Creepy Cult Classics: Motel Hell
Tonight’s creepy cult classic is a real doozy from 1980, “Motel Hell.”
Part of the chainsaw-wielding maniac craze of the nineteen seventies and eighties, Motel Hell has the rare distinction of being the only one featuring elderly western star Rory Calhoun wearing a pig’s head as a mask.
This is billed as a “dark comedy” and though it’s making fun of scarier movies and has a lot of humor, it’s no slouch in the gruesome department.
Farmer Vincent Smith is a seemingly kindly old Farmer John kind of character with a line of sausages and “special” smoked meats. He also happens to run the “Motel Hello” with his creepy sister totally unsuspiciously on his farm/sausage factory. You know your typical farm/slaughterhouse/smokehouse/motel setup; seems totally legit, right?
The secret to Farmer Vincent’s delicious meats is, of course, human flesh.
He traps people through the motel or by other various traps around the farm and takes them to his “special garden.” Here, with the help of his sister; they bury victims up to their necks in rows and give them a razzle-dazzle disco light show which I guess hypnotizes them into a zombie-like state.
When its “harvest time” Farmer Vincent and sister dispatch the victims, clean them and smoke them with the other meats.
Eventually, Farmer Vincent falls for one of his intended victims and spares her.
Her presence at the motel gets Farmer Vincent’s half brother suspicious because he happens to be the Sheriff. Then the shit really hits the fan from there...
This is a really fun movie with a sense of humor, despite its creepy premise.
Fry up some sausage and bacon and plop in front of a screen for this one! I highly recommend “Motel Hell” for over the top Halloween movie fun that’s not afraid to ham it up!
-Mike Olguin
”Motel Hell” is available on Amazon Prime and iTunes.
Art by me, Mike Olguin.
