Hotel zur Hölle (1980)

Hotel zur Hölle: Directed by Kevin Connor. With Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod. A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the “special meat” they are famous for.

“Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida run a motel in the backwoods, but Vincent has another pass time that brings in the big business. Thatu0026#39;s his smoked meats, which the people seem to love. What makes his meat so tasty is that of his special ingredients, which let me say involves unexpected motorists who are at the wrong place at the wrong time. These are u0026#39;accidentalu0026#39; road crashes too. One night after waiting for a road crash to occur, he falls for one of the initial victims named Debbie. Will she accept Vincentu0026#39;s trade, or will she turn to the authorities? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter scrummaging around my DVD collection to find something I havenu0026#39;t got around to watching yet, I happened to stumble across u0026quot;Motel Hellu0026quot;. After reading decent comments about it in the last month or two. I thought now was a good time to see how fun this flick really is. So… the conclusion I came to was – what a hoot! Well, not quite so. There were moments that were a blast, but to, sometimes it didnu0026#39;t rub off and it kind of sags in parts. But saying that it was good, but you would be hard pressed to get me to say it was great. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBasically itu0026#39;s a comical black comedy that has its tongue heavily planted in its cheek. By that, it parodies a lot of 60s and 70s horror flicks that came before it, namely that of Hooperu0026#39;s chillingly realistic u0026quot;The Texas Chainsaw Massacreu0026quot;. The horror elements come in small pockets and thatu0026#39;s very small. Too often this horrific plot idea seems to get sidetrack by its hit and miss humour and make way for uninteresting sub-plots. The central idea of Vincentu0026#39;s unconventional methods are purely artistic and odd to say the least, but it just needed more attention and expansion on it to work successfully I thought. I just wanted more of it, but I was left a little unsatisfied in what I got in the outlandish set-up! Although I canu0026#39;t argue that the climax wasnu0026#39;t brilliant. The slaughterhouse standoff involving chainsaws and a pigu0026#39;s head was excitingly off the rocker that youu0026#39;ll be going where the hell did that come from. That moment in the film is generally thrilling and repulsively grisly too. Those striking images in the garden patch breathed a real freshness to the story and it did cook up a grimy look that marginally enhanced the horror in the gloomy art direction. The gliding score creeps along in a very alert and persistent mode. Pacing wise, itu0026#39;s rather uneven, but it does pick up in the latter half of the flick. The dialog is filled with overtones of dry humour and with a pinch satire. The performance by Rory Calhoun is what made the film for me. His pinpoint depiction of farmer Vincent Smith the country bumpkin is hilariously appealing and the beautiful Nina Axelrod adds the naïve charm. Nancy Parsonu0026#39;s is great as the jealous Ida Smith, Paul Linnke as the blundering Sheriff Bruce Smith is equally good and thereu0026#39;s a small cameo from Wolfman Jack. Everything about the performances is colourfully animated and enchanting. Just like the two kinky swingers who drop by looking for some action.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m not overly crazy about it, but still its campy and dark attitude buzzes with charm and makes it worth the while. Who knows, maybe itu0026#39;s a grower?”