Fan-Favorite Horror Turns Cannibalism Into Comedy, Stream On Tubi
The splatter films that began to take hold at the drive-in theaters during the 1970s paved the way for a new generation of horror by the time the disco decade segued into the era of Reagan. The violent horror from the 1980s was often sprinkled with humor over the buckets of blood that were dumped on screen, with a handful of entries really going all out with the black comedy approach. In 1980, Motel Hell took cannibalism on film to a new level, making one of the universal taboos the backdrop to a dark horror comedy.
You Can Check In, But You Can’t Check Out
Motel Hell‘s storyline follows two rural folks, Vincent and Ida Smith (Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons), a brother and sister team that farms and sells smoked meats to the townsfolk, and operates a roadside motel named “Motel Hello.”
The two are also bloodthirsty cannibals that work to trap travelers so that they can eventually be turned into one of Farmer Vincent’s famous red meat offerings. The murderous duo have a peculiar method of catching their prey and an even weirder process for getting them ready for slaughter.
Bloody Green Thumbs
Vincent and Ida sever their victims’ vocal cords so that their voices are reduced to harsh whispers, then bury them into their body garden up to their necks. They are fed and watered until Vincent deems them ready to “harvest,” at which point they are pulled from the earth and taken to the slaughterhouse.
One poor couple that’s targeted by Vincent and Ida sees the man, Bo (Everett Creach) planted and prepared for harvest and the woman, Terry (Nina Axelrod), taken into the siblings’ home. As she begins to fall for her male captor, Ida becomes jealous with rage and sets off a series of events that could lead to their undoing.
A Sharp Satire In Disguise
From the outset, the film seems relentlessly idiotic, created to serve a base level of horror fans. But the true brilliance behind Motel Hell is in its ability to give fans a real satire of the slasher genre by making fun of itself throughout the entirety of its run time. Witty dialogue, exaggerated character types, and situations so utterly ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh give audiences a film that is about as well balanced between humor and gore as possible.
The Victims Are Too Dumb To Live
Farmer Vincent’s ploys to lure in his victims are funny enough. Fake swinger ads that promote the motel as a clubhouse snag one unfortunate couple, and fake cardboard cows stop others in the roadway and allow the cannibal killer to ensnare others. Throughout it all, the witty banter between Vincent and Ida and the quick and morbid one-liners from the farmer add layer upon layer of twisted humor that will delight genre fans.
Streaming On Tubi
REVIEW SCORE
The black humor is bright, the storyline brutally imaginative, and the overall viewing experience fits right in among the horror films of Motel Hell‘s era. The film plays like a mashup of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Tourist Trap if it were penned by a skilled comedy screenwriter.
Sharp eyes will also catch none other than Cheers‘ Cliff Claven (John Ratzenberger) in an early role.
You can catch the hilariously irreverent Motel Hell streaming for free with Tubi.
