Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Poltergeist-1982
Tobe Hooper director of such classic horror films The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Salem's Lot directs this Creepy little Supernatural Ghost Story written and produced by Stephen Spielberg.At the same time he was directing "E.T." sequel to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It's sure to make you squirm.Don't watch it alone!!!
4.5/5
Tobe Hooper directs Creepy Supernatural blockbuster written and produced by Stephen Spielberg.At the same time he was directing "E.T." sequel to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
4.5/5
Watch the Trailer!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsDJRu9_Cgs&NR=1
Poltergeist is an American horror film, directed by Tobe Hooper, produced by Steven Spielberg, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on June 4, 1982. It is the first and most successful of the Poltergeist film trilogy, and was nominated for three Academy Awards.[2]
The franchise is often said to be cursed, because several people associated with it, including stars Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke, died prematurely. "The Poltergeist Curse" has been the focus of an E! True Hollywood Story.[3]
The film was ranked as #80 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments and the Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 20th scariest film ever made.[4] The film also appeared on American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies.[5]
A group of seemingly benign ghosts begin communicating with five-year-old Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O'Rourke) in her parents' suburban California home via static on the television. Eventually they use the television as their path into the house itself. A number of bizarre occurrences are subsequently observed, including an earthquake that only the Freelings feel, glasses and utensils that spontaneously break or bend at the breakfast table, and the ominous announcement by Carol Anne, "They're here." Though mother Dianne Freeling (JoBeth Williams) begins to realize the presence of beings in her home, their antics are benign at first, such as moving and stacking the kitchen table chairs. When her husband, Steven Freeling (Craig T. Nelson), notices these happenings, however, he is disturbed rather than fascinated.
During a rainstorm one night, a gnarled tree comes to life and grabs son Robbie (Oliver Robins), through his bedroom window. However, this is merely a distraction used by the ghosts to get Carol Anne's parents to leave her unattended. While Diane and Steven rescue Robbie, Carol Anne is sucked through a portal in her closet. The horrified Freelings realize she's been taken after they begin to hear her communicating through her television set.
When a group of parapsychologists from UC Irvine, Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight), Ryan (Richard Lawson), and Marty (Martin Casella), come to the Freeling house to investigate, they are awestruck and humbled by the manifestations they witness. They determine that the Freelings are experiencing a poltergeist. They explain that the spirits have not gone into the "Light", but are stuck between dimensions, and have taken Carol Anne because, being an innocent 5-year-old who was born in the house, her "life force" is as bright to them as the Light, and they believe she is their salvation.
After a series of paranormal episodes that frightens all in the house, Robbie and elder sister Dana (Dominique Dunne) are sent away for their safety. The parapsychologists leave with the data they collected, but Dr. Lesh and Ryan return with a spiritual medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein), who informs Diane that Carol Anne is alive and in the house. She also explains that there is a single malevolent spirit present in the house, very powerful and utterly evil, whom she calls the "Beast", who exploits the fact that the despairing spirits are confused and lost, and uses Carol Anne as a distraction so they cannot move on into the Light.
The assembled group realizes that whereas the entrance to the other dimension is through the children's bedroom closet, the exit is through the living room ceiling. Diane enters the closet, with a rope tied around her that is anchored to Steven. As Tangina coaxes the agonized spirits away from Carol Anne, Diane retrieves her daughter and emerges through the living room ceiling, falling to the floor with Carol Anne. Tangina announces, "this house is clean."
However, while the spirits have moved on, the Beast has not. On their final night in the house prior to moving out, the Beast attacks Diane and the children. Diane runs to her neighbors for help, and in the process, slips and falls into the swimming pool, from which coffins and rotting corpses emerge. Her neighbors, terrified by the ghostly energy blazing from the house, refuse to enter it, but Diane runs back into it. After Robbie and Carol Anne are pulled out of the house, and Dana herself returns from a date, the reason for the spirits presence is revealed, as coffins and dead bodies begin exploding out of the ground all throughout the neighborhood.
As Steven returns home and witnesses this, he realizes, that when the subdivision was first built, Frank Teague, the real estate developer — for whom he worked — chose to save money on relocating an existing cemetery on the site by moving only the tombstones. An enraged Steven confronts Teague with the knowledge that by leaving the bodies in unmarked graves and building houses on top of them, Teague desecrated their burial grounds. As the Freelings flee down the street in their car, their entire house implodes into the otherworldly portal, as stunned neighbors, including Steven's now-ashamed boss, look on. The family checks into a Holiday Inn for the night, and taking no chances, Steven puts the television outside.
Salem's Lot directs this Creepy little Supernatural Ghost Story written and produced by Stephen Spielberg.At the same time he was directing "E.T." sequel to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It's sure to make you squirm.Don't watch it alone!!!
4.5/5Poltergeist(1982)
| Poltergeist | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Poltergeist original theatrical poster | |||||||
| Directed by | Tobe Hooper | ||||||
| Produced by | Frank Marshall Steven Spielberg | ||||||
| Written by | Story Steven Spielberg Screenplay Steven Speilberg Michael Grais Mark Victor | ||||||
| Starring | Craig T. Nelson JoBeth Williams Beatrice Straight Dominique Dunne Oliver Robins Heather O'Rourke Zelda Rubinstein | ||||||
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith | ||||||
| Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti, ASC | ||||||
| Editing by | Michael Kahn Steven Spielberg | ||||||
| Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||||||
| Distributed by | United Artists | ||||||
| Release date(s) | June 4, 1982 (U.S.) June 5, 1982 (Canada) August 5, 1982 (AUS) September 16, 1982 (UK) | ||||||
| Running time | 114 min. | ||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||
| Language | English | ||||||
| Budget | $10,700,000 (estimated) | ||||||
| Gross revenue | $76,606,280[1] (domestic) | ||||||
| Followed by | Poltergeist II: The Other Side | ||||||
Tobe Hooper directs Creepy Supernatural blockbuster written and produced by Stephen Spielberg.At the same time he was directing "E.T." sequel to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
4.5/5Watch the Trailer!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsDJRu9_Cgs&NR=1
Poltergeist is an American horror film, directed by Tobe Hooper, produced by Steven Spielberg, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on June 4, 1982. It is the first and most successful of the Poltergeist film trilogy, and was nominated for three Academy Awards.[2]
The franchise is often said to be cursed, because several people associated with it, including stars Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke, died prematurely. "The Poltergeist Curse" has been the focus of an E! True Hollywood Story.[3]
The film was ranked as #80 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments and the Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 20th scariest film ever made.[4] The film also appeared on American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies.[5]
Plot
During a rainstorm one night, a gnarled tree comes to life and grabs son Robbie (Oliver Robins), through his bedroom window. However, this is merely a distraction used by the ghosts to get Carol Anne's parents to leave her unattended. While Diane and Steven rescue Robbie, Carol Anne is sucked through a portal in her closet. The horrified Freelings realize she's been taken after they begin to hear her communicating through her television set.
When a group of parapsychologists from UC Irvine, Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight), Ryan (Richard Lawson), and Marty (Martin Casella), come to the Freeling house to investigate, they are awestruck and humbled by the manifestations they witness. They determine that the Freelings are experiencing a poltergeist. They explain that the spirits have not gone into the "Light", but are stuck between dimensions, and have taken Carol Anne because, being an innocent 5-year-old who was born in the house, her "life force" is as bright to them as the Light, and they believe she is their salvation.
After a series of paranormal episodes that frightens all in the house, Robbie and elder sister Dana (Dominique Dunne) are sent away for their safety. The parapsychologists leave with the data they collected, but Dr. Lesh and Ryan return with a spiritual medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein), who informs Diane that Carol Anne is alive and in the house. She also explains that there is a single malevolent spirit present in the house, very powerful and utterly evil, whom she calls the "Beast", who exploits the fact that the despairing spirits are confused and lost, and uses Carol Anne as a distraction so they cannot move on into the Light.
The assembled group realizes that whereas the entrance to the other dimension is through the children's bedroom closet, the exit is through the living room ceiling. Diane enters the closet, with a rope tied around her that is anchored to Steven. As Tangina coaxes the agonized spirits away from Carol Anne, Diane retrieves her daughter and emerges through the living room ceiling, falling to the floor with Carol Anne. Tangina announces, "this house is clean."
However, while the spirits have moved on, the Beast has not. On their final night in the house prior to moving out, the Beast attacks Diane and the children. Diane runs to her neighbors for help, and in the process, slips and falls into the swimming pool, from which coffins and rotting corpses emerge. Her neighbors, terrified by the ghostly energy blazing from the house, refuse to enter it, but Diane runs back into it. After Robbie and Carol Anne are pulled out of the house, and Dana herself returns from a date, the reason for the spirits presence is revealed, as coffins and dead bodies begin exploding out of the ground all throughout the neighborhood.
As Steven returns home and witnesses this, he realizes, that when the subdivision was first built, Frank Teague, the real estate developer — for whom he worked — chose to save money on relocating an existing cemetery on the site by moving only the tombstones. An enraged Steven confronts Teague with the knowledge that by leaving the bodies in unmarked graves and building houses on top of them, Teague desecrated their burial grounds. As the Freelings flee down the street in their car, their entire house implodes into the otherworldly portal, as stunned neighbors, including Steven's now-ashamed boss, look on. The family checks into a Holiday Inn for the night, and taking no chances, Steven puts the television outside.
The Thing-1982
The Thing(1982)
John Carpenters 1982 remake The Thing.In the vein of Alien with exceptional over the top gore and special effects by artists Rob Bottin and Stan Winston taking horror to new heights!!! Great film definitely worth a late night viewing .
4.5/5http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x65m5i_thing_shortfilms
| John Carpenter’s The Thing | |
|---|---|
 Film poster by Drew Struzan | |
| Directed by | John Carpenter |
| Produced by | David Foster Lawrence Turman (Producers) Wilbur Stark (Executive Producer) Stuart Cohen (Co-Producer) |
| Written by | Novella: John W. Campbell, Jr. Screenplay: Bill Lancaster |
| Starring | Kurt Russell Wilford Brimley Keith David David Clennon Donald Moffat Thomas G. Waites Joel Polis Peter Maloney Charles Hallahan T. K. Carter Richard Dysart Richard Masur |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone John Carpenter (Uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Editing by | Todd C. Ramsay |
| Distributed by | MCA / Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 25, 1982 |
| Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $18,782,838 |
| Followed by | The Thing (prequel film) |
The Thing is a classic 1982 science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter, written by Bill Lancaster, and starring Kurt Russell. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a parasitic extraterrestrial lifeform that assimilates other organisms and in turn imitates them. It infiltrates an Antarctic research team, taking the appearance of the researchers that it kills, and paranoia occurs within the group.
Ostensibly a remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks-Christian Nyby film The Thing from Another World, Carpenter's film is a more faithful adaptation of the novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr. which inspired the 1951 film.[1] Carpenter considers The Thing to be the first part of his Apocalypse Trilogy,[2] followed by Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness. Although the films are unrelated, each feature a potentially apocalyptic scenario; should "The Thing" ever reach civilization, it would be only a matter of time before it takes over the Earth.
The theatrical performance of the film was poor.[3] The poor opening has been attributed to many factors, including Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was released at the time and features a more optimistic view of alien visitation. However, The Thing has gone on to gain a cult following with the release on home video. It was subsequently novelized in 1982, adapted into a comic book miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics, and was followed by a video game sequel in 2002, with a movie prequel currently in the works.
Plot
In winter 1982, an American Antarctic research station is alerted by gunfire and explosions. Pursued by a Norwegian helicopter, an Alaskan Malamute makes its way into the camp as the science station's crew looks on in confusion. Through reckless use of a thermite charge, the helicopter is destroyed and its pilot killed shortly after landing. The surviving passenger fires at the dog with a rifle, grazing Bennings (Peter Maloney), one of the researchers. The passenger is shot and killed by Garry (Donald Moffat), the station commander. Not knowing what to make of the incident, the station crew adopts the dog.Unable to contact the outside world via radio, helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Copper (Richard Dysart) risk a flight to the Norwegian camp to find it destroyed, its personnel missing or dead. Finding evidence that the Norwegians had dug something out of the ice, the pair return to the station with the partially-burned remains of a hideous creature which bears some human features. An autopsy of the cadaver by Dr. Blair (Wilford Brimley) is inconclusive, save to find that the creature had what appeared to be a normal set of internal organs.
At Bennings' request, the station's dog-handler, Clark (Richard Masur), kennels the stray with the rest of the station's sled dogs. Noises from the kennel cause Clark to return, finding almost the entire sled team in the process of being assimilated by the stray dog, which has transformed into a monster. MacReady summons the crew to the kennel and orders Childs (Keith David) to incinerate the creature with a flamethrower. A subsequent autopsy by Blair reveals that the stray dog was an alien capable of absorbing and perfectly imitating other life-forms. Realizing the implications of this, Blair quickly becomes withdrawn and suspicious of the others. A second helicopter expedition discovers an alien spacecraft unearthed by the Norwegian research team, revealing that the creature had awakened after being buried within the ice for thousands of years.
Bennings and Windows (Thomas G. Waites) quarantine the remains of the dog-creature and the Norwegian cadaver in the storage room, but moments after leaving, Windows returns to discover Bennings being assimilated. The crew burns the Bennings replica before its transformation is complete. Determining that all life on Earth would be assimilated in just over three years if the creature were to reach another continent, Blair goes berserk, destroying the helicopter and radio, and killing the remaining sled dogs, containing further contamination. The team overpowers him and confines him in the tool shed. With all contact to the outside world cut off, the crew wonders how to determine who is still human. Paranoia quickly sets in as the first attempt to develop a test using uncontaminated blood samples is sabotaged by an unknown party.
Fuchs (Joel Polis), attempting to continue Blair's research, goes missing shortly afterwards during a power failure. While searching for Fuchs' body, MacReady comes under suspicion and is locked outside in a severe blizzard. Somehow finding his way back to camp without a guide line, MacReady breaks into a storage room and threatens the rest of the crew with dynamite. In the course of the standoff, Norris (Charles Hallahan) suffers a heart attack. When Copper attempts to revive him by defibrillation, Norris' body transforms and kills Copper. Norris' head detaches from his body and attempts to escape as the others burn the body, leading MacReady to theorize that every piece of the alien is an individual animal with its own survival instinct. In an altercation that precedes a test proposed by MacReady, Clark tries to stab MacReady with a scalpel, who shoots and kills him. The rest of the crew complies with the test; blood samples are drawn from each member of the team and jabbed with a hot wire to see whose blood will react defensively. Palmer (David Clennon), the backup pilot, is unmasked as an imitation, and manages to kill Windows before being destroyed by MacReady, who also torches Windows' body with a flamethrower as it begins to transform.
Confirming that MacReady, Childs, Garry, and Nauls (T.K. Carter) are still human, the surviving crew set out to administer the test to Blair, only to find that he has escaped. After they discover that Blair had been constructing a small flying craft of alien design underneath the tool shed and witness Childs inexplicably abandoning his post at the main gate, the facility loses power. Realizing that the creature now wants to freeze again so a future rescue team will find it, the remaining crew acknowledge that they will not survive and set about destroying the facility in hopes of killing the creature. While setting explosives in the underground generator room, Garry is killed by the infected Blair. Nauls follows the sounds of the creature and is never seen again. Alone, MacReady prepares to detonate the charges when the creature, larger than ever, emerges from beneath the floor. MacReady kills it with a stick of dynamite, which sets off the rest of the charges and destroys the entire facility.
After some time, MacReady is shown wandering alone in the flaming rubble. He encounters Childs, who claims to have seen Blair and gotten lost while chasing him in the snow. With the polar climate closing in around them, they acknowledge the futility of their distrust, sharing a drink as the camp burns.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Evil Dead-1981
The Evil Dead(1981)
1981 Horror Gore Cult Classic (independent,low budget, inventive, groundbreaking,Gory).Amazing and one of a kind.It was banned when it first came out because of its controversial and over the top gore.This is the film that started Bruce Campbell,Sam Raimi,Ted Raimi's film career.They don't make films like anymore...Buy it,rent it,borrow it, whatever you have to do to watch this film,just don't hurt anybody.lol Evil Dead is an absolute must see!!! 5/5
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=evil+dead+trailer&n=21&ei=utf-8&fr=yfp-t-701&fr2=tab-web&tnr=20&vid=0001322406776
The Evil Dead (also known as: Evil Dead, The Book of the Dead, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead and The Evil Dead, the Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror) is a 1981 U.S. horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss and Betsy Baker. The film is a story of five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a wooded area. Their vacation becomes gruesome when they find an audiotape that releases evil spirits.
The film was extremely controversial for its graphic terror, violence and gore, being initially turned down by almost all U.S. film distributors until a European company finally bought it in the Cannes Film Festival marketplace. It was finally released into theaters on October 15, 1981. Although its budget was just $375,000, the film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing a total of $2,400,000 in the U.S. upon its initial release.[1] Despite getting mixed reviews by critics at the time, it now has a dedicated cult following.[2] The film has spawned two sequels, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness; work on a script for a further film has started.[3]
When the film was re-submitted for a rating in 1994 the MPAA classified it with an NC-17 rating. When the distribution company Elite Entertainment released the film on DVD in 1999 they retained the NC-17 version. Anchor Bay Entertainment has since acquired the DVD rights to the film, and their subsequent releases have surrendered the rating to allow them to release the film unrated.
| The Evil Dead | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical poster for The Evil Dead | |
| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Produced by | Sam Raimi Bruce Campbell Robert Tapert |
| Written by | Sam Raimi |
| Starring | Bruce Campbell Ellen Sandweiss Betsy Baker Hal Delrich Theresa Tilly |
| Music by | Joseph LoDuca |
| Cinematography | Tim Philo |
| Editing by | Edna Ruth Paul |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | United States: October 15, 1981 (Detroit, MI premiere) April 15, 1983 United Kingdom: December 9, 1982 Canada: April 22, 1983 |
| Running time | 85 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $375,000 |
| Gross revenue | $29,400,000 (est.) (As of July 26, 2006) |
| Preceded by | Within the Woods |
| Followed by | Evil Dead II |
The film was extremely controversial for its graphic terror, violence and gore, being initially turned down by almost all U.S. film distributors until a European company finally bought it in the Cannes Film Festival marketplace. It was finally released into theaters on October 15, 1981. Although its budget was just $375,000, the film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing a total of $2,400,000 in the U.S. upon its initial release.[1] Despite getting mixed reviews by critics at the time, it now has a dedicated cult following.[2] The film has spawned two sequels, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness; work on a script for a further film has started.[3]
When the film was re-submitted for a rating in 1994 the MPAA classified it with an NC-17 rating. When the distribution company Elite Entertainment released the film on DVD in 1999 they retained the NC-17 version. Anchor Bay Entertainment has since acquired the DVD rights to the film, and their subsequent releases have surrendered the rating to allow them to release the film unrated.
Plot |
Soon thereafter, Cheryl, having been infested by a Demon during the rape, dies and becomes a deadite (a corpse that is used as a vessel for the Demon that has possessed it) and stabs Linda (Betsy Baker) in the ankle with a pencil. Scotty beats her with the blunt end of his axe and kicks her in the cellar; he then locks her in the fruit cellar, but afterward Shelly (Theresa Tilly) enters her room and is killed and possessed by a Demon lurking there; now a deadite, she becomes psychotically vicious and attacks Scotty (Hal Delrich), who dismembers her with an axe. Scotty then leaves to find a trail out of the woods.
Ash goes to check on Linda, but finds that she too has become possessed by a Spirit. Scotty returns, but has suffered massive injuries inflicted upon him by the possessed trees. Before losing consciousness he tells Ash there is a trail in the woods. Linda revives momentarily from the possession & Ash drags her outside and locks her out of the cabin. He goes back to check on Scotty, but finds that he died from his injuries. Linda later returns as a deadite and tries to stab Ash, but Ash stabs her through the chest with a dagger. Ash drags her outside to dismember her with a chainsaw, but finds that he cannot bring himself to do it, and simply buries her instead. She rises from the grave and, after a violent struggle, Ash beheads her with a shovel. He returns to find the cellar door open. He enters the cellar, finds a shotgun and returns to the upstairs. He hears a noise from Shelly and Scott's bedroom. With the shotgun, he goes in to investigate and suspects Cheryl may be in the closet. Cheryl jumps at the window a demon had earlier broken through and tries to take the shotgun from Ash, grabbing at it wildly. Ash shoots her in the chest, but it does not seem to have any effect. Ash then proceeds to barricade both the front and back doors. He runs back into the cellar to find a box of shotgun shells and experiences a strange series of events including the cellar filling with blood and hearing voices. Cheryl tries to attack Ash through the door, but he shoots her and then barricades the door.
Meanwhile, Scotty's dead body suddenly revives to reveal that he has been possessed by a Spirit, only to have his eyes gouged out by Ash after a brief struggle. Ash notices that Nyturan Demontah has fallen near the fireplace and is starting to burn. Ash sees that Scotty's body is starting to burn as well, giving an allusion that disposal of the book into the fire will also destroy the Demons. Before he can reach it, however, Cheryl successfully breaks in through the front door and easily knocks him down. Scotty then pins Ash to the floor while Cheryl grabs a fireplace poker and repeatedly hits Ash in the back with it. Ash manages to grab the book after several attempts, using the necklace he had given to Linda earlier in the film, and throws it directly into the blazing flames just as Cheryl raises the fireplace poker to impale him. The Demons leave the bodies of Cheryl and Scotty, and their corpses become inanimate and fall apart over the course of several minutes just as dawn breaks, leaving Ash as the only survivor. He heads outside and stands in front of the cabin for a moment, thinking he has survived the ordeal. An Unseen Evil speeds through the forest, breaks its way through the cabin doors, and descends upon Ash, who screams in terror as the film ends.
Motel Hell-1980
1980 Horror spoof classic about a family of cannibal farmers.Great film with 70's feel and macabre humor check it out!!! 4/5
Motel Hell | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. | |||||||
| Directed by | Kevin Connor | ||||||
| Produced by | Robert Jaffe Steven-Charles Jaffe | ||||||
| Written by | Robert Jaffe Steven-Charles Jaffe Tim Tuchrello (uncredited) | ||||||
| Starring | Rory Calhoun Paul Linke Nancy Parsons Nina Axelrod Wolfman Jack | ||||||
| Music by | Lance Rubin | ||||||
| Cinematography | Thomas Del Ruth | ||||||
| Editing by | Bernard Gribble | ||||||
| Distributed by | United Artists | ||||||
| Release date(s) | October 18, 1980 | ||||||
| Running time | 102 minutes | ||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||
| Language | English | ||||||
| Budget | $3,000,000 (estimated)[1] | ||||||
| Gross revenue | $6,342,668 | ||||||
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZeMYWk9cZI
Motel Hell is a 1980 horror comedy film directed by Kevin Connor and starring Rory Calhoun as farmer, butcher, and meat entrepreneur Vincent Smith. It is often seen as a satire of modern horror films such as Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.[2]
Because of its low budget nature, the original intent was to make a serious horror film, with moments of disturbing wit and irony. The film's score was composed by Lance Rubin.
Farmer Vincent Smith (Rory Calhoun) and his younger sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) live on a farm with a motel attached. It's called Motel Hello, but the O on the sign constantly flicks on and off). Vincent makes smoked meats said to be the most delicious in the surrounding area. Vincent's secret is human flesh, and Vincent has the areas around his isolated motel strewn with various booby traps to catch victims. The victims are placed in a 'secret garden' where they are buried up to their necks and have their vocal cords cut so they cannot scream: Vincent keeps them until they are ready and then kills them. Ida helps, and seems to enjoy it, whereas Vincent seems rather calm and certain in his belief he's not doing anything wrong.
The movie opens with Vincent shooting out the tires of a motorcycle a couple is riding on: The male (Bo) is placed in the garden, but Vincent takes a shine to the young female (Terry) and brings her to the motel. The next morning, Vincent's mild-mannered younger brother sheriff Bruce (Paul Linke) (unlike Ida, Bruce is not aware of his brother's secret) arrives, and Vincent tells Terry that her boyfriend died in the accident and that he buried him: a trip to the graveyard shows a crude grave marker placed there by Vincent. Terry, having nowhere else to go, decides to stay at the motel.
Most of the film consists of Vincent (with Ida's help) capturing more victims for his garden (first a health inspector for Vincent's pigs who spies the hidden garden by chance, goes to investigate, and then becomes part of it; then a van full of drugged-up band members) while using his folksy charm to woo Terry, much to Bruce's dislike, who tries to woo her himself without much success. Vincent captures more victims (a pair of women, one of whom manages to flee in her car, but apparently faints from the stress of her terror after a brief chase, allowing Vincent to capture her, and then a pair of swingers who show up with a false ad that the motel is a swinger's paradise), and then suggests he may teach Terry to smoke meat. Ida finds out about this and, jealous of Terry, attempts to drown her in the pond (by luring her out there to play on inner tubes), but Vincent comes in time and saves her. This proves to be a catalyst for Terry, who tries to seduce Vincent (he stops her, claiming it would not be proper until they were married) and then agrees to marry him.
Bruce, unhappy that he's 'lost' Terry, drives down to the motel once he hears the news and bursts into the bathroom to protest Terry's choice (and during his rant to slander his brother claims his brother has 'syphilis of the brain', which might explain Vincent's calmness towards murder and cannibalism), but Vincent appears and chases his brother off with a shotgun. Having decided to have the wedding tomorrow, Vincent, Terry, and Ida share a glass of champagne, but Ida drugs the champagne to knock Terry out so she and Vincent can prepare some of the garden victims (presumably for the wedding feast tomorrow). Meanwhile, Bruce, still angry over losing, starts doing some detective work on a few strange things he's noticed and starts to feel that something is not quite right at his brother's farm.
Vincent and Ida kill three of the band members (by hypnotising them, then tying nooses around their necks, attaching the rope to a tractor, and driving the tractor to break their necks) and pull them out of the ground to take to Vincent's meat processing plant. However, doing so seems to loosen the dirt around Bo, as he begins to try to escape. Bruce sneaks back to the motel to try to rescue Terry, but Ida returns to the motel for a snack and overhears Bruce trying to get Terry to leave. Ida ambushes Bruce when he leaves the room and knocks him out, and then takes Terry at gunpoint to the meat processing plant. Meanwhile, Bo escapes and frees the other victims in the garden.
Vincent, upset that his 'love' found out his secret the way she did, sends Ida back to the motel to fetch his brother, but the victims, having escaped (and in a nod to zombie films, have staggered around groaning and hissing due to their cut vocal cords), ambush her and knock her out. Terry tries to escape the meat processing plant, but the door is locked and Vincent sadly knocks Terry out with gas, and then ties her to a conveyor belt, apparently planning to kill her too. He is interrupted by Bo, who crashes into the meat plant via an overhead window and brawls with Vincent, but he is weak from being trapped in the garden for so long and Vincent strangles him.
Bruce awakens, finds one of his brother's shotguns, and goes to the meat packing room himself, but finds that his brother has armed himself with a giant chainsaw (and placed a pig's head over his own as a gruesome mask). Vincent manages to disarm his brother, but Bruce grabs his own chainsaw and proceeds to have a violent duel with Vincent (later parodied in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), in the process turning on the conveyor belt Terry is tied to, sending her slowly towards a meat cutting blade. Despite suffering several wounds, Bruce drives the chainsaw into his Vincent's side for a mortal wound. Bruce frees Terry and then returns with her to his wounded brother, who gasps his final words, leaving the farm and 'secret garden' to Bruce, and then lamenting that his whole life was a lie and he was the biggest hypocrite of all ("My... meat... I... I... used... preservatives!") before he dies.
Bruce and Terry go to the secret garden and find Ida buried in it as revenge... head first (of the victims there is no sign, they seem to have wandered off somewhere, presumably getting help), and then head past the motel, while Bruce comments on how he had no idea what was going on and was glad he'd run away when he was eleven. Terry suggests they just burn the motel, claiming it's evil. The sign saying MOTEL HELLO finally fully shorts out, permanently darkening the O and leaving the title: MOTEL HELL.
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