A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Toni Gilman
- Mrs. Owens
- (as Toni Gillman)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film's original screenplay was a darker, more disturbing story with bestiality and a lot more violence in it and it was definitely not a black comedy.
- GoofsReflections of the crew/equipment can be seen in the Sheriff's glasses when he is first shown.
- Quotes
[Vincent uses human flesh to spice up his smoked meat]
Vincent Smith: It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters.
- Crazy creditsThe film's opening title image is the neon-lit sign "Motel Hello" with the "o" at the end of it burned out. The entire sign is later shown to be slowly short circuiting during the closing credits and finally exploding after said closing credits end.
- Alternate versionsAlthough the UK theatrical version of the film was uncut, the 1986 UK Warner Bros. video release of it had to have two seconds cut from it to remove a closeup shot of a chainsaw wound during the ending. The 2002 ILC DVD release of it, however, was completely uncut.
Featured review
Surprisingly enjoyable black comedy. Lots of fun!
I love a good horror movie, and I love a good comedy, but very rarely do I enjoy a blending of the two. I expected 'Motel Hell' to disappoint for that reason, but much to my surprise I found it was an extremely enjoyable mixture of black humour and genuinely creepy scenes. One of the reasons the movie works so well is because of the excellent casting choice of Hollywood veteran Rory Calhoun in the lead role of eccentric farmer and Motel manager Vincent Smith. Calhoun was best known for his Westerns, though he made one of two genre movies in his long career including the very silly 'Night Of The Lepus', and the nutty 'Hell Comes To Frogtown'. 'Motel Hell' is quite different to those two, and mostly played straight, which makes it all the more effective. Calhoun is well supported by the less well known Nancy Parsons ('Porky's'), as his equally unbalanced sister. I really liked 'Motel Hell' a lot, and highly recommend it to viewers with a sick sense of humour. Fans of early Tobe Hooper movies, or some of Garth Ennis' comics will especially appreciate it. This movie is a lot of fun! Dig in!
helpful•656
- Infofreak
- Jul 31, 2002
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,342,668
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,924,776
- Oct 26, 1980
- Gross worldwide
- $6,342,668
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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