Motel Hell, 1980.
Directed by Kevin Conner.
Starring Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, and Nina Axelrod.
SYNOPSIS:
Set in a fictitious town in the Deep South, people come from far and wide to sample Vincent’s distinctively flavoured produce, but one might well ask why so few of them decide to stay at the near-by motel the family also runs.
“Meats, meat – and a man’s gotta eat”
Motel Hell does often feel like the last of its kind. It came out at a time after Tobe Hooper’s goreless Texas Chain Saw Massacre and around the time the slasher genre took off (in terms of box office and gore levels) with Friday the 13th. Though a black comedy through and through, Motel Hell does have a lot of traits that make for a good scary movie, however director Kevin Conner (who replaced Hooper) decided to focus more on the light hearted side of things which can often make Motel Hell feel unbalanced – although quite entertaining.
Just like the aforementioned Texas Chain Saw Massacre and genre classics like Psycho, Motel Hell is inspired by the work of serial killer Ed Gein as it tells the story of Vincent Smith, a local farmer and motel owner who has an interesting method for making the best smoked meats in the county. He is joined by his loyal – if a touch overweight – sister Ida who becomes very jealous when Vincent rescues the beautiful Terry from a motorcycle crash that he caused. As the two grow closer and closer, Vincent must fight off Ida’s wishes to kill the poor girl as well as the sexual advances of his younger brother Bruce, who has taken a shine to Terry, in order to make her his wife and bring her into the family business.
So, you’d think this would be typical horror fodder – a family of hicks in a motel chop up strangers and turn them into meat right? But Motel Hell is a lot cleverer than that as it never puts too much emphasis on that aspect. While it undoubtedly plays to the horror crowd of the late 70s/early 80s, this is more of a story about Vincent having a Florence Nightingale effect on Terry and the struggles this causes his jealous family. A lot of time is spent on “getting the best critters to make Farmer Smith’s fritters”, but even more time is spent on the human drama. Many horror fans will damn the movie for it, but Conner was clearly more interested in making a comedy rather than a straight forward scary movie – which the script was always intended to be.
That’s not to say horror fans won’t get a kick from it. The set up and story line are so wonderfully bizarre that you can’t help but fall in love with the image of two hicks burying strangers neck deep in the dirt, cutting out their vocal chords and then ‘harvesting’ them. It all leads to a fantastic Night of The Living Dead-esque moment towards the end of the movie along with a quite intense dueling chainsaw battle.
Of course the goreless aspect of Motel Hell also adds to the film’s impact. While possibly not as impressive as the oft mentioned Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Motel Hell is another good example of what you don’t see is more impressionable than what you do. As a decade known for its high levels of blood, gore and nudity, Motel Hell can be viewed as a refreshing experience (although there is a certain level of gratuitous nudity in the flick).
The film also features cameos from the likes of DJ Wolfman Jack, Playboy Playmates Rosanne Katon and Monique St Pierre as well as Pixar favourite and Cheers legend John Ratzenberger. While not a role he’ll be remembered for, it’s quite amusing to see a man with such a unique and recognisable voice be reduced to nothing more than moans and gurgles.
But of course the true selling point of Motel Hell is the outstanding performances from Rory Calhoun as Vincent and Nancy Parsons as Ida. They both play the balance between perfectly normal and totally unhinged to a perfect degree. Their initial scenes with Terry are so brilliant because they are so nice and welcoming but the scenes with their ‘crops’ are equally as genius due to their delightful over-the-top nature. Calhoun serves up a massive slice of ham (pun intended) with his performance and Parsons looks to be having so much fun as the overweight and slightly stupid sister.
But with all that said, Motel Hell is not without its flaws. For all the good Conner does with the story and character, the argument can be made that the third act rolls around too quickly without warning and Terry’s discovery of the Smith’s true intentions does feel a little flat and rushed. On top of that, there is no denying that Conner doesn’t always get the balance right with regards to the film’s tone. Like many movies of this type, it’s not scary enough to be a horror and it’s not funny enough to be a ‘rolling in the aisle’ comedy. It is however, a wonderful piece of entertainment with some engaging lead performances, fantastic visuals and a pretty decent climax. It may not be perfect, but I had a great time.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published May 20, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
