Motel Hell

Welcome to Motel Hell, where it takes all kind of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters! Actually, the motel in question is called Motel Hello, but the neon ‘O’ flickers and often goes more off than on. And that’s not the only thing going off in this riotous horror-comedy!

Fully restored and finally available on Blu-ray for the very first time, Motel Hell serves up a unique recipe of bloody gruesome ingredients, as well as horrific barrels of laughter. This prime cut of 1980’s cult cinema boasts an unforgettable and demented performance by veteran Western actor Rory Calhoun as farmer Vincent Smith who, together with his obese and equally demented sister Ida (Nancy Parsons), lives on a farm in the Deep South. Apart from running a motel on the sly, their main activities are taken up with preparing and smoking meat. Farmer Vincent’s meat jerky is supposed to be the tastiest in the area, but what is it that makes it all so tasty? Could it have something to do with the occasional motel guests who check in, but never check out?

Vincent has the area around his farm/motel strewn with a variety of booby traps, in order to cause passing vehicles to crash. The victims are then captured, restrained and brought to a bizarre secret garden, where they are placed into a hole in the ground, with only their heads sticking out. Their vocal chords are then cut in order to prevent them from screaming, and they are fed through a tube and funnel until they’re ready to be brought to the slaughter.
First victims are a young guy called Bo, and his drifter girlfriend Terry (Nina Axelrod). With Bo being killed in the crash, Vincent and Ida welcome the confused Terry to their home like a daughter. Vincent’s somewhat simple-minded younger brother, Bruce (Paul Linke), who happens to be the local sheriff, falls for Terry. In turn, she gradually falls for the much older Vincent. Both Terry and Bruce have no idea what the outwardly helpful and friendly farmer and his sister are really up to!

Other victims include a kinky swinger couple with a penchant for bondage, and a bonkers rock band called ‘Ivan & The Terribles’.
The film is a hoot beginning to end, with a chainsaw duel between Vince and brother Bruce, and a hilarious cameo by legendary radio DJ Wolfman Jack as Reverend Billy.

Both DVD and Blu-ray offer a multitude of bonus material, including audio commentary, various interviews with some of the actor, and the featurettes ‘From Glamour To Gore’, ‘Ida, Be Thy Name’, ‘Another Head On The Chopping Block’, and ‘Back To The Backwoods’. Furthermore there’s a collectors booklet, the trailer, and a reversible sleeve. But NO meat jerky!