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The distinctive taste of Farmer Vincent's (Rory Calhoun) prime meats is renowned in the farmer's rural area. In fact people come from far and wide to sample his uniquely delicious meat treats. The only real question is why is there rarely anyone staying in his nearby motel and yet the `No Vacancy' sign is usually on?

‘Motel Hell' is a fun and somewhat graphic parody of films like ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974) and ‘The Last House on the Left' (1972). By sparingly using shock tactics and graphic effects, ‘Motel Hell' plays up the more satirical aspect and keeps the viewer interested and entertained. In fact, the movie easily equals the number of shocking moments with a variety of funny and charming sequences which range from heckling televangelists to a hilarious send-up of the lives of swingers. Viewers of ‘Motel Hell' can be treated to a chainsaw duel (possible influence for ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'), a garden of humans being prepared for harvesting, cannibalism and a particularly stomach-churning conversation about smoking dogs. This movie is without a doubt one of the most underrated movies of its era and while not being as effective, or enjoyable, as ‘Re-Animator' (1985) and ‘Evil Dead 2' (1987), it remains an intelligent, gruesome and witty horror/comedy. Unfortunately the movie tends to drag a little shortly before the final sequences which can be slightly off-putting. However, the highly enjoyable and eventful ten minutes more than make up for this brief lapse and round the film off almost perfectly.

Rory Calhoun, without a shadow of a doubt, steals the show with his portrayal of the deranged yet surprisingly pleasant Vincent. Some adept scripting from Robert and Steven-Charles Jaffe give his murderous character a somewhat pleasant and appealing personality. The viewer can only laugh at the God-fearing persona that Vincent possesses as he talks about the creative and artistic way he catches stray humans to mix in with his meat. Rory is brilliantly accompanied by Nancy Parsons in the role of his overweight and slightly dim-witted sister Ida. One could even question whether Ida is supposed to be a female and slightly more intelligent version of TCM's Leatherface. The rarely seen and beautiful actress Nina Axelrod is also delightful in her role as Terry, a young woman who was caught in but survived one of Vincent's devious traps. Unfortunately the scripting for the character of Terry was rather poor and it becomes hard for the viewer to connect with her. However, given the material she had to work with, Nina put in an impressive performance and when required, added greatly to the humorous aspect of the movie. One cannot also neglect to mention Paul Linke who plays Vincent's (much) younger brother Sheriff Bruce Smith. Linke's performance, although the weakest of the main actors, is still enjoyable and provides both a villain and a hero in one.

Kevin Connor's direction was of a particularly high standard although it seemed basic during the opening portions of the movie. Connor managed to capture the devilish yet fun atmosphere of the script and worked in all of the clever references to other movies seamlessly. These references (in addition to those already mentioned) included a captivating comedic illustration of ‘Night of the Living Dead' (1968) and Zombie Holocaust which was released in Italy earlier the same year. ‘Motel Hell' is probably worth watching for horror/comedy fans; though do not expect another ‘Evil Dead 2'. Thanks to some usually good scripting, above average performances and some truly side-splitting situations, ‘Motel Hell' succeeds at what it sets out to be - great fun for cheesy horror lovers! My rating for ‘Motel Hell' – 7/10.

How can anybody not love the campy awfulness of this movie. It's fantastic! I remember seeing this when I was roughly eleven or so and being freaked out by the guy wearing the pigface brandishing a chainsaw, now I just laugh as I realize how funny it all was supposed to be. A camp classic all the way!

In my opinion, there's only one way when mixing comedy and horror actually works, and that's when the comedy is pitch-black. Director Kevin Connor got that part all figured out, and thus MOTEL HELL can be regarded as a successful horror/comedy mixture. It also manages to give a big nod to THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE by paying homage to it and making fun of it (as opposed to what some people might think, MOTEL HELL is not a TCM-rip-off). I even suspect Tobe Hooper might have found some inspiration in MOTEL HELL for his end-battle in TCM 2 between Dennis Hopper and Leatherface.

The cinematography and camera-movements are surprisingly decent for this rather low-budget flick, as well as some make-up effects (I loved it when the camera slowly travels through the dark living-room only to reveal Nancy Parsons hiding behind the door, holding a big knife at the end of the travel-shot). It's best that you know nothing about the story, but then again knowing that it's about a farmer running a hotel does say a lot, doesn't it. Farmer Vincent Smith sure re-defines the word "agri-culture". There isn't very much gore to admire but the idea alone is sick enough to satisfy any horror-fan. The story itself is fun and has a satisfying climax. I only had one problem with the motivations of Nina Axelrod's character. Why wasn't she more upset about her dead boyfriend? Why did she stay with the Smiths anyway? Didn't she have places to go or weren't there friends and family waiting for her? But I guarantee you'll soon forget those questions when she provides some welcome nudity.

So MOTEL HELL has black humor, demented farmers and a creepy motel. That makes up for a good movie, I'd say.

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!

When Terry (Nina Axelrod) survives a crash on a country road on her boyfriend Bo's motorcycle, a seemingly friendly Farmer/Motel owner, Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun) and his younger sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) let her stay at the Motel until she recovers. The Motel is well regarding for Farmer Vincent's smoked meats that are as affordable as they are delicious, but little does Terry know that "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's Fritters"

Originally intended as a much darker film for Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, the project originally intended for Universal Studios was cancelled with Hooper dropping out. When the Project was revived with United Artist and British director Kevin Connor better known for his Marc McClure adventure films based on Edgar Rice Burrows books the project scaled back many of the darker, gorier, and taboo aspects of the original screenplay and reformatted the project as a dark comedy/horror. The film was largely ignored upon release by audiences who were irked by the fact the movie was more comedic in contrast to the marketing campaign that emphasized the horror elements. Critical reception was more positive with critics enjoying the satire of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho as well as a really good performance from Rory Calhoun as Farmer Vincent. While the movie does have some good elements to it, it doesn't go as far as it could've.

The movie is a lot of fun with it's twisted take on the country horror genre which had capture the public through the 70s with films like Deliverance, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hills Have Eyes, and a number of Ed Gein inspired horror films both mainstream and independent. The movie takes that established framework and fits it through a twisted lens of American pop culture, which brings us to our main villain of the movie Farmer Vincent. Rory Calhoun is an absolute delight as the man, playing the character as a mixture of Orville Redenbacher, Oliver Wendell Douglas, and Ed Gein. The man has a charm to him that makes him seem almost like a spokes person for any number of grocery store products that makes him trust worthy, but also carries enough intensity to be quietly threatening as well. Nancy Parsons is also quite good playing Vincent's sister Ida and the scenes of them in their "secret garden" where they converse while prepping the "meat" are the perfect mixture of creepy and entertaining. In many ways the scenes of Ida and Vincent are like watching the Texas Chainsaw Massacre house if it were framed like an episode of Green Acres (albeit with slightly less grisly details).

The movie is enjoyable, but it has a few drawbacks. Nina Axelrod unfortunately isn't all that interesting as our proxy for much of the movie, and she's not really all that funny or engaging in her scenes. Paul Linke also feels like something of an extraneous character and feels like his character could've been merged with Terry's to create a stronger protagonist. The movie also doesn't have the punch or impact to certain scenes because it doesn't want to get "too gory". The movie doesn't really cut loose until around the last 10 minutes (with a dueling chainsaw battle that's pretty entertaining), and often the movie will cut away from the gorier/meatier bits of the movie. That's a big part of what holds this movie back because unlike Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, or even some Steve Miner movies it doesn't give that level of impact to itself because it's holding back.

Motel Hell is a good Horror Comedy. It's largely due to Rory Calhoun's strong comic performance that this movie has endeared as long as it has, but there's some funny gags and encounters that make the film quite enjoyable. Our main characters are rather bland unfortunately and the movie shies away from going as far as it could've, but it's a decent movie that deserves an audience.

Having been increasingly disappointed by the recent slew of 'horror' films that have bee released I was greatly cheered when I caught this at a late night show recently. It was a timely reminder that there is good horror out there - even if it is over 20 years old!! For once, the blending of horror and comedy really works. The film is played dead straight (most of the time) and that is why it succeeds where so many recent horror/comedies fail. By not constantly tipping it's hat to the audience and pointing out how clever it's being it allows the audience to really appreciate how ludicrous it is - without the frequent reminders that the filmmakers think they're cool. In the space of 90mins we get nudity, cannibalism, amateur surgery, a hilarious 'love' story, creepy characters, a dumb policeman, a chainsaw duel, lots of gore and some very spaced out characters. What more could you ask for? It's this movies overwhelming sense of fun that really works. You can imagine the filmmakers laughing their asses off making this - and that enthusiasm comes right of the screen and is very infectious. The audience I saw this with laughed, clapped and some gave it a standing ovation at the end. Do you need a better recommendation?

This movie is like if someone took the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and set it in the backwoods of North Carolina, but added a little more humor. Instead of making chili, the sadistic brother and sister are making world famous jerky. The acting is surprisingly decent for a low budget, forgotten horror movie. The story is a bit more suspenseful, slowly building to murders and the suspense of the main character catching on to what the "meat" smokers are up to. Rory Calhoun (Vincent/ the old man) really stands out as he does remarkable job of switching back and forth between appearing as a comforting and compassionate figure to a sadistic and insane killer. If you're looking for an hour and a half to kill, give this a watch.

Although I never saw the film when it first came out in 1980, I never forgot the tagline "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters." Rory Calhoun is great as the good-natured murderous Farmer Vincent, who along with his demented sister Ida (Nancy Parsons), runs the titular establishment alongside his smoked meat business. Needless-to-say, more guests check-in than check-out and 'long-pig' is on the menu. The film is a parody of the over-the-top slasher/psycho killer genre (borrowing heavily from 1974's 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre') and despite the gruesome premise, is played largely for laughs (especially the various victims such as the swinging couple and the punk band). The film was 18+ so the cartoonish violence is accompanied by gratuitous nudity and a 'mature' story line, but is essentially targeting teenage-boy slasher fans. The moody cinematography is quite good and the Hello/Hell sign from which the title comes is very effective. Fun stuff if you like this kind of film and far better than the endless Jason/Freddy/Michael sequels that characterised the genre in the '80s. As an added bonus, you get to see John Ratzenberger (Cheer's 'Cliff') playing a punk rock drummer who gets planted in Farmer Vincent's heady garden.

5/10 means average, and I rate this 6/10, just a notch above, because there wasn't any airs put on. The connections of this film are probably happy with that. They didn't try to be heavy handed. They knew they weren't making THE THIRD MAN or THE STRANGER. There was no intention of "classic" movie making.

This is standard horror fare. We know that Calhoun is playing a lunatic. We know it before the movie starts.

This movie has a few little things going for it. The horror scenes are well enough to frighten those who just want horror, and some memorable moments there. What puts this above are the black comedy and a few things I don't want to spoil.

Nice little pajama party movie, or a drive in style flick.

This is definitely the best horror movie about a motel/hotel. It's not boring and actually a bit scary. Watch it.

Kevin Connor's "Motel Hell" is a tremendously fun and engaging horror comedy, impossible not to love in my humble opinion. Right from the opening sequences, the film sells itself as a light-headed and blackly humorous gem that spoofs some of the genre's biggest classics without ever disrespecting them. The references towards milestones like "Psycho" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" are obvious but, unlike many haters of "Motel Hell" claim, this is certainly not a rip off! I don't think you can compare the clearly humorous premise of this film, which handles about cultivating human beings to mix the meat with pork, with dead serious stories like the above mentioned "Psycho" or "TCM". Rory Calhoun, usually a western star, is terrifically cast as the traditional and likable Farmer Vincent who's a local demigod in his county, thanks to his uniquely flavored, homemade smoked ham recipe. Of course, nobody knows that Vincent and his sister Ida are totally insane and extract their secret ingredients from nothing less than people, who they "plant" in their garden. This simply is campy entertainment, very tongue-in-cheek, fast-paced and with a couple of adorably gross make-up effects. Connor's directing is solid and he makes excellent use of the typically eerie "redneck" stereotypes, such as the clumsy sheriff and the barbaric farmers. The chainsaw-battle sequence during the finale is a real hoot. Highly recommended for horror fans who don't take themselves too seriously.

It may be trashy, low quality, nonsensical and all the rest of it - but the fact is that Motel Hell is pure cult class, and is bound to delight all the right people. People like me. It's nowhere near the true classics of the genre, films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes and The Last House on the Left; but Motel Hell stands apart as a worthy addition to extreme cult cinema. The plot isn't very clever or original, and doesn't even make a whole lot of sense. Motel Hell also rips off numerous films for several plot points. We follow a farmer named Vincent who makes the best meat in town. His methods of making his meat are questionable, as is implied by his slogan; "it takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters!" This is also shown by the fact that he and his assistant (a fat woman) kidnap, and then plant (yes, plant) unlucky tourists in the surrounding area. The sub-plot comes from a tourist taken into the farmer's home after a motorbike 'accident', which killed the young girl's boyfriend.

As you would expect from a film of this sort, Motel Hell isn't entirely serious - with most of the scenes coming off as a parody of the serious genre films. The acting is typically low quality, but Rory Calhoun does well in the lead role as the maniacal farmer Vincent. Kevin Connor, who does a good job of keeping the film weird, directs the film. Motel Hell is constantly bizarre, and if the idea of burying people up to their neck in the ground doesn't strike you as odd - I'm sure there'll be enough other aspects of the film to do that for you. The ending is of particular note, for being one of the most macabre things I've ever seen on film. This part of the film also seems to have been the inspiration for the sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the video game 'Manhunt'. Really, it doesn't get much more perverse than a chainsaw wielding man wearing a pig's head! Overall, Motel Hell won't do much for fans of serious films - but if you like your cult flicks, especially bizarre and gory ones; this one is definitely worth seeing! And, to be honest, I'd much rather have fun with a movie like this than spend my time watching some boring Oscar contender any day of the week

Farmer Vincent and his sister, Ida, are two older people who run a small motel in the middle of nowhere. They take in guests on a regular basis, but the guests don't know Vincent and Ida's secret until they arrive. A young couple, Terry and Boris, discover this when they are in a motorcycle accident and Vincent takes them in after discovering them on a late night hunting trip. He begins to nurse Terry back to health, and she is aware of Vincent's and Ida's famous smoked meats - which consist of human flesh. Turns out Vincent and Ida fill their sausages with the victims they catch, and then plant their heads in a garden.

"Motel Hell" is a campy, B-horror movie, but for what it is it was actually pretty decent and entertaining. The film is pretty unique, although the story does drag a little bit here and there throughout the movie. It's corny and unbelievable, you kind of have to buy into the whole thing and not take it so seriously to enjoy it. Vincent's secret is revealed fairly early on in the movie, and from that point on nothing really happens, just more slaughter of innocent travelers for his smoked meats, sausages, and other flesh items. The whole "planting of the heads" thing was actually kind of funny, and the film had hints of black humor here and there, you have to pay attention and you'll catch some of the more comic elements that are thrown in. The finale was enjoyable and pretty good, probably one of the best parts of the entire movie.

To sum things up, "Motel Hell" is brainless fun, you can't take it seriously, if you do it won't be enjoyable at all. The acting wasn't great, it was rather cheap - but the story was halfway original. It's a campy, gory, fun little horror movie. It's far from perfect, but it succeeds as an all-around fun little B-horror flick. Don't expect anything superb, but it's a good time to spend a couple of hours. 6/10.

It's taken me a long time to get around to watching Motel Hell. I believe it was Roger Ebert who said it was one of his guilty pleasures, but I could be wrong. But ever since the day I heard the movies tagline "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters" I knew I just had to see this movie. The problem was I couldn't find it. Finally I found it on MGM's Midnite Movies DVD (a double feature disk that also contains Deranged). After such a long wait I wasn't disappointed.

While not a great horror movie it does contain enough suspense, scares and general creepiness to keep one satisfied. Motel Hell is also peppered with some truly kooky characters which make the movie more interesting to watch when the action moves away from Farmer Vincent for any period of time.

The one drawback of the film is Farmer Vincents brother who is also the town sheriff. He's not a very likable character, he's dimwitted and a bit of a pervert and when he becomes the films hero it is truly unsatisfying. Also inconsistencies in Ida Smiths actions towards Terry makes one wonder why Terry sticks around.

The problem with horror films is that they seem to forget that they need to build to a climax so once the bulk of the film is done they need to hurry to a finish. In Motel Hell it is having Sheriff Bruce Smith discover what his brother Vincent is doing. He just seems to solve the mystery without really having a reason to look into it in the first place. Regardless, with this little problem out of the way the films ending is quite enjoyable and contains a nice battle scene between Bruce and Vincent as well as a couple of the movies best laughs.

Overall Motel Hell is a fun little film. Despite it's flaws if you are a fan of quirky dark comedies Motel Hell is perfect for you. Motel Hell rates a 6 out of 10.

It doesn't take long to realise this film is a black comedy. For the past thirty years, Vincent and his imbecile sister have been producing the best ham in the county. Exotic ham. Unique ham. Ham made out of humans. His much younger brother is the local sheriff, and obviously not too bright as he hasn't a clue what has been going on.

Towards the end though, he finally wakes up after doing a bit of detective work. Leaving the humour aside - like a serial killer who says sex outside marriage is immoral - the film moves into proper horror mode. There are two or three scenes that genuinely make the viewer jump, and the climax, involving a duel with chainsaws, is surely unique.

It's difficult not to like "Motel Hell" however hard you try, as the reviews here prove.

Apparently, "Motel Hell" has something of a cult following among horror enthusiasts (at least some of them), though I cannot begin to understand why. Bundled together with the far superior Gothic shocker "Deranged," "Motel Hell" comes across as a poorly calculated campfest trying to capitalize on the success of Tobe Hooper's subtly menacing "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," what with the emphasis on dry humor stemming from macabre incidents. Trouble is, Hooper's cult classic was an incidental horror sidetrip with a raw realism; "Motel Hell," by comparison, is a constantly winking parody that is neither funny nor scary (save for the genuinely nightmarish "pig-mask" imagery near the end), just interminably annoying. Rory Calhoun seems out-of-place as the grinning Farmer Vincent, never quite conveying the right amount of malevolence to be a convincing psychopath; the rest of the cast contributes embarrassing amateur-hour performances that hinder the already anvil-heavy humor.

Side note: did anyone inform director Kevin Connor of the wonders of -lighting- during the course of this little venture?

Motel Hell is a near perfect film. It is gross, funny, intelligent, and altogether VERY well done. There is so much great dialogue and excellent symbolism, and great acting. Rory Calhoun is the most likable evil human flesh farmer I've ever seen. There really isn't too much gore in this film, but it grosses you out on so many levels, especially if you eat meat, which I do. The ending, while being awesome in its own way, leaves a little something to be desired. All in all, if you love horror, and you have a sense of humor, check this one on out. I liked it more the second time I saw it, which is a sign of quality.

Another 80s B classic that had a run at the drive-ins before drive-ins went out of style. Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons run a roadside motel that likes to slaughter it's guests and turn them into sausage.

They have a neat little slaughterhouse and smoke room out the back where they take their victims after planting them in a garden (with only their heads exposed) and fattening them up for the slaughter. And when the guest attendance at the motel falls off, Calhoun sets traps out on the highway for passing motorists so that he can add them to his garden.

It also has Nina Axelrod as the girl that Calhoun and Parson take pity on and 'adopt' as one of their own, and Paul Linke as the dumb sheriff who bumbles his way into finally ending Calhoun's operation, once and for all.

There's a clumsy little fight sequence in the smokehouse at the end involving knives and cleavers, with all the action taking place surrounding a vat filled with body parts.

Worth a one-time look. Brainless fun.

6 out of 10