Motel Hell Reviews

A film that should have been funnier, MOTEL HELL is a broad horror-comedy starring Rory Calhoun as "Farmer Vincent," who markets a famous brand of exclusive sausages from his lonely motel located far off the beaten path. Aided by his piggish sister, Ida (Nancy Parsons), Vincent prepares his meats by capturing unsuspecting victims on the highway and then burying them up to their necks with their vocal cords cut (so they can't scream for help) until they are fat enough for his smokehouse, where he slaughters them and turns them into sausage. Enter the young and beautiful Terry (Nina Axelrod), who has a motorcycle accident nearby and seeks shelter in the motel. Vincent's normal brother, Bruce (played by Paul Linke--that name can't be a coincidence), falls in love with Terry, but she is smitten with old coot Vincent and wants nothing to do with his kid brother. When Bruce learns the real homestyle recipe for his brother's sausages, the siblings have a lengthy chainsaw fight--Vincent dons a giant pig head during the battle--leading to the film's best moment, when Vincent gives a long, hilarious speech while he lies dying with a chainsaw sticking out of his side. MOTEL HELL could have been a great black comedy, but the uneasy direction of Kevin Connor fails to get most of the picture off the ground.