Living on an isolated farm with a motel attached to it, Vincent Smith and his sister Ida run a meat-smoking business that is the talk of the town. Though he can not reveal the secrets of the wonderful taste to anyone who asks, his reasons are more than understandable. During an evening unlike any other, young couple Bo and Terry seemingly crash their motorcycle near the residence, and they are taken in by the elderly farmer. When the young woman awakens, she is informed that her boyfriend unfortunately did not make it through the night. Unknown to Terry, this could not be further from the truth, as it turns out that this kindly duo has been secretly kidnapping civilians, trespassers, and anyone stupid enough to venture near their property. Why is this being done you may ask? Because it does take all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters...
You know, I was initially going to review the Italian knockoff Cruel Jaws today, but decided against it once I figured out I would very likely end up going insane from viewing yet another creature feature. Plus, when you consider that the Italian flick is mostly comprised of footage from at least two of the legitimate sequels in that franchise, what would be the point?.....Okay, it will eventually happen. But for now, I figured that viewing a much-discussed, thirty-six-year-old underrated gem was far more important than anything else.
Here's a very fun fact: 1980's Motel Hell was originally conceived as being a very serious picture, akin to similar, powerful pieces such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho. With the attachment of director Kevin Connor, whose previous efforts included many adaptations of works by the legendary Edgar Rice Burroughs (At the Earth's Core, The Land That Time Forgot), and screen legend Rory Calhoun (How to Marry a Millionaire, The Texan) as the lead, it seemed like those who had their ears to the ground were in for quite a ride. As luck would have it, the movie did turn out to be quite frightening, but in the most hilarious way possible. Yes, it has the unassuming, slight redneck vibe that permeates throughout some of the pictures mentioned above, but it also plays out as more of a parody and black comedy above anything else. It seems all too fitting that this came out prior to the absolutely insane "slasher" boom that was to come along very, very soon.
Categorizing Motel Hell as another motion picture in that subgenre feels slightly dishonest though. Its interesting cast of characters, including the ones whose sole purpose just appears to be nothing more than an unintelligible head, are very memorable. Vincent (Calhoun) and Ida (Nancy Parsons of Porky's fame) are so ridiculously charming that one almost wishes to see them in future sequels, and even when their big secret gets out to select individuals, you still find yourself sort of rooting for them to just keep going about their business and to not get suckered into the trappings of turning into the typical "crazed villains." The most fascinating decision made in the field of performers came seeing Chips star Paul Linke as Ida's obliviously stupid brother/town sheriff, and his comical ignorance just kicks the flick up a notch or two. Another interesting fact comes from the casting of Nina Axelrod as the closest thing we get to a heroine with occasional lapses into Stockholm syndrome. She's certainly got a lot of moxie and talent, though one wonders what could have happened to her had she also landed one role that she tried out for after Motel Hell was released to theaters. If that wouldn't be the weirdest one-two combination known to fans of cinema across the globe, then I don't know what would have been. To her credit though, she did get the opportunity to star alongside of Leonardo DiCaprio in his first film role.
If I were to have one gripe with Motel Hell, and it is one that I can not remain quiet about, it comes from not fully living up to the bloodshed that it seems to promise. Conceptually, the audience is fully expecting something truly satisfying in the gore department, but aside from some lacerations obtained during a chainsaw fight in the final act (no, you didn't read that wrong), it is a shockingly tame picture when compared to its cinematic brethren. I mean come on, a bit of dismemberment is always healthy, right?.......Yikes, I've been doing this for too long. Truth be told, a majority of Connor's uneasy moments come from the audible side of things. The constant gurgling that is heard from their buried victims (made due to having their vocal chords slit and stitched up) initially comes across as fairly freaky, but by the end, you are just chuckling uncontrollably whenever they appear to be attempting to have a legitimate conversion or are trying to rally others up.
Motel Hell is a special kind of entertainment. There's an unmistakably amusing vibe to it that can't be replicated by just any other picture. Most of the dialogue and gags hold up rather well, and there is just so much fun to be had. Best of all, you get the feeling that despite the silly concept and execution, Connor and crew genuinely cared about making an entertaining flick. Did they succeed? Well, seeing as I am going to recommend that you go out to purchase the Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack from Scream! Factory, I would say that they bloody well did.
But hey, if you're pretty stuffed with fritters and meats, Day 20's entry may have the ability to work better than any laxative ever could.
Though she is soon to be married and has cold feet about the decision, Casey is taking part in her very own bachelorette party, and as luck would have it, she and her friends have chosen the beautiful Costa Rica as the last place for her to spend one more night as a single woman. During a brief foray and dip into a hidden lake, Casey complains of something biting her beneath the water, but she dismisses it as nothing particularly serious. When they arrive back home, however, the young woman begins to notice changes in her physique, with a sore or two popping up, her body becoming stickier, and the inability to keep some solid foods down. Still, she finds herself more nervous about issues relating to her future mother-in-law and the reluctance to have children. Those problems will have to wait though, as it isn't long before this innocuous issue stemming from her little nipping becomes more difficult to hide, and she begins to show signs that what remains of her humanity could be disappearing at an alarmingly quick rate.
Ever since Bite's trailer popped up online a year or so ago, my interest in checking it out (no matter how possible) has stayed virtually the same. If any single one of you know me at all by now, you know that I am a bonafide fanboy when it comes to discovering new entries in the occasionally divisive field that is commonly classified as "body horror." So, this tale of a naïve, engaged woman contracting something which causes a slow decaying of her well being, be it physical or mental, had me hooked from the very instant. Plus, considering that news of a remake of David Cronenberg's masterful The Fly seems to pop up every year or so these days, I figured that delving into what appeared to be an unabashed love letter to that movie and others of its ilk is nothing to be ashamed of.
Where Cronenberg's project succeeded in many departments, Bite does a nice job at trying to ape those positive aspects as well, though with some hit or miss results. When one considers how relatively new writer/director Chad Archibald is to the genre, some of these acts are easily to forgive, though it does reach the levels of pandering once in a while. Casey, played by Canadian actress Elma Begovic, is a perfectly fine lead character. I didn't get the same sense that she was as sympathetic or tragic like Jeff Goldblum's Seth Brundle was, especially when she just continues to ignorantly defy requests to go to a clinic (be they from friends or herself). Even as a fan of scarier pictures, I felt that at least one trip to a doctor could have made for an interesting plot point or some much-needed dark comedy, but it's honestly a minor complaint. Begovic, who reminds me of a younger Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, The Fountain) mixed with Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, American Mary), shows a lot of promise, though she does begin to unintentionally channel Vincent D'onofrio from Men in Black towards the end. While the actress who portrays Casey is more than capable of working with whatever she is delivered, I never got the same feeling from her co-stars, who did not seem nearly as invested with working on a body horror motion picture as she did. They range from stereotypical best friends who may have hidden agendas, to over-the-top antagonists who just seem to lack any means of resembling a real person. They almost bring Bite down to where you could classify it as a nastier soap opera, but their screen time is mercifully limited compared to that of our main character.
Bite's shinier aspects come from when it features no dialogue, as it just leaves the audience alone, so that they can watch a horrific, if not almost ritualistic decline of a fairly innocent human being. There is a great feeling of isolation once Casey realizes that something is terribly wrong, and makes the decision to lock the doors of her apartment out of fear and massive anxiety. It's a clear homage to more claustrophobic flicks from the likes of Roman Polanski, and even some mentally exhausting releases such as 2006's massively underrated Bug. But of course, what is very likely to stick with viewers long after they have finished Bite is the work in the effects and makeup fields. For a film that presumably lacked a larger budget that is (usually) liberally handed out for experiences like these, there are some rather good moments that can turn the stomachs of most female viewers, including a dream sequence involving Casey and a pile of eggs, and a brief scene of her slowly pulling off a fingernail (which will ALWAYS manage to make a gore-hound like myself feel queasy). Admittedly, one wishes that it could have dived into the territory of the aforementioned Cronenberg masterwork, or even concocted some nightmarish designs ala Rob Bottin (The Thing), but as I said, it is very likely that the cost of the movie was nowhere near as expensive as it could have been. Props to making Casey's residence begin to gradually resemble a hive from Aliens though.
Bite does seem to be more concerned with grossing you out rather than trying to change the face of body horror, as it suffers from having some very basic dialogue and unresolved plot points, as well as worship that can be just as detrimental as it can be complimentary. But you know what? Sometimes, that is perfectly fine, as the overall experience was such a joyous one for someone like myself. Perhaps shooting it as a something that was done solely in the first person could have been a nice experiment, and a bold attempt to push the genre forward. But as it stands, it's a fun, decently nasty ride and a real treat when you consider that we rarely get these kind of films anymore. The movie can be obtained for a rather cheap price at most retail establishments, and, if you read this in time, the whole thing can be viewed on YouTube at THIS link.
Oh, and if you ladies out there (aka all two of you who read this) are looking for a double feature to make you never want to have children or be around creepy crawlies again, be sure to watch this back-to-back with Lucky McKee's "Sick Girl" from Masters of Horror. You will thank (or shiv) me later.
Tomorrow, I am off to catch Evil Dead: The Musical with my family, so I can not blatantly give away what the choice I have in mind is, and nor can I give a hint. Still, you never know what is to come on here, especially with what opened up this weekend.......
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