A complete waste of time, yes. However, at least it was short. I don't know about the original, but 'Return to Horror Hotel' is nothing but a cheap knockoff of a Full Moon production or a Troma film without any of the cult movie charm. This movie fails so hard that it's actually kind of funny in some areas. Still, no excuse for bad acting and unoriginality. I recommend staying away from this one, as well as the first movie. From first impressions alone, I imagine that the first 'Horror Hotel' is just as terrible, if not worse than this travesty.
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arnaudberurier17 July 2019First act was interesting, 30 minutes. It ended like "what's this sh**, I'm out", rushed to go to the next act. The 3 following acts, barely last 15 minutes each and are all disapponting and unfinished. And the acting is awful. I wasted my time...
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nogodnomasters27 July 2019The film is an anthology of four short productions which center around a flea-bag motel near "The Big Chicken" a landmark in Marietta, Ga. And for the record, I did eat there once. The features are whimsical with a horror background. The second and fourth features utilize some of the same characters.
I failed to find the plebeian scripting overly entertaining.
Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. Baby Norman tease. -
kannibalcorpsegrinder30 December 2019A collection of short films set generally in motel packaged together into a feature-length anthology.
This here was a truly terrible anthology effort. This is mostly due to the scattershot approach where it's impossible to tell what's going on here. Rather than present a clear, well-defined focus to the stories and what's going on, this one whips us around chaotically and without warning to these random people coming to a random motel that you can't tell if its set at the same one or just motels in general in a way that never allows for much in the way of competent storytelling. There's nothing about who these people are or what they're doing before coming to the motel or a motel or what the different thematic stories come from.
There's also the problematic issue in the technical merits of some of the shorts never appearing to get together in a cohesive whole. That there's plenty of transitions showing each of the segments being chopped down with the same fade-to-black, fade-in setups that are haphazardly edited together which makes for a cheap-looking effort. That carries over into the overall presentation where this completely misses out on editing out the opening credits from the shorts, looking exactly like these were gathered together and given the introductions to sell the format. Even without the wraparound sections that give this one a point and purpose, the presentation and production really undo this one significantly.
The chosen shorts here are also exceptionally bad. The first segment "Sleep Tight" has a creepy premise and some chilling imagery about the gnawed-on bodies featuring some great gore, but is so scattershot to pay off as the shift in focus to the various people at the motel are so episodic in nature it's hard to tell what they're here for. The second one, "Guillotine" is predictable, underdeveloped and not scary at all with no horror payoff to anything that happens. "No Time for Love" has a somewhat dark twist but doesn't go anywhere close to horror until then with a half-crocked love story taking up the running time. Finally, "Houdini's Hand" has a great premise involving the stolen hand coming to life but its way too clichéd and doesn't offer up any kind of surprise.
The few positives here are related to a few select areas in the general setup for each of the stories. Having a motel infested with carnivorous bed-bugs that comes for a family staying there could've been fun as this has a great setup, while a woman fighting over a special charm is a decent enough effort. A cursed motel room that ages inhabitants are various intervals could've been a blast s is the idea of a disembodied hand running amuck in a hotel room which means this has some great setups in theory. As there are no real flaws in the production of these shorts as they all look incredibly professional, it's what works here but gets washed out by the massive flaws on display.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence. -
Max_Lucas17 July 2019These stories may have been great if they weren't destroyed by the poor acting.
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K_Rad887 August 2020Nope. the acting was so bad in this i wanted to scoop my eyes out with a melon baller.
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gloryfades70x722 September 2019Story lines seem like they could've been good if it weren't for the extremely horrible acting. We were going to stop watching after the first segment, but we thought maybe the second would be better. We were wrong. After about ten minutes in the second segment, we decided that we've seen enough.
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doorsscorpywag19 July 2019I like compilation movies especially horror ones. We Brits excelled at this stuff in the 60s and 70s. The key to them is have a good story and have some people in them who can act. This failed on both counts.
The cast made John Claude Van Damme seem like Laurence Olivier A bag of carrots could have out acted this lot. -
You know going in with a low budget, cheesy horror what you're going to get. And this is exactly that. But it is fun, in a so bad it's good sort of way. Bad acting, no effects, poor script, all of those are present. But the actors seem to really be having a blast, and it makes it almost kind of fun to watch.
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ben-3633312 July 2019Return to Horror Hotel is a zany, gut-wrenching treat that would be good to put on during a party. Four unique stories make up this twisted ride. My favorite was probably the third one, which centers around a lost submarine crewman and a curious bookstore employee. Their chemistry was great, and the execution (and art direction) of the theme was fantastic. At times, the performances are campy or over-the-top ridiculous, but that's the point. Grab a beer, pop a fake blood capsule, and laugh red juice out of your mouth for this guilty pleasure!
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mentalrev20 July 2019Return to Horror Hotel is a descent into madness. Somewhat reminiscent of the work of Robb Zombie, but with it's own style and just enough camp value to complement the creepy story lines. I really enjoyed the pulpy visual style and the artistic direction creates a splashy tableau of terror tying together four unique and crazy stories.
Excellent production value across each chapter and solid performances all around including Houdini's reanimated hand of death, which will definitely haunt my dreams. -
kathyd77720 August 2019This was one of the weirdest films i've ever seen. I can't say i disliked it because there were parts i did like but i'd never watch this again. I'd like to see Baby Norman in more movies though, i did like her and had to google who she was.
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godinamachine1 January 2022HEY EVERYBODY ITS ME,(4) and today we review ... anthology hotel ... them movie !!!!!!
Personally i HATE anthologies ...VERY few ever really pull it off correctly .... trick or treat being literally the top of the food chain .......
however this one isnt the worst ......it DOES connect them all inside the stories to some degree using the hotel sure but in little ways here or there as well .... usualy anthologies are just an excuse for a company to buy out some indie films , hire someone famous to play a radio/movie/whatever guy talking about stories or something and then fade to each one .... so when a film actually creates itself as an anthology is when it works ....because they can intertwine the stories and characters together and into each story .....
though i believe this one REALLY missed a great opportunity to have an awesome giant bed bug film happen (something i have already written a screen play for and had planned a couple of years ago to film, and once i get the people together for it OH youll see something amazing lol) ....but this film could have beat me to the punch and honestly i woulndt even have been mad i would have loved to see that happen ........
it kind of leaves alot open that i think it shoulndt have or AT least should have had interact in the other stories a bit more maybe .....i mean what happened to steroid man ? Where did he go ? ....and what about the clerk guy running the entire place ? Did he ever do anything about the drug problem from those dead people ? ... and what about all those dead people ? .... and i mean just kids ? Random kids whered they go ? Lol... and thats just the first story ....... i would have loved to see the clerk dude have to deal with the rest of the cast throughout the film ... his i dont care attitude would have been great to see as people are obviously doing REALLY weird ....cosmically screwed up things in his hotel rooms .... time stopping / speeding up ....cursed objects and cutting off body parts .... more cursed objects and .......i mean .... dude ... what kind of hotel are you running ? ... i would love to just hang out with that guy and hear the stories of his life lol....
SO first story is bugs = drugs from beefy man using drugs to get sweat to = drugs for horny ladies to get hooked up with beefy men ......... wow i should write for the back of the dvd for these movies BAM !!!!!! ....over all acting meh ... the FX are good ... the legs look solid and most people will say "gross" ....
story 2 .... lighting meh .... acting MEH ...."hot chick" wanting to be hotter makes deal with sketchy guy at hotel for cursed charm with her side kick whos actually hotter not even trying to be hot ... and oh no .... things go wonky .....no twists just expected ....
story 3 ... wait ...i dont remember it hang on ..... OH yea the guy from sling blade .... MMHMM taters and mustard ....meets the love of his life because shes a terribe person and self centered and selfish and wants to sate her personal NEED to know and force this guy to open his door up to her ... shes the worst person ever ... his life was fine .....lesson is ...women just complicate everything ...then you die lol..
story 4 ..... HI 5 ....terrible acting ...but they bring it back around ot another character from before so good job ........but could have been a cool concept but just not well executed ... being short i understand .... just came off too silly i think .... the laughing on the phone was WOW just ........ ear punching bad ...lol....
all and all the over all film wasnt too bad .... it had some moments and for the average film goer / younger viewers sure i could see this being decent ..... for the more horror fanatics though ....they will skip this like ropes .........
5/10. -
A relatively low budget anthology of four fun and gruesome stories, directed by Ricky Hess and Brandon Thaxton, based around events at the same Horror Hotel, including:
Sleep Tight, Guillotine, No Time for Love and Houdini's Hand.
The acting isn't amazing in Return to Horror Hotel, although all actors tackled their roles with enthusiasm (Baby Norman, J Michael Grey, R. C. Sayyah, Stephanie Stevens, Montrel Miller, among others).
I found that the stories were funny, and could sit somewhere between The Twilight Zone and earlier Supernatural stand-alone episodes.
I enjoyed them and they all had a moral to the story, like macabre fables. -
johnapplebee-9594712 July 2019This horror flick puts u in the mind frame of the twilight zone but the stories are told in its own unique way. Very well put together. Not your average horror flick.
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mmkkss-3173419 July 2019This is an American portmanteau featuring four tales connected by the titular hotel. The tone is slightly elevated, not realistic, and the characters are not unlike those found in a John Waters film, a Jerry Springer episode, or a documentary by Ulrich Seidl. I warmed to the focus on the grotesque, and appreciated the moody, gel-happy lighting.
The hotel of the title is of the Bates Motel school (not flashy or 5-star), but it serves as a solid launching pad for the various tales. This is not a horror film to be taken terribly seriously; it revels in its own excesses, and ludicrous concepts, and pitches its performances at a level in concert with its tone.
For me, my favorite story was the third one, which involved a bunch of lost submariners, although the first tale, which focuses on decay and bugs, arrested my attention. Well worth catching. -
TheAll-SeeingI16 July 2019Return To The Horror Hotel shrewdly dips the chip in both the horror and the sci-fi genres to deliver the best of both worlds: joyous, blood-and-guts visitations of mondo bizarro tales dug up from the dark side of the moon. With its knowingly seedy lighting and a loving but selective embrace of camp, it's all very intentionally out of this world, and perfectly fits the anthology storytelling structure which has so often joined these genres since Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone.
Case in point, if there's anything more awesome than leveraging Harry Houdini in storytelling, it's reducing his legendary appearance to his own severed hand, which can be found wreaking havoc in Return To The Horror Hotel. Tremendous. So too is the preceding storytelling installment, in which a displaced naval crewman takes a trippy center stage. The stories are great - plucked straight from the ether, and told while knowingly straddling that wonderful line between the fantastical and our consumer need for blood flow.
Return To The Horror Hotel is the kind of stuff that sustains, overjoys, and provokes horror and sci-fi genre junkies alike. And history tells us that it's stories like this which keep them coming back for more. -
Reviews_of_the_Dead14 November 2019This was the sequel that was asked for me to check out on Twitter recently. I decided to give it a viewing. It also gave me another new horror film from this year so I figured I would check it out. The synopsis here is an anthology feature with 4 segments. One is about giant bedbugs, one about a magical charm that turns women beautiful, one about a hermit and one about a terrorizing severed hand.
Much like the original film, I think I'm going to go ahead and break each down and any leftover thoughts I will sum up at the end. The first story is Sleep Tight. This takes place at the same motor court, much like the other shorts from the original as well. We see in a few different rooms here. The first belongs to Jake Bodyn (R.C. Sayyah). He's into weightlifting and taking supplements to enhance, but they all don't look legal. There's another room that is housing Ferd (J Michael Grey) and Lorelie (Jenny Hall). They both are sleeping with their legs inside of buckets. When Ferd gets up we see that his legs are covered in weird wounds. The last room sees Aunt Miemi (Baby Norman) is checking in with her niece Abby (Zoe Burgner) and Mario (Samuel Riley Norman).
Jake notices that his back is covered in wounds, similar to those of Ferd. He pulls back his blankets to find his bed covered in bedbugs. It turns out that Ferd is breeding them and grinding them up as a drug to sell. The problem is what effects do the supplements that Jake is using having on them.
I do have to say, I was used to the original where the shorts were not as long. I have to say though, I thought what they did here was good. We establish all of the characters and then we see how they're all connected. I did find it funny that the large 'bedbug' is really just a cockroach, but that doesn't ruin it. This is a creepy concept and I thought it played out in an interesting way.
Next is Guillotine where two young women pull up to a motel room. We have Doreen Grey (Stephanie Stevens) and Collette Wisenheimer (Ann Marie Gideon). They're there to meet Al Sharko (James Edward Thomas) who wants to sell a charm to Doreen. It is supposed to be a part of the guillotine that killed Marie Antoinette and that the cha belonged to Marilyn Monroe at one point. It is said to make the woman wearing it even more beautiful. It is tested on Collette and we then see that it creates quite the rift when both these women want it.
This one actually had some pretty interesting aspects to it. The first is that I don't think it is a coincided that Doreen Grey is the name of the vapid one. It does feel like a play on Dorian Grey from the Oscar Wilde novel. I thought the lore of this item was interesting and seeing how it drives a wedge between these women was good. I like that they are attractive, even when they're pretending that Collette isn't, but that while wearing it they become even better. That worked for me. Another good touch is the final image we see in the mirror as well.
That moves me to the next story of No Room for Love. This starts in a book shop where Jonnie Rhey (Katrina Rarick) is asked by her boss to deliver a book to a local hermit. He is living at the motor court. She agrees and the lore is that he doesn't leave his room. A bet is made that she can get inside. She tries to play up that she has a bad ankle, but she falls into the door, cutting her head.
She is taken inside by Davie Jonas (Jason Will Gaglione). The two of them hit it off, but the more Jonnie learns about him, she realizes that things aren't as they seem. The clock in the room is moving faster and things in the room are affected by it, including Davie.
Much like the previous one, I do have to give credit to references here. The book that Jonnie is bringing over is 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, which Davie Jonas is a play on Davie Jones' Locker, which is the bottom of the ocean. This is all around that Davie was stationed on a submarine during his time in the navy. Something I did miss though was the era that he actually served. The synopsis on IMDb was where I saw that, but they didn't do a great job in conveying that. This really felt like a Twilight Zone episode with how it played out so that was good.
The final story is Houdini's Hand. We have two criminals arriving at the motel and going into a room. Rufus Bass (Tony Folden) stole a hand from Stumpy Nixon (Mike Bend). He is a one armed bandit and he uses this hand to open locks and safes. Tyrone Thaddeus (Montrel Miller) is there to ensure whatever deal that Rufus makes, he has back-up. The problem is that Rufus reaches out to Al Sharko to see if anyone is interested and he's told he shouldn't have stole it from Stumpy.
Tyrone gets inside the box, but has to use the bathroom. The hand disappears and weird things start to happen in the motel room. Stumpy then calls to say he wants the hand back, along with one of theirs as interest. This becomes a nightmare to get out of this room before it is too late.
I do have to say that this does have an interesting premise. I like they incorporated Harry Houdini here, knowing that he was great as escaping from locks and what not. The problem I have is that how did the hand board up the window without them knowing? I think there was a good idea here, but I thought this was the weakest of the bunch. Something happens as well to Rufus that was meh. The only good aspect is seeing these two turn on each other trying to find a way out of this mess.
With that said, I'm do like this more than the original if I'm honest. I think that it works better with the four stories as it gives them a bit more time to establish the premise and characters. There's an interesting meta aspect where on television is the original playing so that was kind of cool. I still prefer my anthologies to have a wraparound which we don't get with this one either. I thought the acting was pretty solid across the board. There aren't really any bad effects. If I'm honest, there are actually some good ones with the budget here. I never got bored, but I do think it was a misstep to end it with the one they do as it was the weakest. The soundtrack really didn't stand out aside from a moment where one of my favorite podcasts used as their intro music. Overall I'd say this is above average overall and would recommend this if you like lower budget horror films. Don't come in expecting a masterpiece, but it is fun and gives that feel of EC comics or like The Twilight Zone. -
vigilant5615 July 2019Return to Horror Hotel has a unique blend of characters that each have their own time to shine. The writing is great and the storyline is compelling enough to keep you entertained from the opening credits to the end. I reccomend this movie.
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dooqofurl-119 November 2019Bedbugs, lost submariners, beauty queens...what more could a horror buff ask for? This fun, kinda camp, pretty gross sequel lives up to and surpasses its predecessor. Since I'm not into spoilers, I'll simply say this. Give Return to Horror Hotel a look if you're in the mood for unexpected, indy-horror chills.
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This was a very cool movie to watch. It had a very unique feel to it in an odd slightly alternative quirky way. It made it for an interesting watch. The imagery and scenery have symbolism and meaning and add to the ludacris situation all the characters find themselves in. Well worth the watch.
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Ink78927 July 2019While looking for the original, I stumbled onto the sequel. Being someone who can't deal with delayed gratification, I jumped right into Return to Horror Hotel, and glad that I did! Excellent production design. Multiple stories intertwined which helps with keeping a brisk pace. Some genre blending and bending which helps keep it from feeling like a typical low budget horror film. Well worth a watch!
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bgianci-790-77254022 July 2019As a big fan of the original Horror Hotel, which was truly delightful, I was really excited to see this team had made a sequel and I must say it was just as good and maybe even better than the original. I think what i like most about these films is the care free feeling you get from the filmmakers, who are clearly not concerned with being politically correct and instead have put their focus on telling fun, bizarre, gory tales that will offend some but entertain most. This delightful cornucopia of weirdness in the best possible way hits on all levels. Great campy style acting (in a good way) fantastic production value, and well told stories that gave me a nostalgic feeling and longing to get back to the eighties when people could survive being offended. We need more films like this! I'm hoping this team brings us a third!
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A bizarrely enjoyable collection of disturbing tales with twists and turns that David Lynch would be proud of. Also the detail of the set design and art direction are beautifully constructed, in a murky, rundown infested motel sort of way, but still gorgeous to look at.