Tagline: “Don’t disturb Evelyn, she already is”.
So do you have a BAD film you love but find it hard to convince others that it’s good? Here’s one of mine and I’m not ashamed one little bit to call this early 80’s low to no budget schlocker one of favorite [guilty pleasures] that I can watch over and over again. Many will call it crap and upon completion it was needlessly shelved by New World Video for 3 years before finally getting a release. FOOLS!!! But sometimes lack of budget and having to deal with what you have gets the job done. Which just so happens to be the case here as director Jim McCullough makes the most of what he has.

Anna Chappell is really quite good as Evelyn [I prefer to call her Evil-lyn] Chambers who’s in charge of the dingy broken down out of the way [should be condemned] Mountaintop Motel. True she has mental history that landed her in the Arkansas State Mental Hospital. But she‘s been released and is alright now. Well if you call slashing her daughter to death alright. Meanwhile little known actor Bill Thurman [who was also in another terrible favorite, Larry Buchanan’s trashy “It’s Alive” that freaked me out as a kid and has stayed with me as another demented guilty pleasure] is a preacher and a guest that is followed by a newly wed couple, a shyster who’s looking for fun with a couple of chicks he picks up, who check in for a stormy night of psycho-cheese-gore, murder and unbridled terror. With the whispering voice of her dead daughter in her head Evil-lyn prowls around in tunnels under the hotel that have trap doors to all the rooms. Giving the unsuspecting guests room service in the form of poisonous snakes, rats, cock roaches and a particularly sharp sickle.

True, flaws are aplenty; the acting is bad, the budget is really low, the gore f/x are cheap, and the killings are hokey. But all these factors actually enhance the experience, coupled with the fact that there really is something freakin’ creepy and demented about this psycho-slasher. Hats off to the set designer and shots of dolls, children’s crayon art, weird camera angles, the Christmas lights lit tunnels and the poor man’s Bava/Argento-esque primary colored lighting all of which is thick with atmosphere. Add the really good freaky-creepy score and your in for a hotel stay like no other.

I respectfully thank Anchor Bay for this re-mastered, UNCUT, widescreen transfer. Framed at 1.85:1 the enhanced for 16 x 9 TV’s picture quality is very sharp, with bold colors and a surprisingly clean transfer. Sadly Xtras are nil with nothing but the theatrical trailer.