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“Checking in is easy… Checking out is Hell!”: A Look Back at Motel Hell

“Checking in is easy… Checking out is Hell!”: A Look Back at Motel Hell

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“Meat’s meat, and a man’s gotta eat!”
“It takes all kind of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters!”
“I’m the biggest hypocrite of them all. I used preservatives.”
“Sometimes I wonder about the karmic implications of these actions.”

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Comedy mixed with serious horror is a common thing these days, but there was a time when it was not so. It would take the writing talent of two brothers (Robert and Steven-Charles Jaffe), a British director (Kevin Conner), an amazing cast of talent (including Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Paul Linke, Nina Axelrod, Wolfman Jack and John Ratzenberger), dueling chainsaws and cannibalism to bring the macabre black comedy/horror film to life in October of 1980. Almost 35 years later, Motel Hell has become a cult classic with a following that borders on the insane…

Murderous hillbillies, cannibalism and/or chainsaws have long become the standard in our genre, starting notably starting with Tobe Hopper’s classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) being the most popular, but there has also been Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Two Thousand Maniacs (1964) and Blood Feast (1963), Guido Zurli’s The Mad Butcher (1971), Nathan Schiff’s The Long Island Cannibal Massacre (1980), Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive (1977, and not to be confused with Umberto Lenzi’s film in 1980 entitled Eaten Alive!) along with a slew of others. But with maybe the exception The Mad Butcher, none had managed to fuse black comedy with horror the way Kevin Conner did with Motel Hell. But while the characters of Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun) and Ida (Nancy Parsons) are the backwoods/hillbilly type, they are by no means idiots. Vincent is certainly a charismatic salesman when it comes to the hotel and smoked meats, and he and Ida are very cunning and inventive while catching and taking care of their livestock, which happen to be the unfortunate guests of the hotel that cross them or unlucky travelers that fall into their traps.

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There is a child like quality to the way Vincent and Ida interact with one another, and their air of righteousness in thinking that by “cultivating” those “critters” for their smoked meats is making the world a better place gives them a sense of derangement. Vincent uses humor for the most part, with roaring at the the two little girls that close themselves in the car to make them quiet down and when the meat inspector comes snooping around. Ida’s way of behavior is even more child like, even to the point of talking to the “livestock” like they were little kids or pets. Even the way that Ida and Vincent talk and interact with one another seems child like. Neither ever seem to view what they are doing as a criminal offense and actually speculate on whether what they are doing will be remembered as a good thing. But even little kids have their moments of disagreement. You can certainly see that there is a huge degree of jealousy when it comes to Vincent’s relationship with Terry (Nina Axelrod), with Ida doing little things a kid would do to chase away another. Vincent also has his child like moments when it comes to things, in particular punching Ida in the stomach during a picnic when she says something he does not like. While no incest is shown or discussed in the film, it certainly makes you wonder if there was more to their relationship…

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What makes all of that character development possible is the amazing job done with casting and the crew. Tobe Hooper was originally tapped to be the director of the film but backed out when Universal Studios decided to pass on it. While Hooper could have certainty brought something to the film as the director (including his knowledge of chainsaws and cannibalism), the idea by British Director Kevin Conner to play the film as deadpanned horror/black comedy was a stroke of genius. Rory Calhoun may have been a curious choice for many as the lead role as he did very little horror before Motel Hell (1972’s Night of the Lepus and 1979’s Revenge of Bigfoot), but his inclusion as Vincent really brought an air of authenticity to the role. As an interesting side note to that, Harry Dean Stanton was originally slated to play Vincent in the film. Nancy Parsons role as Ida was and still is an interesting choice as she was not a genre actor either, but her interactions with Rory Calhoun and how she conveyed Ida’s personality (switching from child like to almost brutal psychopath) speaks volumes about her acting ability and talent. Paul Linke went to college with Robert Jaffe, and the role of the Sheriff was written specifically for him (It didn’t hurt that he was playing a police officer in the TV series CHIPS as well!). This was also the first feature film for DP Thomas Del Ruth, who certainly has gone on to amazing work in other films and TV series (Death Wish II, Simon & Simon, The Breakfast Club, The Running Man, The Mighty Ducks, The X Files and more). Cameos by Wolfman Jack and John Ratzenberger (!) are also nice tidbits to digest as well…

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While the film has become a midnight cult classic and has seen a resurgence of popularity thanks to the AMAZING Blu-Ray DVD release by Scream Factory (released on 8/12/14), many have wondered what has become of the cast and crew. Sadly, several members of the cast have since passed away. Rory Calhoun (who passed April 28, 1999) went on to do several more projects in the genre, including Hell Comes To Frogtown (1988), the Killer Takes All episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1988) and Oil’s Well That Ends Well episode of the Tales From The Crypt TV series (1993). Nancy Parsons (who passed away January 5, 2001) also did a few more things in the genre, including the Remote Control Man episode of Amazing Stories (1985) and The Vengeance Factor episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989). Radio personality Wolfman Jack (who passed July 1, 1995) went on to do two more genre projects, 1988’s Mortuary Academy and the Children of the Fool episode of the Swamp Thing TV series (1992). Actor Paul Linke continues to work in film, TV and theater, including genre films such as Space Rage (1985), Plymouth (1991), Shrunken Heads (1994) and Fallen Angels (2006). Nina Axelrod continued to act for a while, and then moved behind the scenes as a casting director. She has also been involved with several genre projects after Motel Hell, including titles such as Time Walker (1982), Brainstorm (1983), Nightflyers (1987), Fright Night Part 2 (1988), Critters 3 (1991), Critters 4 (1992), NetherBeast Incorporated (2007) and The Graves (2009).

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So in the grand scheme of things, what is the cultural and lasting legacy of Motel Hell? From a cultural standpoint, the film continued to push the stereotype of the dangerous backwoods hillbilly character, but it also showed that fully believing the stereotype can be one of the most dangerous thing of all. Through the film, the majority of the victims believe Vincent and Ida to be rubes and harmless characters. Most people believe their greatest dangers are in the big city or from the hooded character walking down the street. Society as a whole also fears the urban legend of being served food from tainted sources. To this day, I will not buy beef jerky that does not come in a sealed bag from a company I do no know. Is there an enduring legacy? Certainly! There had been a few genre films before this that had attempted to blend humor and horror, but the majority of them were so over the top that the comedy dominated the action. While there were certainly comedic elements to the film, this was the first that really was able to have laughs while at the same time have you gritting your teeth and sitting on the edge of your seat. As time has gone on, the successful blend of the two genres has been on display with films like Evil Dead 2, Return of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead and more. Dueling chainsaws, severed body parts and full head pig masks may have become the norm in the genre these days, but a true classic never goes out of style. Never stay at a hotel that makes its own jerky…

Dedman13

Owner of Slit of the Wrist FX and producer, actor, FX artist and writer.

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