Motel Hell Review

• 15th May 2013

Motel Hell-o indeed, as Arrow Video drags another horror classic from the bowels of the 80’s and drags it kicking and screaming through the clean-up process and brings it to you the viewer in glorious Hi Def Blu Ray!

Directed by Kevin Conner, Motel Hell tells the story of Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida (played very humorously by Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons) and there locally famous smoked meat company.

It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters, and aint that just the truth! People come from all around for his exceptional smoked meats and some….. Well, let’s just say some of these people end up being a bigger part of his famous meat dishes than they had bargained for!

Motel hell is a weird and wonderful tongue in cheek take on the horror genre and gives a nod to the likes of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho. Interestingly Tobe Hooper turned down the chance of directing this flick, yet it reminded me in certain places of his more humorous venture with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2! Coincidence???

This film definitely stands out from the rest of its low budget counterparts from this era with it’s almost benny hill like humour. The drive in cinema scene almost made me choke on my coffee and the hotel guests who were a kinky sort had me in stiches!

Farmer Vincent however gets most of the good one liner’s and never fails to keep the smirk from your face for long. But this also requires a great supporting cast with the likes of his rather butch sister Ida and his brother Bruce who ironically enough is the town’s sheriff! Throw into the mix the quiet Terry whom Farmer Vincent took under his wing after seeing off her boyfriend in a motorbike “accident” and you have the perfect recipe for this bizarre tale.

Arrow Video has again been working overtime on this release and has cut no corners! The transfer is wonderfully done as you would come to expect from Arrow and the extras are a plenty with a directors commentary, Interviews, featurettes, including a great interview with director Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red) who discusses the importance of Motel Hell and you can tell he is a huge fan as he’s sat with the films iconic pigs mask sat on his lap.

You also get the original trailer and collector’s booklet for your dollar which boasts original archive stills, posters and Motel Hell comic book extracts.

Put all that into a case with Arrows standard reversible sleeve which has the original and newly commissioned artwork and you have the fans definitive release of a great piece of horror history!

Motel Hell is released on the Arrow Video label 20^th May.

Shane Meekings