I’ve seen “Motel Hell” almost five times in the last two years and goodness knows I’ve tried so hard to love it. At risk of getting my horror fan boy card revoked, I sincerely do not like “Motel Hell.” Kevin Connors’ horror comedy is a silly and often dull attempt to ape “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I’m one who has often found much of what unfolds in “Motel Hell” absolutely dull and monotonous with the attempts at absurdity kind of forced and tedious. It’s almost like “Eaten Alive” where there’s another effort to catch lightning in a bottle that just doesn’t quite hit its mark. And I’d still rather see Tobe Hooper’s “Eaten Alive” than ever really re-watch “Motel Hell” ever again.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
It takes a real out of the box thinker like director James Gunn to really approach “Guardians of the Galaxy” with a fresh sense of vision that doesn’t make it feel like a stock space epic. Truly, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is the most complete Marvel movie since “The Avengers.” It adopts the quirks and flash of the Marvel universe, while also introducing us to a group of complex and truly interesting rejects that become saviors of the universe thanks to colliding fates and unusual circumstances. Suffice it to say “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a near masterpiece, and one with an amazing soundtrack. Rather than sidestepping everything from the comic, director James Gunn embraces the fun of the diverse alien bunch, while also injecting his own demented dark comedy.
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
“The Mighty Ducks” is just one in a long line of “Bad News Bears” wannabes that pits a crotchety man with a bunch of misfit athletes to use sports as a form of self realization. Thankfully “The Mighty Ducks” is one of the best of the bunch, choosing hockey this time to help a group of smart aleck kids come of age. There’s also Emilio Estevez who is a cynical businessman with the heart of a hockey player, who finds that he still loves the game despite his regrets.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
It’s surprising that for a movie about anthropomorphic talking turtles that director Steve Barron takes the premise with as much seriousness as possible. Director Barron just seems to get the appeal of the Ninja Turtles, walking the line between the mainstream versions and the original Eastman and Laird R rated comic book. The turtles here have a hard edge, but are entertaining sympathetic heroes, and they’re the center of what is still a damn good action film about family, revenge, unity.
All Cheerleaders Die (2013) (DVD)
Director Lucky McKee and Chris Siverston attempt what many directors have in the past and remake their early film, “All Cheerleaders Die.” Now that they’ve reached a point of success, their considerably entertaining horror indie is now reworked in to a bigger scale, bigger budgeted, and gorier horror film. While the movie suffers from its caveats, “All Cheerleaders Die” works as a entertaining and twisted amalgam of “Heathers,” “I Spit on Your Grave,” and “The Craft.”
CBGB (2013)
How do you make a movie about CBGB in the structure of a routine narrative? Where do you start? Why do we have to see the origins of CBGB through a comedy lens? “CBGB” is what Hollywood envisions the origins of CBGB were. It’s clean, it’s sanitary, it’s inoffensive, and it paints some of the most iconic bands in rock music as mere footnotes in the world of the iconic New York club. To make things worse, its star looks really bored with the material, almost as if he’s slogging through a character and a script that he doesn’t quite understand.
Lake Placid: Collector’s Edition (1999) [Blu-ray]
Director Steve Miner and writer David E. Kelly’s “Lake Placid” is a B monster movie that knows what it is, and almost works against its type to offer something of substance. The harder it tries for satire and meta-storytelling, the more absurd “Lake Placid” is, thus more surreal. I wouldn’t classify “Lake Placid” as a great monster movie, but it has a strange energy to it that elevates it above usual monster movie tropes, but also keeps it firmly planted in the corner of a horror comedy bordering on a spoof quite often.