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Eerie and satirical, Motel Hell has no vacancy when it comes to low-brow horror gags.
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All Critics (24) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (7)
Motel Hell is a welcome change-of-pace; it's to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as Airplane! is to Airport. Oct 23, 2004 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Motel Hell is a welcome change-of-pace; it's to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as Airplane! is to Airport.
Roger Ebert
Motel Hell retains its own brand of madness by being eerie and holding onto its satirical humour. May 1, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Motel Hell retains its own brand of madness by being eerie and holding onto its satirical humour.
C.H. Newell
Just on sheer chutzpah, it's got to be one of the most wholly worthwhile American horror films of the early 1980s. Dec 5, 2016 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…
Just on sheer chutzpah, it's got to be one of the most wholly worthwhile American horror films of the early 1980s.
Tim Brayton
Motel Hell is a rather well-executed dark comedy that plays it fairly straight, much thanks to the outstanding performances from Calhoun & Parsons who give the film a nice sense of gravity against the film's more cartoonish supporting characters. Jan 7, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
Motel Hell is a rather well-executed dark comedy that plays it fairly straight, much thanks to the outstanding performances from Calhoun & Parsons who give the film a nice sense of gravity against the film's more cartoonish supporting characters.
Heather Wixson
The movie is slapsticky and obvious, but it includes one genuinely nightmarish concept: Vincent and Ida cultivate a secret garden of moaning and gurgling burlap sacks -- bags that cover the heads of the couple's buried-to-the-neck victims. Nov 13, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
The movie is slapsticky and obvious, but it includes one genuinely nightmarish concept: Vincent and Ida cultivate a secret garden of moaning and gurgling burlap sacks -- bags that cover the heads of the couple's buried-to-the-neck victims.
John Beifuss
A perverse film, both in its humor and its horror. Aug 21, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
A perverse film, both in its humor and its horror.
Mike McGranaghan
[Blu-ray Review] For genre fans of the offbeat, horrific and tongue-in-cheek, Scream Factory's impressively packed Collector's Edition Blu-ray release of "Motel Hell" is worth seeking out. Aug 12, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
[Blu-ray Review] For genre fans of the offbeat, horrific and tongue-in-cheek, Scream Factory's impressively packed Collector's Edition Blu-ray release of "Motel Hell" is worth seeking out.
Dustin Putman
...a low-budget shocker that's picked up a sizable cult following over the years, thanks in no small part to Calhoun, whose welcoming smile and aging matinee-idol looks made his turn as a villainous madman fond of human flesh all that more effective. Aug 11, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
...a low-budget shocker that's picked up a sizable cult following over the years, thanks in no small part to Calhoun, whose welcoming smile and aging matinee-idol looks made his turn as a villainous madman fond of human flesh all that more effective.
Keith Phipps
As always, Shout! Factory has done an admirable job restoring the film to optimal quality and providing a ton of fascinating in-depth extras, but it's not nearly enough to cover up the fact that the film simply wasn't worth the trouble of digging up. Aug 10, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…
As always, Shout! Factory has done an admirable job restoring the film to optimal quality and providing a ton of fascinating in-depth extras, but it's not nearly enough to cover up the fact that the film simply wasn't worth the trouble of digging up.
Jeff Beck
It's meant to be weird, campy and funny but settles for being tasteless, gruesomely awkward and moronic. Mar 24, 2006 | Rating: C- | Full Review…
It's meant to be weird, campy and funny but settles for being tasteless, gruesomely awkward and moronic.
Dennis Schwartz
People buried up to their necks and raised for food. Yum? A drive-in classic. Oct 15, 2004 | Rating: 3/5
People buried up to their necks and raised for food. Yum? A drive-in classic.
Steve Crum
Campy fun that's worth checking in for a visit. Mar 18, 2004 | Rating: 4/5
Campy fun that's worth checking in for a visit.
Gerry Shamray
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