Mountaintop Motel Massacre
| Mountaintop Motel Massacre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mountaintop Motel Massacre | |
| Directed by | Jim McCullough Sr. |
| Produced by | Jim McCullough Sr. |
| Written by | Jim McCullough Sr. |
| Starring |
Bill Thurman Anna Chappell Will Mitchell Amy Hill |
| Music by | Ron Di Iulio |
| Cinematography | Joseph M. Wilcots |
| Edited by | Mindy Daucus |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mountaintop Motel Massacre (also known as Mountaintop Motel) is a 1986 American horror film written and directed by Jim McCullough Sr. and starring Anna Chappell, Bill Thurman, and Amy Hill.[1] The plot concerns a psychotic elderly woman who, after being freed from incarceration, returns to the motel she ran and begins murdering the guests.
Filmed in 1983, Mountaintop Motel Massacre was not released theatrically until 1986 when it was bought for distribution by Roger Corman's film company, New World Pictures.[2] Although the film received negative critical reception upon its theatrical release, it has, in later years, been noted for its offbeat atmosphere, and has been referred to as an "early 1980s drive-in gem."[3] It was later released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2001.
Plot
Set in 1981, Evelyn (Anna Chappell) has spent the past three in an insane asylum. Upon her return home, Evelyn brutally murders her daughter, but lies to the authorities and is not held criminally responsible. Shortly after, Evelyn returns to the dilapidated Mountaintop Motel— a series of individual cabin suites— that she ran prior to her incarceration. Evelyn attempts to return to business as usual and opens the motel to the public, but it isn't long before she begins to succumb to psychotic episodes, and, during a severe rainstorm, she begins to murder the guests of the motel by way of an underground tunnel connecting each of the individual cabins.
Cast
- Anna Chappell as Evelyn
- Bill Thurman as Reverend Bill McWiley
- Will Mitchell as Al
- Virginia Loridans as Tanya
- Major Brock as Crewshaw
- James Bradford as Sheriff
- Amy Hill as Prissy
- Marian Jones as Mary
- Gregg Brazzel as Vernon
Production and release
Mountaintop Motel Massacre was filmed in 1983 in Caddo Parish and Shreveport, Louisiana,[4][5][6] but was not released until 1986 when it was picked up for distribution by New World Pictures. The film received generally negative critical response, with The New York Times calling it "a slice-and-dice film for people who like to see movies where actors pretend to carve up, mutilate, disfigure, terrify and kill one another, but it will even disappoint them."[1]
Home media
Anchor Bay Entertainment released Mountaintop Motel Massacre on DVD in 2001. The DVD eventually went out of print, and the film was largely unavailable until being re-issued by Image Entertainment's "Midnight Madness" series in September 2011.
See also
References
- 1 2 Damton, Nina (1986-05-17). "SCREEN: 'MOTEL MASSACRE'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ↑ Westfahl, Gary. "Roger Corman (1926-) American director and producer". Gary Westfahl's Bio-Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ↑ "Mountaintop Motel Massacre". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ↑ "Mountaintop Motel Massacre". MUBI.com. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ↑ "Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1986)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ↑ Mountaintop Motel Massacre [DVD]. Anchor Bay Entertainment. 2001. The film's credits thank the Shreveport, Louisiana fire department as well as Caddo Parish.