Motel Hell (1980)

Directed by Kevin Connor [Other horror films: From Beyond the Grave (1974), The House Where Evil Dwells (1982), Frankenstein (2004)]

When I say it’s been a while since I’ve last seen Motel Hell, I don’t mean it’s been a couple of years, five years, or even ten years. It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve seen Motel Hell – so much so that aside from the most striking and memorable portions, everything felt new. It was a good experience, because while Motel Hell can sometimes be a bit much, it’s quite a solid film, and I dig it.

Which isn’t exactly what I was expecting when I revisited this one. As any reader of mine may know, when there’s too much of a comedic infusion into the horror, I check out. Given this film is often described as a black comedy, I was worried that it might be too goofy and offset the otherwise creepy and occasionally unsettling ideas in the film.

Luckily, that’s not the case. This is one sequence that strikes me as being a bit much – the two swingers – but for the most part, it wasn’t that silly. I mean, it’s sort of silly that Nina Axelrod’s character would fall for Rory Calhoun’s, but then again, the heart wants what the heart wants, and Farmer Vincent is a pretty suave character with folksy charm.

Seeing this originally when I was quite young, there are some seriously creepy images here, primarily the field of bags (and of course, under the bags are the heads of living people). Just the idea of keeping someone buried, their head above ground so you can keep them alive by force feeding them, and then killing them off for smoked meats, well, that’s a classy business plan. It’s done pretty well, because while the film does have some comedy, those scenes don’t become any less unsettling.

Rory Calhoun (Night of the Lepus) does great as Farmer Vincent, and you can sort of tell early on he’s destined as a cult classic character (“It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s Fritters”). He has a fun personality, and I really dig him. Nancy Parsons and Paul Linke I felt more lukewarm toward, but Nina Axelrod (Critters 3 and Time Walker) did pretty good most of the time.

Motel Hell isn’t a violent movie whatsoever, and given it involves cannibalism and the occasional chainsaw, this might surprise people. What it has instead is a pretty good atmosphere, as I said earlier, and some of the sequences can be pretty foreboding (such as the routine Vincent and Ida have before pulling their livestock out of the ground).

Truth be told, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed a lot of this. The humor is all pretty decent save a scene or two, and the unsettling scenes are just quality. Add in Farmer Vincent’s fun character, and you have a pretty solid movie. Nothing stellar, but solid.

7.5/10