Mountaintop Motel Massacre

Yes, this movie has bad acting, a poor plot and no real horror to speak of...but it is also one of the 'so bad it's good' movies. Evelyn (who IS creepy, by the way) goes on a killing spree at her motel. I think the idea of Evelyn going from one cabin to the next through an underground tunnel was a neat idea. I also liked that not all of the likeable characters were killed. There is also some humor. While this movie is surely not of the caliber of Psycho or even Texas Chainsaw Massacre (both favorites of mine!) it is worth a look; if only for the camp value. Rent this off of the 99 cent rack, turn off the lights, and get ready to be scared...a little! But please do not disturb Evelyn...SHE ALREADY IS!

There must have been hundreds of these things made in the early '80s.If you are familiar with this type of film and New World Pictures you almost know what to expect.

Typical "B" drive-in slasher film shot in the woods of Louisiana for about $5.27.Falls a bit short on the sleaze and gore you might expect such a film to have,but is still interesting enough to keep your attention.Although I found it watchable,it's just not that interesting.As a "B" film it has a cast and crew are a little too good to make fun of in a "so bad it's good" way.To me this takes away from the fun that can be had looking out for the mistakes that make low budget films so enjoyable.I love bad movies,and this one wasn't bad enough.It falls flat right between too bad to be good and too good to be bad.Recommended for lovers of drive-in cheeze,New World Picture fans,and folks who just can't get enough of the early "80s slashers only.

5/10 on the Drive-in-Freak-O-Meter

Anna Chappell stars as the elderly Evelyn, who's let out of a mental hospital and starts running the Mountaintop Motel, a scuzzy string of run-down shacks out in the sticks that would have me sleeping in the nearest ditch. She snaps again and on a dark and stormy night kills people stranded at her hotel. Guests include a honeymooning couple, two reverends, a record executive and a pair of Barbara Mandrell clones who don't wear bras (a rainstorm and flimsy white shirts help to prove this).

Funny sounding cosmic music plays whenever Evelyn is up to something devious. She lurks around in underground catacombs spying on victims with her bulging eyes, hears her dead daughters voice, sneaks snakes, roaches and rats into rooms and hacks people up with a sickle. This is no PSYCHO, just a silly regional concoction from Louisiana with a few laughs and some blood. Larry Buchanan fans will recognize Bill Thurman as an alcoholic reverend.

Score: 4 out of 10

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.

The old lady's face, her sadistic smile n the creepy music stayed with me for a long time.

Revisited recently.

The movie is a bit boring n the effects ain't good.

Apart from the creepy music n the old lady's facial expressions, the movie has oodles of atmosphere.

The isolated hotel, the woods n the constant rain, all add up but in the entire movie we never get to see any mountain.

Now lets talk bah the lol moments.

How conveniently the old woman comes up from the basement without Prissy noticing her inspite of being in front of the mirror.

How she was able to take the body down into the basement all by her self is beyond me.

Later she pulls the tall n heavy built Reverend.

The movie has one very brutal scene, a scythe piercing thru d cheeks.

The big built cop gets beaten by the old lady.

Now some irritating moments.

Lots of titillating scenes but not an ounce of nudity.

They shud have reversed Hitchcock's Psycho by making the mad lady keep the dead body of her daughter.

I feel Keanu Reeves' Knock Knock borrowed the element of two stranger gals n one man on a rainy nite stuff from this movie.

I also feel that John Cusack's Identify too borrowed from this movie.

Complete strangers coming together on a rainy nite in a motel n later getting killed off.

"Mountaintop Motel Massacre" will appeal to those horror fans like myself who often have to see a movie just because of the ridiculous title. Sometimes we get snowballed and the movie sucks but other times, we are treated to a semi-entertaining gem that stands out from the rest. "Mountaintop Motel Massacre" stands out.

The whole setting of the movie is creepy as hell, kind of a mix between Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive" and "Motel Hell." Mountaintop Motel is in the country, off a dirt road, itself a collection of small 'cabins' and they are all linked together by an underground passageway. The lady who runs the joint is a psycho, she offs her kid in the beginning of the flick and then proceeds to off some guests in her cabins.

My only complaint is that this movie takes way too long to get going. If it had the pace of the final twenty minutes during the entire movie, it would have been amazing. But hang in there, you won't be disappointed in this one. Some nice, genuinely creepy scenes and some decent gory killings.

5 out of 10, kids.