Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Motel Hell Blu-ray Movie Review

Dead and breakfast.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 8, 2014

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.

While Vincent brings home the bacon (so to speak) at least partially with his regionally marketed smoked meat concoction, he and his plump sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) also manage a large ranch which has a kind of dilapidated lodging facility attached. While the real name of the place is “Motel Hello”, that final “o” has a short circuit in the neon, leaving a blinking, buzzing sign that of course simply says Motel Hell. Vincent may simply be a senior citizen version of Norman Bates in Psycho, but unlike Norman, he doesn’t just sit around and wait for some comely visitor like Marion Crane to simply show up. Instead, Vincent has populated the grounds surrounding his estate with a variety of rather ingenious (and in some cases a bit nasty) booby traps.

While Motel Hell flirts with a certain Grand Guignol flavor (sorry), especially in its revelations of how Vincent and Ida prepare their “crops” for harvest, the film actually shies away from outright gore, instead hinting at effect rather than cause. That’s especially notable in several scenes where human “plants” await their fate in a field tilled by Vincent as Ida cheers from the sidelines. But where Motel Hell tends to really generate a squirm factor is in Vincent’s curating (so to speak) of a pretty young girl named Terry (Nina Axelrod) who falls prey to one of the booby traps but is not immediately sent to the slaughterhouse (though the same can’t be said for her boyfriend). When Terry, who is injured in an accident caused by Vincent’s scheming, is brought back to the Smith household, a very odd May-December romance starts blooming, one which then sends a whole series of emotional dominoes cascading through other characters, including Ida and Vincent and Ida’s dunderheaded brother Bruce (Paul Linke), a big lug who just happens to be the local sheriff but who is spectacularly unaware of his siblings’ “hobby”.

There are so many outré elements to Motel Hell that one hardly knows where to begin. Aside from the unusual if not completely unique premise (after all, lots of horror outings have featured cannibalism), there is a downright wacky ambience that wafts through this film and ends up providing delightfully, if just slightly unbalanced, sequences like two swingers (played hilariously by Elaine Joyce and Dick Curtis) showing up to the hotel thinking they’re in for a four way BDSM-fest with Vincent and Ida. Late in the film, once Bruce’s amorous intentions toward Terry finally seem to alert him to the fact that his brother and sister are up to no good, there’s a wonderfully bizarre showdown that pits Vincent against Bruce with dueling chainsaws—and at least one pig head worn as a mask. Obviously, writers Robert and Steven-Charles Jaffe and director Kevin Connor were not shy about pushing the hyperbolic excesses of the genre, but the pure joie de vivre (joie de mort?) that informs much of Motel Hell makes it one of the more ineluctably memorable horror outings of the 1980s.

Motel Hell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• It Takes All Kinds: The Making of Motel Hell (1080p; 24:33) is another great compendium of interviews from Shout! Factory. When Robert Jaffe says revisiting Motel Hell is like having a family reunion, it may strike some as an uncomfortably accurate description. Some of Steven-Charles' comments are NSFW (as they say).


• Shooting Old School with Thomas Del Ruth (1080p; 15:45) is a very interesting piece with the film's cinematographer. It's interesting to hear him discuss the new opportunities post production techniques provide now that he didn't have at the time.


• Ida, Be Thy Name: The Frightful Females of Fear (1080p; 18:09) features an okay assemblage of talking heads opining on what makes for a good female horror villain.


• From Glamour to Gore: Rosann Katon Remembers Motel Hell (1080p; 11:28) features an interview with one of Farmer Vincent's victims.


• Another Head on the Chopping Block: An Interview with Paul Linke (1080p; 14:52) focuses on the hapless cop of the film.


• Motel Hell Trailer (1080p; 2:40)


• Behind the Scenes Gallery (1080p 2:33). If you've ever wondered how they did the heads in the garden, this provides a peek.


• Posters and Production Gallery (1080p; 17:38)


• Commentary with Director Kevin Connor, Moderated by Dave Parker

Motel Hell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.