Motel Hell (1980)

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.

A perverse film, both in its humor and its horror.

...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.

This definitely would fit under the category "So bad it's good", problem is it's just NOT bad enough. If it was even more over the top and ridiculous it might actually have been funnier. Being that it took it's silliness too seriously it wasn't that funny...at all. Motel Hell lacked in it's own self-awareness. It wanted to be an intense, scary Texas Chainsaw '74 rip off and a funny-like Three Stooges film at the same time. It didn't mesh well, got lost in transitions, therefore becoming just an average cheesefest and nothing more. The situations and characters showed no signs of reason or rationality (whatsoever), even in their own morbidities, that being ridiculously more over the top would have worked better (Godzilla taking a shit on their farm would have been excusable). A film with so much potential, and lacking in (extreme)humor, becomes flat in the end result. I'm aware of it's cult status, and I would never debunk a fan, but personally I thought this film failed on almost every level. I hope the remake is much better because this is one horror film that should definitely be remade. I give it 2 1/2 stars for the effort and it's intentional, sickening approach to poke fun at the genre. I also liked how it paid homage to certain horror films. But that's about it. Could have been so much better.

Re-watched this again a few days ago. Has gotten cheesier with age and I can, for once, see why a remake might be justified as every plot point that isn't gore or grotesque related is flimsy and paperthin. For example, keeping that girl as their sort of "pet", who is supposed to be the protagonist, is really odd and feels misplaced. The relationship between her and the farmer is not believable because neither actor is trying to sell it. Onto the goodness: the "farmer's" whole process is great. Any scenes with the grounded people are fascinating and funny yet scary. The part which I remembered from childhood, which I still really love today, is when the ground people have escaped and begin their zombie-like descent upon the farmhouse; the lighting is great and it's one of the better examples of making victims frightening to the audience. The chainsaw showdown is great because although illogical to don a pig head mask, it's damn weird and creepy.