A schlock classic, "Motel Hell" is bad and it knows it, so it goes to great pains to be as wonderfully bad as it can be.
The film centers around kindly rural farmer/motel owner Vincent (veteran character actor Rory Calhoun), who is the area's noted meat kind, producing "Farmer Vincent's Smoked Meats," which the locals love.
Their establishment is called the "Motel Hello," which of course provides the opportunity for the joint's neon sign to short out (at least the last O, which it does repeatedly before finally, melodramatically exploding at the film's conclusion).
What they don't know is that Farmer Vincent's meats are made of people (PEE-PLE!!).
Not even Vincent's bumbling little brother, Bruce, who is the town's sheriff, or Terry (Nina Axelrod), the nymph who is a guest at his house after the "accidental death" of her (much) older boyfriend in a motorcycle accident (Vincent "rescued" Terry after the accident, which Vincent set as a trap for passing motorists).
If you're looking for wholesome characters, you'll find none here. Terry, the most innocent of the bunch, is itchy-pantsed and promiscuous. Bruce emerges as the film's other hero, and early in the film he attempts to force himself onto Terry, and is portrayed as a bumbling fool most of the time.
And of course we have Vincent, accompanied by his portly sister Ida (Nancy Parsons, having fun with her role), who run both family businesses, though the motel is little more than a lure for their victims. Ida seems the more bloodthirsty of the duo, and just can't help herself but to kill, skin and maim people.
Oh, and have I mentioned the "secret garden"? That's where Vincent and Ida keep their victims, severing their vocal chords and burying them up to their necks as they prep them to be slaughtered (why they keep them in the outdoors is beyond me...why not just keep them locked in the meat house?).
The biggest joke of the film is two homicidal maniacs living among a town of seemingly normal folks and no one notices for years upon years. On the contrary Vincent is one of the town's most recognizable residents.
There are a few wicked lines, such as Vincent wickedly suggesting he'll teach Terry "the ancient art of meat smoking," and later, after Terry falls in love with Vincent (how could she not with pickup lines like that?), tells Bruce, who has pined for Terry from the start, "I'm in love with him, and he's GONNA be my old man!"
There's some nudity from Terry, who also spends much of one scene in a wet t-shirt, both in a bathtub shot, and laying in a bed as she attempts to seduce the geriatric Vincent (he rebuffs her until they're married).
There are also a host of memorable victims, including a rock band called "Ivan and the Terribles" that includes a goateed pre-"Cheers" John Ratzenberger, and a couple of kinky swingers who get close enough to getting it on to suggest they're into bondage, animals, oil, group sex, whips (the woman spends time lashing their room), older men, portly women, and having a brother and sister in the same sex party.
Perhaps the film's best image is one of its final ones,where Vincent dons a pig's head to fight the final battle with his younger brother in a chainsaw duel (you read that right).
We also get two, two, two monsters in one film, Vincent's still-living victims break out of their soil-encrusted prisons to attack their tormentors. Their gurgles, grunts and gasps and the way they lurch about evokes memories of zombies.
You won't go wrong checking out this drive-in classic. It's got it all for the schlock fan: bad dialog, stupid (but still mostly likable) characters, and copious gore (though it's mostly backloaded, so don't expect a bloodbath early on).