Mountaintop Motel Massacre

Mountaintop Motel Massacre

Starring Anna Chappell, Bill Thurman, Will Mitchell, Virginia Loridans

Directed by Jim McCullough Sr.

Synopsis:
Evelyn (Anna Chappell) has just been released from the mental asylum when she accidentally kills her daughter.  Living at a hotel, she rents rooms to weary travelers, and its the voice of her dead daughter which tells her to kill, so she sets out to murder her clients by coming through hidden doors in their bathroom floors to murder them with a sickle. 

Review:
The 80s was the best decade for cheesy slasher flicks.  "Mountaintop Motel Massacre" is one of the unfortunately underrated of them, for it's brilliant in its campy cheesiness.

There's no eternal killer here.  No Jason, no Freddy, no Michael.  There's not even a fit male human killer.  Instead the killer is the supposedly sweet old caretaker lady.  Someone you would least suspect, but someone known to the viewer as the killer from the start.  It's a rare thing to see a senior citizen as the lead villain instead of the background caretaker.

Sure, the acting sucks.  Of course the storyline is contrived.  Obviously it's over the top, but that's what makes it great in its awfulness.  In one scene a man is bit by a snake, the infection grows and they don't even think about leaving and going to a doctor, but instead the wife checks in on him every so often.  You wouldn't see that in real life, but its exactly that type of utter ridiculousness you'd expect from a film like this.

Summary:
Is it great by any means?  Of course not.  But it's a fun film to see on a rainy day when you want to let loose and laugh and remember the glorious horror of the 80s.


My Rating: C