Cheap Deranged/Motel Hell (Midnite Movies Double Feature) (DVD) (Kevin Connor) Price

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Customer Reviews of Deranged/Motel Hell (Midnite Movies Double Feature)

Deranged-Excellent! Motel Hell should go there!
With the Dreanged/Motel Hell DVD you get a good news/bad news scenario. The good news is; Deranged has finally found its widescreen way onto dvd. :) Bad news: You're stuck with Motel Hell on the other side. :( Deranged is a low budget, very unsettling horror film based on the heinous real life crimes of Ed Gein. Of course, the folks at MGM left out at least one squimish seen of Ezzra Cobb scouping out a corpse's brains with an ice cream scoop. However, Deranged is not really a gore fest but, instead draws its disconcerting power (thanks to Robert Blossom's oscar caliber performance) from the fact that most of what transpires on screen happened in real life. In short Deranged rocks! Motel Hell on the other hand,is boring, hackneyed, cinematic rubbish. The title says "it takes all kinds of critters to make farmer Vincent fritters." Well, it takes all kinds of Antacids to make it through this hackneyed yawn-fest! The "love" interest between Farmer Vincent & the young girl is as contrived as anything you'll have the unfortunate experience to watch. Characters you couldn't care less about if you tried. I've seen more suspense generated in a Melissa Gilbert Lifetime Channel chick flick than Motel Hell. My recommendation; buy this dvd if for only Deranged. Watch Motel Hell if you suffer from insomnia.

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A Fun Cannibal-Themed Midnite Movie Double Feature
Horror fanatics, cannibal junkies, late-night movie freaks, and fans of bizarre cult flicks have a lot to be thankful for, now that MGM has released two cult gems (one of them quite rare) on one fantastic Midnite Movies Double Feature disc. The DERANGED/MOTEL HELL DVD is just one of the whole new batch of discs in MGM's incredible Midnite Movies Collection (with features everything else from little-known shockers to Vincent Price vehicles).

On one side of the double-sided DVD is DERANGED, a truly bizarre film directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby, the two who were also responsible for the fun zombie flick CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS. While similar material was handled much more famously in Tobe Hooper's masterpiece THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, Bob Clark and Alan Ormsby's film comes across as much creepier, perhaps due to it's rather unorthodox treatment of it's grisly subject matter. The film is based on the exploits of murderer, cannibal, grave-robber, and all-around unwholesome guy, Ed Gein (whose crimes also influenced everything from PSYCHO to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and helped elevate him to almost mythical pop-culture status). The film is basically that... a detailed study of the life and crimes of Ed Gein, although that name is never used. Roberts Blossom gives a very effective performance as Ezra Cobb who, as the narrator tells us, is a possible necrophile (an alternate title for the film was actually CONFESSIONS OF A NECROPHILE, although no necrophilia is actually shown). Simply put, DERANGED is a masterpiece, and by far my favorite film about Ed Gein. The reason the movie works so well is that Bob Clark and Alan Ormsby maintain a faux-documentary treatment to the material throughout the film... The constant appearance of an onscreen narrator might seem a little awkward for some viewers, but in this viewer's opinion, it's part of the film's quirky charm. The strange musical score, which sounds like it's made up mostly from a church organ, only helps to establish the film's peculiar tone. There's also a particuarly strange sense of humor given to the proceedings which is, admittingly, quite hilarious when given the subject matter of the film... all very amusing! It's important to note that the film focuses more on atmosphere than gore, although there are some grisly moments (particuarly at the climax). It's also very important to mention that the print that MGM used is apparently cut... Unfortunately, the film is missing the infamous "brain scooping" sequence... It appears that MGM could only get the rights to the edited version, but it's a miracle that such an obscure film even made it to the format in the first place, so it's a minor quibble. The transfer is presented in it's original aspect ratio and it looks fantastic, and that's what's most important. There's also a great theatrical trailer.

To understand the humor of MOTEL HELL, found on the flip side of the disc, you don't need to look any further than the tagline... "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters!" Now, take into account that the film is about cannibalism and you know right from the start that you're in for a fun ride. Many critics have often cited this film as being a black-comedy version of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and they're not too far off. People just can't get enough of Farmer Vincent's famous smoked-meat, and he's not telling anyone what the special ingredients are. At the same time, there are frequent nightly accidents happening near his motel at night, and strange sounds can be heard from the walled garden out back... That's really all you need to know because half of the fun of this film is being completely blind-sided by some of the film's plot twists (many of them are too priceless to reveal here and the less you know the better). MOTEL HELL is pure fun for fans of the genre, and in this reviewer's opinion, one of the greatest drive-in flicks of all time! The jokes are hilarious, the acting is great (particuarly Rory Calhoun, who seems to be having a blast), and the ending is absolutely brilliant (culminating in one of the greatest confessions ever to hit the screen), with a climax so jaw-dropping that you wished more films would be as bizarre as this one... Even Wolfman Jack makes an appearance!!! The transfer, although not as impressive as the one on DERANGED, is very good, and the audio is great as well. The only extra is a trailer, which unfortunately doesn't highlight the film's hilarious black-comedy.

It's amazing that both of these bizarre cult films even made it to the digital format. The missing scene in DERANGED was a bit of a let-down, but the transfers on both films are so great that it makes up for it... There's really no reason why any self-respecting genre fan should go without this disc... An Essential Purchase!

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2 of the best flicks on one DVD!
This 2 disk set is a MUST have for horror/slasher flick fans!

The first film-- Deranged-- is about a wierd fella named Ezra who can't seem to let go of his mother's death. After hallucinations of her he decides to dig her up and keep her near him at all times. The movie after that takes off and basically ends up with his kidnapping, and bitchering (like he was skinning a deer) a local salesclerk.

The movie is based on psychotic killer Ed Gein, which influenced MANY movies such as Silence Of The Lambs, Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2,3,4) and of course the movie Ed Gein and Ed and His Dead Mother.

The second movie is a bit more strange and funny!

In short it's about a brother and sister who own a motel and sell beef jerky on the side. The only thing is at night, like a hunter going out to hunt, he watches the road waiting for the right time to find his next victim.

After they are caught they are buried in the ground to be harvested and then made into jerky...

A MUST SEE