Review – HOTEL INFERNO (2013)

Necrostorm, the same dudes who brought us the splatterrific Adam Chaplin, invite you on an all-expenses-paid trip to Splatterville while giving you accommodations at the lavish and exclusive Hotel Inferno, the first first-person action/horror flick.

Check out the trailer here – but viewer beware there is graphical material on it; blood, gore, and more.

Jorge Mistrandia (Michael Howe) hires Frank Zimosa (Rayner Burton), a hitman, to off a couple of folks in a very specific way. Sounds like another day in the life of a hitman. However, when Zimosa realizes things aren’t quite what they seem he finds himself tasked with getting out of the hotel with his life – and soul – intact. Which might prove difficult given the labyrinthian layout of the place. And the fact that Mistrandia’s crazed henchmen are after him. And the fact that “She” is coming… Cue the gushing red stuff!

Yup, splatter territory here, folks. Heads, limbs, torsos, et al. are blown and shewn off with wild abandon. Fountains of blood erupt more often than volcanoes in Hawaii. Couple this with good effects (helped by some admittedly dodgy editing) and – voila! – a gorehound’s ticket to paradise!

Now, some might be wondering if the first-person style helps or hinders the movie. I mean, after all, what is the style other than a cleaner version of “found footage”? Well, it works surprisingly well. It helps generate moments of tension and gives us all a front-row seat to the gloriously-flowing and mighty red, red kroovy – as well as a first-person vomiting sequence sure to please those emetophiliacs out there (of which this writer is the exact opposite).

The film is paced nicely and moves quickly, clocking in at a lean 80-minutes. Zimosa moves from room to room cutting down the competition as he figures out his next plan of action. However, the film hits a bit of a lull in the last 15-minutes or so and the ending is a bit flat. Kind of sucks seeing as the kinetic first and second acts promise an equally-kinetic finale. But hey, ya can’t have everything.

Now, a little point to address. Many film fans out there might consider Hotel Inferno as nothing more than a rip-off of this year’s Hardcore Henry. In fact, the opposite is true. This wouldn’t be such a big thing – come on, how many movies rip-off other movies? – were it not for the fact that the makers of Hardcore Henry touted their movie as “the first-ever action POV film” in order to screw people out of donating to their crowdfund. Naughty naughty. (Further details can be read here.)

Final Thoughts:

Hotel Inferno is proof that the best horror films aren’t playing at your local multiplex, but are hidden beneath the flotsam and jetsam accumulating on the surface of the genre. Brush that crap out of the way and subject yourself to a fun time in your living room. And feel free to bring the kids!

Hotel Inferno is available on Amazon Instant. And DVD for those of us who like physical media.