Amiable Farmer Vincent Smith (an excellent and engaging performance by Rory Calhoun) and his loopy sister Ida (broadly played with lip-smacking zeal by Nancy Parsons) use human beings as the key secret ingredient in Vincent's famous smoked meat. Complications ensue when Vincent falls for lovely young lass Terry (a charming portrayal by fetching blonde Nina Axelrod).Director Kevin Connor does an ace job of crafting a perfectly ghoulish tongue-in-cheek EC Comics-style creeped-out atmosphere, maintains a steady pace throughout, and pulls out all the thrilling stops for the wild climactic chainsaw duel. The witty script by Robert Jaffe and Steven-Charles Jaffe not only smartly satirizes such horror landmarks as "Psycho" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but also pokes wickedly amusing fun at the radical cultural shift that occurred when the loose libertine permissiveness of the 1970's gave way to the uptight repressive conservatism of the 1980's (Vincent and Ida think they are doing mankind a great service by preying upon such social undesirables as bikers, punk rockers, and prostitutes). This film acquires an extra chilling and unsettling edge by presenting its killers as supremely friendly and jolly good ol' country folks. Moreover, the cast really sink their teeth into the juicy macabre material: Paul Linke contributes a likable turn as bumbling sheriff Bruce Smith, Wolfman Jack has a ball as flashy televangelist Reverend Billy, Elaine Joyce and Dick Curtis are hilarious as a kinky swinging couple, Playboy Playmates Rosanne Katon and Monique St. Pierre pop up as a pair of hookers, and John Ratzenberger has a small part as a punk band drummer. Thomas Del Ruth's garish cinematography provides a funky neon look. Wholly deserving of its cult classic status.

Motel Hell is a film I have been dying to see. In some circles it's a cult 80's horror movie. I had only seen bits and pieces of the film on TV. It seemed very interesting with the chainsaw and Saw-like pig masks. When this Halloween Extravaganza came up I jumped at the chance to finally checked it out. I seems to get caught in the hype, which I need to stop. It ruins the film experience for me. But this film ended up being nothing I expected it to be. In the end, I think this film definitely doesn't fit in the horror genre. But I don't know where else to categorize it. Rory Calhoun stars as farmer Vincent. He's famous for his meat in the area. You can't get it anywhere other then 100 mile stretch from his farm. What makes his meat so good? He kidnaps humans and cultivates them. So yes, he's selling human meat. This is no spoiler. The film opens with Vincent building one of his traps in order to get his next victims. But after the trap works, he is overcome with emotion for one of his victims. Terry (the beautiful Nina Axelrod) wakes up in his and his sister Ida's care. Vincent tells her that she had an accident but she was spared. The man she was riding with has died. But the viewers know better of his demise. Terry is grateful for being saved. She takes a liking to both Ida and Vincent but even more so Vincent. Vincent is kept in check by his brother Paul who has grown up eating the meat but knowing nothing of what the meat actually is. Paul takes a liking to Terry but Terry has eyes for his brother. What follows is Vincent coming to terms with what he is doing and Terry coming to realization that not everything is what it seems. First and foremost this is not a horror movie. There is killing but it mostly bloodless. I get the idea and the concept is in the horror family. The film plays out like a late 70's very early 80's dark comedy. At moments it's goofy like 80's comedies then it will switch gears to become trippy and odd. The performances are okay. Calhoun give Vincent more depth that he should have in a film like this. You can see there more at work then what he is showing. It's interesting to watch his slow downfall. Nancy Parsons plays his sister Ida and she is best known as the crazy gym teacher from Porky's. She plays just about the same part here but with a more fun and sinister nature. Nina Axelrod may not be the best final girl in horror movies but she's definitely one of the most attractive final girls in 'horror' film history. Being in an 80's movie she is put in all the horror situations including the final battle and the obligatory topless nudity. Speaking of, way to go for the filmmakers to be forward thinking even back then with a goofy Drive-In make out scene that sports some full frontal male nudity. I didn't see that coming at all. The rest of the performance are basic for a film of this nature.The film is full of tons of oddball characters but Vincent is the only that standout. There is an interesting scene with an S&M couple that would fit better in Police Academy then this film. Motel Hell is one of those odd films that just doesn't fit anywhere conventional. It's not a horror film that's for sure. The only moment of horror would be the final chainsaw battle. It was kind of cool to see a film end like that. But this is a film for one of those late night Netflix viewings, nothing more and nothing less.

This is an unabashed B-movie black comedy. Nobody should have any illusions. The acting is over the top amateurism. The writing is unwavering parody. The characters are unflinching stereotypes. The style is low grade Corman-esk. But whatever problems and limitations it has, the movie enjoys itself and it shows on the screen. This is a black comedy that is having fun with the horror genre.Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun) kidnaps unsuspecting travelers and buries them in his garden. Unfortunately for his victims, they are buried alive, and grown like cabbage. Then he harvest them. You will enjoy the gore.

Here's a nice bit of early slasher fun with all the usual trimmings: psychotic hillbillies, bizarre murders, a clueless cop, a hot blonde, and…uhm…jerky? Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida run a motel on the outskirts of town famous for it's homemade meat fritters. What the unsuspecting townspeople don't know is that Vincent and Ida lure travelers and passersby into traps and they disappear as part of the "garden", where the victims are left to wait until good and ready to become Vincent's next batch of meat treats. One night, Vincent takes out a motorcycle carrying a man and his girlfriend; the man is relegated to the garden but Vincent takes a shine to the girl and, with the help of his sister, nurses her back to health. The girl, Terry, is frightened at first but begins to open up to the oddball backwoods duo. Problems arise when Vincent falls in love with Terry and hopes to introduce her to his secret meat recipes, while Ida stews in jealousy of Vincent's shifting affections. The only person who can save Terry from these maniacs is Sheriff Bruce Smith, Vincent's brother and an ignorant putz who probably shouldn't be left in charge of policing others. So yeah, I guess she's pretty much doomed to become one of Farmer Vincent's fritters.MOTEL HELL is a cheap little throwaway horror film from the early '80s. The story is simple yet strange, the characters are exaggerated, and the story is just what you'd expect. The whole plot of planting his victims in his garden and turning them into fritters is pretty cool, and the guttural noises screeched from the garden's inhabitants is probably the most stomach-churning aspect of the movie. Well, that's not entirely true. Ida (Nancy Parsons) freaks me out. I guess it's a combination of her deep-set eyes, childish pigtails, overalls, and that nasal squealing voice. Add to that the fact that her character is a simple-minded fool with no qualms against murder, and she just weirds me out from the first time we meet her. Farm Vincent on the other hand has the complete opposite effect. He reminds me way too much of Bob Barker. Seriously…he looks like him and sounds like him. Instead of promoting pet population control through spaying and neutering, he eats them. Rory Calhoun is way too charming to be an effective villain. Farmer Vincent shouldn't be murdering people and serving them in jerky form, he should be hosting his own children's show. It's all good until the final confrontation in which Vincent completely loses his mind (but his final lines in the film are probably the absolute best). Nina Axelrod is hot as victim Terry (but not much else…her character's not the sharpest knife in the shed), and Paul Linke is the embarrassment that is Sheriff Smith. You know everything you need to know about the Sheriff when we first meet him. He speeds up Vincent's motel with sirens blaring and lights flashing, lurches to a stop, and puts on his police-game face to…pop in and say hello. He's not smart and he's not tough; it's a miracle he's not dead in the first fifteen minutes.The movie's pretty predictable and follows a few of the usual horror movie conventions. If someone shows up and exhibits "negative behavior" (e.g. sexual deviance, drug use, etc.), chances are they're going to end up as part of Vincent's garden. What annoyed me was that the whole "Farmer Vincent's fritters" plot was put on the back-burner for the majority of the movie so it could focus on Terry's involvement. I wasn't interested in a love triangle, I wanted more cannibalism and horror! It's a fun movie regardless, even if it does wander off track. I'm sure any horror fan will find something they like about this movie, but I don't expect to find it on anyone's top-ten lists.