REVIEW: ‘Hell Motel’ Takes A Stab At True Crime

Hell Motel is the latest series from the Slasher series creators Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter, and this time their subject matter focuses on true crime. True crime is fascinating, but fans of the true crime genre often forget that this isn’t fiction. These crimes happened to real people. Combine that with the horror genre, where actual crimes have inspired many films, TV shows, and books like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc., and you have plenty to play around with. In the case of Hell Motel, ten unlucky people get to learn the hard way how quickly their passion can turn deadly when they find themselves in the crosshairs of some murderers.

The series follows ten true crime-obsessed people to the soft re-opening of the newly renovated Cold River Motel, the site of a murder that took place about thirty years ago. It doesn’t take long to realize that not all attendees are as obsessed with others. It shows a natural division long before things get heated later on. Some owe their careers to true crime. Some have fashioned themselves as experts on true crime, whether due to lived experience or just downright obsession. All realize they have to try to work together to survive once the first body drops.

For anyone who has followed Slasher, there are certain hallmarks one comes to expect. If an episode pays attention to a character and provides background, they are likely to die brutally. None of the characters is wholly good. Eventually, a shoe will drop, revealing their true nature. And you are guaranteed to see familiar faces pop up along the way. Hell Motel takes the familiar Slasher formula that Martin and Carpenter have solidified over the years and plays around with it to keep us on our toes up until the very end.

Keeping the action trapped in one location forces creativity, but helps to increase tension.

Hell Motel makes great use of its central location. It’s as natural a horror setting as one can get, isolated in the middle of nowhere with bodies beginning to pile up. With most of the murders, close-up shots accentuate the dying faces, leaving much of the gore out of frame at least until later episodes. In some ways, this decision to focus close-up highlights how culpable the viewer is, and we’re not any better than the characters being killed onscreen. Our detached viewing of the situation mirrors the obsessives.

However, that’s not to say the ick factor isn’t there with the kills. There’s a sauna death scene that is ripped from my nightmares and will have viewers questioning things. One kill particularly nails the macabre, while another calls back to a previous Slasher season. Several Easter eggs related to Slasher will have fans pointing at the screen. Is it an improvement on previous kills orchestrated by the team? No, but it gets the job done for what is a speed run into slasherdom.

Of course, the characters are part of what makes these inevitable kills resonate, but some characters are dicier than others. In particular, Atticus Mitchell, Paula Brancati, Jim Watson, and Genevieve DeGraves easily command their scenes. Gray Powell and Yanna McIntosh were also fascinating to watch onscreen, mainly due to the dynamics the characters brought to the storyline. The chemistry between the two initially seemed off, but it manages to right itself as they find a rhythm together.

Unfortunately, the one character who seems to get the short end of the stick is Kawayan (Emmanuel Kabongo), who has the most fascinating profession but is the most enigmatic of the characters in Hell Motel. And, while  Eric McCormack’s Hemmingway nails the camp and sleaze factor his character needs, it’s never clear whether his accent work is meant to be intentionally bad or purely by accident. Either way, it’s more distracting than not.

Hell Motel is a mixed experience, with its topics deserving more exploration.

While Hell Motel focuses on true crime, the embrace of the Satanic allows for little glimmers of the supernatural to pop up. There’s a blurring of reality during these moments, with some lovely FX work, that kind of makes me want to see what would happen if Martin and Carpenter went all in on a supernatural series. There were glimpses of the supernatural with the occult in Slasher: Ripper, but again, just a little taste.

However, the Satanic topic clashes with the true crime exploration in Hell Motel. It’s a shame because the emphasis on true crime and the ickiness that the team brings to illustrate how screwed up this group of people are, including the motel owners, is strong. The first episode illustrates how people react to true crime and lose their humanity in the process. And how they react once confronted with the possibility of becoming a victim themselves easily dives into the psychological realm ripe for further dissection. However, an imbalance in the storytelling prevents it from fully landing as strongly as it could.

That said, Hell Motel is still a fun slasherfest. It frolics in the familiar, with twists and turns that keep viewers on their toes. While it’s not reinventing the standard, there’s enough for horror and mystery fans to enjoy as you watch to see how events transpire. However, imbalanced storytelling and scaled-back gore may deter some viewers who are looking for something more hardcore.

Hell Motel has its two-episode premiere on Tuesday, June 17, on Shudder and AMC+, with new episodes releasing weekly on Tuesdays.