MOTEL HELL

US, 1982, 102 minutes, Colour.
Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Paul Linke, Wolfman Jack.
Directed by Kevin Connor.

A rather ugly horror thriller - done with the touch of broad parody and tongue-in-cheek. It was directed by Kevin Connor, who made the off-beat horror thrillers From Beyond The Grave and Trial By Combat as well as the action fantasies The Land That Time Forgot, At The Earth's Core, Warlords of Atlantis and Arabian Adventure.

Here he is working in the United States and presents a satiric picture of the mid-western farmers. However, their produce is human meat and they have private gardens to cultivate this meat. It is here that the horror is graphically ugly and will put off many audiences.

The touch is that of parody of Grand Guignol. Rory Calhoun returns to the screen in the central role of the farmer who prepares the meats. There are the usual heroines wandering about in the dark, murders and a graphic culmination with satiric lines. As an oddball example of horror in the seventies, it has its interest. However, in its entertainment and human values, it is repulsive.