vault's new DVD edition of Horror Hotel loses the UK version's two minutes, unfortunately shortening the powerful opening scene, as well as a tiny bit of information on the top and bottom of VCI's frame (VCI's used very slim black bars on either side of its frame to retain that 1:66:1 aspect ratio). However, the picture is much, much cleaner. The VCI disc is consistently peppered with white specks and other flaws and debris. The Reel Vault one is basically pristine. The picture is also considerably brighter, though whether that is a good or bad thing is down to viewer preference. It's a good deal less moody, and skin tones are closer to white than VCI's flat, grey tones. At times, white areas lose detail and nighttime scenes look more like daytime ones. However, black/white contrast is better, and this is a film that gains a lot of its visual pleasure from contrast. The audio is too hot, though, with more distortion and sibilance than the VCI disc.
Reel Vault also replaces all of VCI's fabulous bonus material with a big, fat goose egg, but I think Reel Vault's DVD could become my go to for Moxey's classic, if only so I no longer have to sit through VCI's interminable opening menu. Too bad they didn't do a blu-ray edition though.
