6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Farmer Vincent kidnaps unsuspecting travellers and is burying them in his garden. Unfortunately for his victims, they are not dead.
Starring: Rory Calhoun (I), Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod, Wolfman JackHorror | 100% |
Dark humor | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Chances are you’ve never heard of famous actors Roy Scherer, Arthur Kelm, Merle Johnson, Jr., Raymon Cramton, Robert Moseley, Francis McCown, or my personal favorite Orison Whipple Hungerford, Jr. But each of these men became well known stars of motion pictures and television, albeit under pseudonyms granted them by famed Hollywood agent Henry Willson. If those aforementioned names don’t sound familiar, it’s because most people know the performers under their more famous monikers of (in no particular order) Rock Hudson, Ty Hardin, Tab Hunter, Chad Everett, Troy Donahue and Rory Calhoun (I’ll leave it to the more enterprising readers among you to pair the correct birthname with the correct assumed name). Interestingly, according to a biography of Willson, Troy Donahue was actually utilized before blonde haired blue eyed heartthrob Merle Johnson, Jr. made it famous in such television shows as Surfside 6 and films like A Summer Place. More than a decade prior to Johnson’s ascendancy to pop icon, Willson had briefly christened Francis McCown as Troy Donahue, only to discard it and rename the new actor Rory Calhoun. Calhoun’s screen career may frankly have never risen to heights of interest that something as seemingly mundane as tales of his Hollywood naming spark, but despite working steadily for decades, my hunch is that if pressed to name a Calhoun feature film, many younger viewers would probably only be able to easily recall Motel Hell. This goofy 1980 horror outing is about as lo-fi as they come, but it’s saved by the fact that it knows how lo-fi it is, constantly winking at the audience as if to say, “Can you believe someone gave us the money to film this?” Calhoun portrays one Vincent Smith, a farmer whose penchant for serving up delicious smoked meats has a fairly predictable genesis—Smith is using human flesh for his meal making.
Motel Hell is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. There's both good news and bad news with regard to this high definition presentation, and how much individuals love this film and are willing to tolerate some distractions is probably going to determine reactions. On the plus side, colors are nicely saturated and accurate looking and fine detail is at reasonable if not overwhelming levels. Black levels are enticingly deep (important for the many nighttime and dark sequences), but contrast is all over the place, at times providing great delineation between tones and at other times just seeming murky and ill defined. Grain is similarly inconsistent, tending to splotch at times. The biggest issue here is one that's become almost de rigeur lately for many Shout! Factory releases—at times simply overwhelming compression artifacts which swarm the image and make it look like it's being viewed through mosquito netting. The overall softness and lack of pristine definition argues for this being an older master, but that aspect would probably be more tolerable if the artifacting weren't so rampant. All of this said, is this a step up from DVD? Of course, but that should go without saying. Some fans are going to love this release simply because they can finally see a favorite in (flawed) high definition. Other fans will probably just as likely be gurgling like one of Farmer Vincent's victims, cursing the fact that things aren't picture perfect.
Motel Hell's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track isn't quite the problem child the video aspect is, but it, too, has a few anomalies that are worth mentioning. While the track doesn't have any appreciable damage per se, amplitude here is really anemic, to the point that some listeners may need to opt for the included English subtitles to help them ferret out what's being said. The often inventive sound effects have relatively more presence, but often seem just slightly flat as well. Lance Rubin's score fares pretty well here, with a decent midrange.
Motel Hell is, well, a hell of a lot of fun. There's a weirdly surreal aspect to Motel Hell that takes a while to totally take hold, but which ultimately makes this a really unforgettable "little" film. I can't in good conscience offer an unqualified recommendation for this release, since I was frankly kind of shocked by how recurrent some of the video issues were, but for those willing to deal with a less than perfect presentation, Motel Hell is required viewing for genre enthusiasts. Once again, Shout! Factory has done an outstanding job with the supplemental features, which may make some of the disappointment with the technical presentation go down a bit more easily.
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