Motel Hell (1980) – Episode 165 – Decades of Horror 1980s

"Ah, this is special laughing gas. With this stuff, you smell it and we do the laughing.” Most people prefer to smell and laugh, but what the heck. Everything is worth trying once. Join your faithful Grue Crew - Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr -  as they sample Farmer Vincent’s legendary fritters in Motel Hell (1980).

Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 165 – Motel Hell (1980)

A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.

IMDb

 

• Director: Kevin Connor
• Writers: Robert Jaffe, Steven-Charles Jaffe
• Director of Photography: Thomas Del Ruth
• Cast
  • Rory Calhoun as Vincent Smith
  • Paul Linke as Sheriff Bruce Smith
  • Nancy Parsons as Ida Smith
  • Nina Axelrod as Terry
  • Wolfman Jack as Reverend Billy
  • Elaine Joyce as Edith Olson
  • Dick Curtis as Guy Robaire / 1st TV Preacher
  • Monique St. Pierre as Debbie
  • Rosanne Katon as Suzi
  • E. Hampton Beagle as Bob Anderson
  • Everett Creach as Bo Tulinski
  • Michael Melvin as Ivan
  • John Ratzenberger as Drummer
  • Marc Silver as Guitarist
  • Victoria Hartman as Female Terrible

In their fourth double-tap, your Decades of Horror 1980s Grue-Crew revisit Motel Hell, first discussed four years ago by Doc Rotten, Christopher G. Moore, and Thomas Mariani on episode 95. This time around, Crystal chose this quirky film and timed it perfectly so the podcast would go live just five days before the 40th anniversary of the film’s release on 24 October 1980. Jeff is thrilled to revisit Motel Hell for a variety of reasons, three of which are: it’s one of his pet favorites, it gives him a chance to relive his first participation on a Decades of Horror podcast, and, of course, Rory Calhoun! Chad hated Motel Hell the first time around but claims to have watched it at least 25 times over the years. Even so, he’s not buying the whole concept of “meat” fritters. Motel Hell is one of those movies people either love or hate according to Bill and he has fun with it even though the plot is nonsensical. Crystal can’t understand the hate Motel Hell gets from some factions and raves about Rory Calhoun’s smile.

If you haven’t seen Motel Hell, the 80s Grue-Crew strongly recommends you rectify that situation. At this writing, it’s available to stream on Amazon Prime and on a Scream Factory Blu-ray. In fact, Scream Factory just released a Limited Edition SteeBook version on 13 October 2020! You know you want it!

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode will be dedicated to The Burning (1981) featuring special effects by Tom Savini and first theatrical film appearances from Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander, and Fisher Stevens!

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