Motel do Crime

After finding the dead body of a woman in the trunk of their car, aspiring actor Roberto Vinci (Ray Lovelock) and his girlfriend Patrizia (stunning blonde Anna Maria Rizzoli) are recruited by the police to investigate a motel where the rich and powerful go to indulge in S&M themed sex games.

Play Motel's weak murder/blackmail plot-line just about qualifies this shameless smut-fest as a giallo, but the movie is far removed from the more acclaimed examples of the genre, films that frequently fused sex with violence but rarely allowed the nudity and nookie to be the driving force. Here, death, intrigue and suspense definitely play second fiddle to the abundant bumping and grinding, with even the occasional hardcore shot thrown in for good measure. Argento this is not! Needless to say, the stylish visuals, bloody set-pieces and snazzy soundtracks synonymous with the giallo are completely absent, replaced by an excess of writhing naked flesh, a couple of pedestrian strangulations, and a wonderfully cheesy theme song that kicks in every time the characters get jiggy—which is a lot.

The movie's dreadful narrative and shoddy direction mean that it is unlikely to appeal to serious connoisseurs of the giallo genre, but if the Euro-sleaze of Joe D'amato and Jess Franco has somehow found a way into your collection, then Play Motel, with its bevy of gorgeous babes and copious scenes of kinky sex, should be a no-brainer.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Eat your heart out, Norman Bates! Your uncanny motel only has a dead mother in the basement whereas, at Play Motel, there's kinky sex, severe blackmail and sadistic killing going on. This movie is a strange little outcast in the wonderful Italian sub genre of gialli. It honestly has a murder-story to tell, but it's more than obviously inferior to the incredibly large portions of rancid, gratuitous and semi-pornographic sex on display! Wealthy persons, mostly married but physically unsatisfied, gather here to make ALL their sexual fantasies come true. This includes dressing up like Satan and nuns, but also S&M and even intercourse with a bottle of champagne! However, these poor little perverts are unaware that the motel is also the home base of a blackmailing-network. Shortly after their visits, the guests receive incriminating photographical evidence of their little sleazy escapades and a demand to pay huge sums of money or else the pictures will be handed over to the media. When murder inevitable follows, the police (unorthodoxly, I may add) instructs a couple of actors to go undercover and infiltrate inside the dubious motel. This is an odd but strangely addictive movie, completely without suspense or surprises, yet extremely entertaining. The murder-plot and the killer's identity are the by far the most predictable I've ever seen, but you never seem to bother about this as the film introduces – oh yes – numerous gorgeous and naked women! The music, particularly the title song that can be heard whenever a couple checks into room number 4, is very catchy and fun. "Play Motel" is 100% pure and genuine TRASH, but a definite must for fans of Italian cult cinema. Hard to find, but give it your best shot (pun intended).

Down in the bottom of the barrel of Italian exploitation cinema is the subgenre of shocks and pornography. "Play Motel" aint filled with clumsy inserts of the Joe D'amato school, the actors 'perform' their deeds quite nicely both verbally and otherwise. And the cinematography is top notch. It's really a simple murder/revenge story but pretty well made, I might add. The hardcore scenes are thrown at you within 4 min. but the pace goes down in the last hour...still, a must for jaded fans of Italo smut!! Get the uncut version.

P.S. If anybody read DELIRIUM: Guide to Italian Exploitation Cinema 1974-79, the backphoto of the book (the red devil with horns & a whip + the naked nun) is from "Play Motel".

A blackmail is the spark that starts this movie which, however, turns out to be rather weak even if not completely to be thrown away. Something is saved from the direction and the actors but overall the movie does not reach sufficiency.

Before all our genitals shrivelled up using the internet, iphones, and other gadgets, people used to pass the time having sex. This is their story.

After a hilariously upbeat theme tune introduction, a middle aged man goes to the Hotel of the title and hooks up with a woman in the bar. The seemingly knowing guy on reception gives them the key to Room 3, a blood red room that contains all manner of kinky equipment and costumes. Plus a two-way mirror so that someone can take pictures and blackmail the clients later. You see that guy dressed up as the devil and unnervingly chewing on that actresses chin - he's a high flying businessman, and that lady dressed as a nun - that's not his wife.

One threatening letter and several kinky blackmail pictures later, and this guy is approaching his lawyer in the first of many scenes that don't make any sense in hindsight. The lawyer is dubbed with one of the funniest voices I've heard in a long time, for the record, so it's good when this guy shows up throughout the film. The blackmailed guy's wife gets wind of the whole deal and goes to the police, where cop Antony Steffen gets involved. Some black-gloved killer also gets involved, as the nun lady gets murdered and the wife soon follows suit while investigating the hotel.

This all sounds like a great set-up for a slash-a-thon, doesn't it? It's a pity that the investigation of the blackmail plot takes precedence, interlaced with endless nudity and liaisons in Room 3. Ray Lovelock and his missus get involved as newlyweds that witness some dodgy happenings and agree to help the police, resulting in his missus tracking down a photographer and taking part in a lengthy nude photo session that's followed by another nude photo session, then a third nude photo session until we get to another naked session in Room 3 involving a bottle of champagne that had me laughing out loud. At this point I was thinking that the killer might be some grudgeful cleaner fed up trying to wash filthy man-fat out of those sheets.

To be honest, although the film does contain about as much nudity as a copy of Razzle, it's not that filthy. My stomach did turn at some of the over-zealous snogging by Marino Mase mind you. Judging by the cheeseball look on Marino's face when he dresses up as a Bishop, I'm pretty sure none of this was intended to be taken as a serious artistic statement. Rather, it's just a parade of naked ladies for you to knock one out to.