Motel Hell is another quirky release in the Scream Factory line and it has its moments headlined by a good performance from Farmer Vincent himself, Rory Calhoun.
Motel Hell: Collector’s Edition
(1980)
Genre(s): Horror
Shout Factory | R – 101 min. – $29.93 | August 12, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Kevin Connor Writer(s): Robert Jaffe and Steven-Charles Jaffe (written by) Cast: Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod, Wolfman Jack DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 2.0) |
PLOT SUMMARY
You really are what you eat with Farmer Vincent’s smoked meat in this creepy horror yarn. Vincent’s (RORY CALHOUN) popular products contain a special ingredient that the psychotic farmer and his sister would literally kill to keep a secret.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5
As with the majority of Shout’s releases, this one comes with a matted slip cover. The inner cover is reversible with the movie’s original poster artwork. Also comes with a standard DVD Copy.
Commentary – Director Kevin Connor, along with moderator Dave Parker, discuss making the movie providing some bits of info. If not for Parker, this probably would’ve been a dull flick but Parker asks questions and keeps the flow going through the duration of the picture.
It Takes All Kinds: The Making of Motel Hell (24:33; HD) is a well made retrospective featurette and includes new interviews set against scenes from the movie.
Shooting Old School (15:45; HD) is an interview with cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth going through his approach and techniques to shooting the movie.
Ida, Be Thy Name: The Frightful Females of Fear (18:09; HD) looks at the Ida Smith antagonist and on female villains on the whole.
From Glamour to Gore: Rosanne Katon Remembers Motel Hell (11:28; HD) finds the actress recalling her time making the movie and how her career began.
Another Head on the Chopping Block (14:52; HD) is an interview with actor Paul Linke (who played Bruce).
Also included is the Motel Hell Trailer (2:40; HD), a Behind the Scenes Gallery and a Posters and Production Gallery.
VIDEO – 2.75/5
Motel Hell arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory and has been given a 1080p high-definition transfer presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. Now, when considering the film’s age, budget and no doubt less than stellar film negative handling, it doesn’t come to much of a surprise that the transfer isn’t great. There is a fair amount of what is presumably dust marks, the detail level isn’t the best and it’s incredible grainy in some scenes, especially darkly lit ones which, as you can imagine, is a fair amount of this movie. Still, and without doing a direct comparison, it’s probably a decent enough upgrade.
AUDIO – 3.25/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track comes up a bit better, but not much. The problem here is it’s not consistent. Some scenes dialogue is relatively understandable while others it’s quiet, although in fairness this has more to do with on-set issues than the transfer. The biggest upside to this track is the score which comes through fairly well.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, Motel Hell is another quirky release in the Scream Factory line and it has its moments headlined by a good performance from Farmer Vincent himself, Rory Calhoun. The Blu-ray released isn’t the best where the video and audio transfers but that is made up in the bonus features department. If you are a fan of the movie, I doubt this has looked or sounded better.
Published: 08/19/2014
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