Motel Hell poster & wallpaper

Elaine Joyce, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod

Farmer Vincent is a simple rustic who operates Motel Hell where the abundance of his smoked meats might have something to do with the disappearance of passers-by.

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54% liked it

5,809 ratings

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69% liked it

16 critics

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Directed by: Kevin Connor

Release Date: June 1, 1980

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DVD Release Date: October 1, 1986

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Stats: 360 reviews

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Pig's Head Nancy Parsons in Motel Hell Motel Hell Rory Calhoun as Farmer Vincent Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons Motel Hell Motel Hell
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Flixster Reviews (360)

  • Stinger839
    March 9, 2009
    Stinger839
    Re-watched this again a few days ago. Has gotten cheesier with age and I can, for once, see why a remake might be justified as every plot point that isn't gore or grotesque related is flimsy and paperthin. For example, keeping that girl as their sort of "pet", who is supposed to ...( read more)be the protagonist, is really odd and feels misplaced. The relationship between her and the farmer is not believable because neither actor is trying to sell it.

    Onto the goodness: the "farmer's" whole process is great. Any scenes with the grounded people are fascinating and funny yet scary. The part which I remembered from childhood, which I still really love today, is when the ground people have escaped and begin their zombie-like descent upon the farmhouse; the lighting is great and it's one of the better examples of making victims frightening to the audience. The chainsaw showdown is great because although illogical to don a pig head mask, it's damn weird and creepy.
  • stopitgoaway
    April 6, 2008
    stopitgoaway
    How can anybody not love the campy awfulness of this movie. It's fantastic! I remember seeing this when I was roughly eleven or so and being freaked out by the guy wearing the pigface brandishing a chainsaw, now I just laugh as I realize how funny it all was supposed to be. A cam...( read more)p classic all the way!
  • FangsFirst
    March 21, 2008
    FangsFirst
    I don't remember why I finally saw this, though I am researching everything that comes to mind (Maltin's review--a completely typical horror rating of 1.5 stars; Terror in the Aisles--doesn't show any of this movie) and finding nothing. I know my dad had a tape of it and I...( read more) know that's how I saw it, but why is beyond me. I could have sworn that iconic final scene was what inspired it, but whether I had accidentally fast-forwarded or rewound and caught it or saw it in something like Terror I don't know. Regardless, I was left definitely wanting to pick it up on DVD and it waited on my wishlist for quite some time until recently a few copies of the supposedly out-of-print DVD surfaced for a nice, fairly cheap price (also explaining the viewing of Deranged earlier today).

    This movie opens on a couple motorcycling down a highway until something blows the front tire, sending the bike careening out of control into a tree. The male rider is thrown from the vehicle and dies, while the girl who rode behind him is found unconscious by Vincent Smith (Rory Calhoun)who, with his sister Ida, is the mind and hands behind the "Farmer Vincent" brand meats, including sausages, jerky and everything else. He carries the girl back to the Motel Hello (the "O," of course, is blinking and going out, hence the title) and there enlists Ida to help nurse the girl, Terry (Nina Axelrod), back to health. When she awakes she is confused and frightened, and runs to the policeman who has shown up to visit--Vincent's kid brother Sheriff Bruce Smith (Paul Linke). What happened to the male rider? Well, as the tagline of the movie--and the brother and sister team themselves--says, "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters!" What follows is a mix of horror (only a bit) and black comedy (tons). Bruce is a bumbling fool of a cop, trying to get into Terry's pants, while Vincent and Ida tend to their duties of smoking meat.

    Some friends of mine (sorry boys, I'm calling you out) mistook this for an exploitation flick. It's not. It's almost more comedy than it is horror, but there's enough gore and dark imagery mixed in with a decidedly dark sense of humour that it fits in just fine as horror anyway. Rory is hilariously fun as Vincent, a man who has great religious convictions, despite what his particular product involves. He smiles at everyone with a wonderfully kind-hearted smile all the time, crinkling his eyes and showing nice, white, even teeth, a salesman's smile, but an honest one. Ida is a little less genial, apt to fits of rage, threats and pranks (including a memorable one on two curious girls near the beginning of the film). Of course, Rory manages to gain our trust and sympathy early on, if you can believe it, possibly because the subject matter, dark though it is, is addressed in such an absurd and amusing way. I don't recall noticing some of the other jokes present in the film that are actually relatively subtle (like the song we first see Ida singing, or the comments by the band "Ivan and the Terribles" right before they fall victim to the Smiths), but I do recall the very funny incongruity between Vincent's actions and his philosophizing. Rory does a beautiful job of marrying a down home sort of goodness to a human-butchering cannibal in a way I can't imagine we're going to see ever again (though we might cross our fingers for the contrary). But he ain't as cool as Wolfman Jack.* He plays Reverend Billy (continuing a rather loose element of religious hypocrisy and foolishness, as televisions are often occupied by televangelists), the preacher who Vincent comes to when he has news requiring the use of a man of faith, and whose best scene may be the one where he finds Bruce in his patrol car with..."questionable material."

    The "garden" that the Smiths keep is the second most iconic, interesting and half-creepy image from the film--their "animals" kept here to mature until they are ready to be smoked and added to his sausages. It's lit and filmed in a way that keeps the creepiness from being overbearing or overtly disturbing without ruining the fact that, yes, these are people buried up to their necks amongst heads of lettuce, and manages to make it amusingly weird at the same time. The most iconic, though, is the final scene of the film. I don't want to ruin it--though I often use it to highlight the awesomeness of this movie, as well as to clarify it's obvious humorous intent--but let's just say Tobe Hooper (interestingly, originally assigned to direct this film!) came a bit too late with his own final scenes in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2--and lost one of the best elements.

    PS: This film includes the funniest dying words ever.

    *If you get that reference, you get 10 bonus points.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 10, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    Great movie poster, great trailer and clips, but it's really a goofy slow movie. There are classic scenes, but the old brother and sister killers just weren't likeable unless they were wearing their pig-heads. They have a strange way of getting their human meat to make sausages; ...( read more)it's all very complicated. They take in a young girl like a daughter. I wanted there to be so much more gore! There was a great scene where two little girls with pretty dresses and balloons wander into the slaughterhouse. I loved the chainsaw battle at the end. But I wanted this movie to be so much more than the kookie sci-fi comedy it ended up being.
  • tone143
    May 22, 2007
    tone143
    Worth a few chucks,if you dig campy horror crap.
  • jackamaku
    November 1, 2009
    jackamaku
    MOTEL HELLo is probably the most contrived name for lodgings since HOTel cORAL esSEX. Rory Calhoun sells the best smoked meats in the county. Only one catch, it's people! PEOPLE! although it has a few effectively disturbing moments, overall this was one of the most boring ho...( read more)rror films I've seen in a long time. Did have a funny last line from Calhoun though...
  • tpb0
    October 28, 2009
    tpb0
    This is cheesy and pure fun!
  • engrymfilm
    October 23, 2009
    engrymfilm
    Pretty creepy plot if you think about it and pretty funny editing at times.
  • iansubordinate
    October 23, 2009
    iansubordinate
    Funny as shit. Excessive shit just for laughs. Expect more humor than gore.
  • VTAcinephile
    July 17, 2009
    VTAcinephile
    Just a fun midnight flick. I am craving some jerky just thinking about it!

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Comments

  • Aritosgold
    December 5, 2007
    Aritosgold
    this movie is really sick;;
  • addictedvixenshorty
    September 19, 2007
    addictedvixenshorty
    Well good news you will be able to see a new version they are "re-creating" motel hell it will be comeing out december 7th 2007 to theaters.... haha im excited I dont know about you all!
  • tattoodblonde
    March 7, 2007
    tattoodblonde
    I saw this movie when I was a kid,and would love to see it again.Does anyone know where I can get it?
    Thanks,Mary ;~)
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Motel Hell Trivia

  • From which movie is this line spoken: "Meat's meat & man's gotta eat"  Answer »
  • "It takes all kinds of Critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters" is from what movie?  Answer »
  • In the movie Motel Hell,what was Farmer Vincent's smoked fritters made from?  Answer »
  • In "Hot Rods to Hell" (1967), the Phillips family is terrorized by hot-rodders as they drive to take over a _______________ in California.  Answer »
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