The guests of a newly reopened infamous hotel try to figure out who among them is gorily killing the others in the Shudder original series Hell Motel.
Hell Motel, not to be confused with Motel Hell, the 1980 cheesy cannibal classic starring Rory “Standing on His Hindlegs” Calhoun, is from Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter, creators of the 4-season horror show Slasher. As each season of Slasher was a stand-alone arc, Hell Motel is essentially a season five without the title attached. Heck, it even features many actors from that series, notably Paula Brancati and Jim Watson. I’ve watched all of those, and I will say I enjoyed this eight-episode series more than Slasher.
The eight-episode arc follows the first set of guests in the titular motel, or more correctly, the Cold River Motel. Thirty years ago, the isolated mountain lodge was the site of an unsolved murder spree, leaving behind only a Baphomet skull mask, a pile of body parts, and the remains of a failed ceremony to bring the demon Baphomet to Earth. Now, a couple is reopening the location, using the infamous murders as a basis to pull in murder tourists. True crime is very in vogue these days, so of course it would be a great draw to use that for a new venture, presenting a theme around the infamy, such as artistic recreations of murder rooms. On the invite list are a series of influential people: a true crime podcast host, a survivor of another massacre, an actress in a series of films based on the killings, an artist creating grotesque murder tableaux, and others. Also present are a stranded couple in an RV, and a pompous celebrity chef played by the biggest name, Eric McCormack. It isn’t long before a storm rolls in, power is cut, and so are people. The well-trodden The And Then There Were None formula: set them up, separate from the world, and knock them over in the bloodiest ways possible.
Overall, it’s a fun series with interesting dynamics, shocking moments, and gruesome deaths. There are ups and downs when it comes to telling a long-form slasher story, as was evident in the previous series. But it’s mostly positive and recommended. The characters, even ones dispatched early, are given life (and death) with fleshed-out backstories (flashbacks, which means more bodies!) and reasons for their previous actions and what they do while locked in. There are many twists and wrinkles to be worked on, some more obvious than others. They are generally not too forced (“why reveal that now?”), not feeling dragged out for TV Drama. In this situation, it would be perfectly normal to keep things close to the chest, to act one way while hiding something. It all keeps the show moving.
But the lengths of the storytelling show cracks in the tale. When a slasher story is told over six hours instead of 95 minutes, it’s harder to stay completely cohesive and avoid annoyance traps. Unfortunately, it happens, even if the pacing is solid and each 45 minutes flies by, and if watched with separation, things might be less noticeable (for review’s sake, I watched over two days). All too often, people fearful of the remaining cast members readily peel off into groups of two to have a chat or a bickerfest. When yet another person says “I’m going ot take a shower and have some time away from this pile of crazy”, or “I’m going to go down the hall to the person who went by themselves to talk”, I can’t help but think “really? Now? In this situation?” People are just a little too blasé between the moments of high emotion or murder. With an isolated location and a limited amount of characters, many outright vanish for long periods (stalking about, perhaps?). As a side note: I wish the location was used to better effect, after a set-up of showing how the couple have transformed the motel into something special from the history, leading to clever thoughts of how that might play out; it’s just a series of nondescript motel rooms, mostly.
I get it. It’s Drama. You don’t have Drama if people act rationally (and we all might break a bit in a situation like this). Things have to keep moving, horror and emotions need to be elevated, and people need to die. And they do, in wonderful ways. It’s a gooey, gory, inventive series of murders. Some of the deaths are beautifully disgusting and truly surprising. However, when it runs out of kills and has to wrap up, there is a slight fumbling of the ball. But that’s often the case for any horror series- each season American Horror Story, Slasher, and Scream TV all wind down with a “ah crap we gotta put the pieces together” issue. Honestly, the same can be said of many horror books and films. It’s a genre issue, all more noticeable when there is more time to linger on the closing chapters.
The performances are solid, if not sometimes forced when having to get bigger emotionally. A good ensemble that works well together. Eric McCormick of Will & Grace enjoys leaning into the over-the-top of his character, but the rest play it more level. I can’t say who might be a lead more than others, as not to spoil any surprises, but the strongest is Brancati, carried over from Slasher, as an actress known for films based on the original incident.
Hell Motel is a well-done series, with interesting characters and dynamics. The reveals, ups and downs, and character moments are nice to watch, all built to bring blood in great ways.
Hell Motel premieres on Shudder with 2 episodes on June 17th, with an episode a week afterward.
That is what I was afraid of. The level of suspense or thrill is too watered down, spread out. It’s a problem I had with the Slasher show, or the Scream TV series.
Slasher had 5 seasons not 4, The Executioner, Guilty Party, Solstice, Flesh & Blood and Ripper, Hell Motel was supposed to be season 6.