Friday, October 4, 2019

October Horror Movie Challenge: Motel Hell (1980)

All this AND Wolfman Jack!

I remember watching this one back when it first came out, but that's nearly 40 years ago so I forgot a lot.

True story, I once wrote a review for this movie for my school newspaper but they wanted me to censor the word "Hell".

This movie was the first of what I would later come to call "Country Horror" or "Rural Gothic", which is appropriate given the poster's "homage" to American Gothic. 

I'll be honest, the whole cutting the victims vocal cords really creeped me out back then.  The movie does not hold up well, at all really, but there is a certain campiness about it that is fun.

Nancy Parsons (Ida) would, of course, go on to fame as Beulah Balbricker in the Pork's films and other bit parts.

In some ways, this movie gave us the concept of the comedic horror film of the 80s.    Not intentionally of course.  I feel this movie, while trying to be a 70s Grindhouse horror, gave us the seeds that would later grow into Nightmare on Elm Street and the Evil Dead movies (though Evil Dead was already in production by then).

Watched: 4
New: 3



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