Review of Motel Hell (1980) by Jon P — 03 Aug 2015

Kevin Connor's cult slasher satire gives us a sick premise, sillily handled: that of human-plants buried neck-deep in soil and harvested for meat.

Wide-eyed characters and droopy dialogue tell us that this tongue-in-cheek chiller shouldn't be taken too seriously, but the film's excessive sleaze and cheese soon grow tiring even on a comic level. Grinning, greying Rory Calhoun has his moments of creepy hilarity and the film's sloppy chainsaw duel plays like a multi-layered pastiche but, for the most part, Motel Hell is bargain bin trash.