Motel Hell
Landmark horror movies (when they come along) can shape and influence the entire genre itself for seemingly years after their release, with several films that come out afterwards being clearly inspired by and attempting to emulate the classic which started the whole cycle. What always comes into question is with the QUALITY of these particular āfollow upā films on the basis of them being either straight up ripoffs of the original landmark film or on whether or not they manage to introduce new and unusual elements to the formula which allow it to stand on its own not just as something inspired by a landmark masterpiece, but also as a popular and well respected cult classic horror film in its own right. Indeed, very few landmark horror classics are as towering as Tobe Hooperās original 1974 achievement The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film so harrowing yet so brimming with success that it kicked off a long running trend of so called ābackwoods horror filmsā whose stories generally featured rural locations and isolated environments where certain local residents (who could pass for any number of friendly, down home folk whom you could find anywhere in America) were actually sick, twisted deviants engaging in acts of murder and at times (including in Texas Chainsaw) cannibalism among other things of course. Which brings us to this entry from 1980, a film that HAS gained the respectability and cult following to this day but does so by casting a very well known character actor (Rory Calhoun) as its main villain in what amounts to a fascinating study on both that villainās sociopathic behavior along with his beliefs and values system for why he does what he does. Calhounās Farmer Vincent Smith is an always smiling, constantly congenial sort who runs a local motel that never seems to attract any serious business but nonetheless he does derive his main income from cultivating, distributing and selling his specially made meat products within a limited radius (said to be about 100 miles) and doing so well at it that he garners a large amount of repeat business from those who come from a considerable distance to stock up on more of their favorite meat products. Naturally, it goes without saying that this hard working entrepreneur is getting at least part of his meats (or at least his so called āsecret ingredientsā) from unfortunate human victims, most of whom he has waylaid off of accidents from the side of the road and along with his obese sister (Nancy Parsons, best known as imposing gym teacher Ms. Balbricker from the Porkyās franchise) is planting the poor bastards up to their neck in dirt while theyāre still alive, cutting their vocal cords in order to silence their protests and then when theyāre āreadyā bringing them in for slaughter so he can make more of his finely smoked meat products, actually mixing the human meat with hogmeat (he also keeps a working pigpen on his property) to create a dining experience that most peopleās tastebuds canāt get enough of. Now if this guy sounds like a sicker fuck than most horror movie villains youāve seen, keep in mind that Calhoun plays him like such a kindly, gentle old coot that one can see why he has most people fooled including his own brother (Paul Linke), the town sheriff who is NOT a part of whatās going on, but nonetheless has his own set of problems to deal with (mainly because heās also the town virgin for whom no local woman wants to be with since heās such a socially awkward cop). One day Vincent thinks that heās found an answer to his brotherās romantic problems, taking down a biker couple and upon seeing that the female is an exceptionally beautiful blonde (Nina Axelrod), deciding instead to take her home with him, putting her up at the motel for free while her (much older) boyfriend goes straight to the garden for processing, later telling the girl that he died in the wreck and was buried in the local cemetery (even going so far as to construct a fake grave marker to fool both the girl and his virgin sheriff brother). As a result, the girl (who appears to have no family to go home to and is a free spirited type) decides to stick around and is eventually paired up unsuccessfully with the virgin sheriff brother who completely fails to develop any kind of chemistry or rapport with her which is necessary in making a romantic connection. Instead (in the filmās most interesting plot twist), she develops a natural attraction to old Farmer Vincent himself, telling him that sheās really in love with him to which he responds that they really need to be married first before being together, prompting him to make the necessary arrangements with the corrupt and greedy local preacher (Wolfman Jack in one of the most out of left field horror movie cameos ever) and completely stealing her out from under his inept law enforcement sibling (who despite having never been allowed by the girl to even so much as kiss her is still madly in love with her). All of these nutty (and original) plot developments are still taking place side by side with the ongoing collection of victims by both Vincent and his sister with them even placing swinger ads for the motel in order to accumulate more meat supplements for their product. By the time the proverbial shit hits the fan, we get some real insight as to Vincentās motivations, namely that there are just too damn many people in the world (useless eaters) and simply not enough food to feed them all (a classic Freemason / Globalist philosophy) and so what heās doing is working for the greater good of society (i.e. the world as a whole would be a better place if more people were doing what he was doing) and that combined with a very subtle, implied subtext that Vincent truly believes that what he is doing is somehow āGodās workā (the television set in his home is constantly tuned to Wolfman and other evangelists shamelessly begging and shilling for money) without making the character an outright ranting Bible thumper (thus leaving it an open question mark as to which God it is he really serves) adds an extra layer of intrigue that may or may not make this resonate with certain viewers. By the time we get to the final battle and Calhounās Vincent has worked himself into such a frothing frenzy that he actually dons a pigās head mask (a staple of the filmās posters and ad campaign) and is waving around a chainsaw while laughing maniacally, the film has succeeded in breaking off from the pack of the other progeny of Texas Chainsaw and firmly established itself as a film worth judging on its own merits. Reportedly, the original script was not only deadly serious but also introduced elements of incest and bestiality into the mix before being rewritten and reconceived to a point where those truly unpleasant elements were jettisoned in favor of the tried and true cannibalism angle along with a black comedy streak a mile wide, getting laughs mostly from indirect absurdity without necessarily going for punch lines. As for Calhoun (for whom this represented a major comeback in Hollywood after years of being inactive), himself a legendary Tinseltown bad boy whom almost nobody remembers today despite having spent much of his younger years in prison before making it big as an actor where he proceeded to screw nearly every female starlet that he crossed paths with to the point that he was labeled an out of control loose cannon, this late career performance that revived his overall output in the film industry comes across as being one of the more fascinating ones in the history of horror, an evil person no doubt who truly feels that there are many others out there who think just like he does even while endeavoring to go into business for himself in order to get ahead of the sinister curveā¦
8/10