Back for its fifth season, the newly branded American Horror Story: Hotel takes place at the fictional and haunted Cortez in Los Angeles, a place where the guests check in but they don’t check out. But at least Lady Gaga’s here! Anyways, it’s inspiring this week’s 24 Frames gallery, a look at some of the bloodiest and crappiest hotels from movie and TV history.
The impermanence of hotels plays tricks on a writer’s mind, conjuring up images/stories of the place’s past with seedy characters, bad deeds, and leftover spirits…
In this Stephen King adaptation, John
Cusack plays a horror writer who investigates a purportedly haunted room at the Dolphin Hotel.
The Shining Year: 1980
Tomatometer: 91%
The king of haunted hotel movies. Stanley Kubrick’s enigmatic tour of the Overlook Hotel didn’t much impress
the author, so a TV miniseries was issued in 1997 that faithfully adapted the original novel.
Ghostbusters Year: 1984
Tomatometer: 97%
There was a brief window in time when getting slimed was actually desirable (the early ’90s, when Double
Dare was a thing) but not here. The Ghostbusters’ first major gig was at the Sedgewick Hotel where, after
catastrophic chandelier damage, they bagged their inaugural ghoul.
Barton Fink Year: 1991
Tomatometer: 91%
Welcome to the Hotel Earle. Accommodations include creepy bellhop (Steve Buscemi), obnoxious neighbor (John
Goodman), open flames, and a murder. Oh, and symbolism. When would you like turndown service?
Psycho Year: 1960
Tomatometer: 96%
The Bates Motel: A family operation conveniently located adjacent to your felony flight from the authorities.
Bates Motel Year: 2013-present
Tomatometer: 86%
Starring Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga, the scintillating origins of the motel are revealed in A&E’s
breakout property, whose lease has been renewed to 2017.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Year: 1998
Tomatometer: 7%
The majority of this slashy sequel’s action takes place in the Bahamas at a hotel where an unregistered guest
is running around with a grudge and a knife hook.
Bug Year: 2006
Tomatometer: 61%
A chamber piece set in a gross hotel room in Oklahoma, about a tentative couple (Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon)
with major problems.
Like a psychological insect infestation.
Dagon Year: 2001
Tomatometer: 56%
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” this bawdy little tale of unrelenting cosmic terror is
put up in a hotel, where a landlubber attempts to fight a tide of merfolk and the demon they worship.
Fawlty Towers Year: 1975-79
John Cleese’s first big success after Monty Python was playing the unhinged Basil Fawlty, proprietor
of a reasonably shabby hotel with nerve-grating clientele and employees.
Hot Tub Time Machine Year: 2010
Tomatometer: 63%
“Hey, you…get your damn hands out of the minibar. And don’t mess around with the hot tub unless you’re
prepared to endure Dexys Midnight Runners all over again.”
Four Rooms Year: 1996
Tomatometer: 14%
An omnibus comedy (with directors including Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez) starring Tim Roth as a
bellhop for the Hotel Mon Signor. Roth endures a hostage situation, witches, and dead hookers on his first night on the
job.
Hostel, Hostel Part II Year: 2006, 2007
Tomatometer: 61%, 44%
The hostel: A haven for young peeps to explore and score, or a front for a vast network of paying clients who
chop up heavenly bodies for fun? Why not both?
Identity Year: 2003
Tomatometer: 62%
More higgledy-piggledy hotel fun with John Cusack! This time he’s trapped in a Nevada motel with nine other
guests as they get killed one by one. J’accuse!
Motel Hell Year: 1980
Tomatometer: 67%
Multihyphenate Vincent Smith isn’t just the owner of the Motel Hello, he’s also a farmer and butcher, a man
whose meat pies all the boys chase. The secret ingredient is love…and tender human flesh. His live victims are
planted neck-deep in the ground with their vocal chords removed, and fed until ready to be cooked.
Mystery Train Year: 1989
Tomatometer: 88%
The Arcade Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee isn’t much to look at but the night clerk (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins) keeps
the mood up for the tourists, drunks, and ghost of Elvis Presley that come through there.
Oldboy, Oldboy Year: 2005 and 2013 respectively
Tomatometer: 80% and 41% disrespectfully
Feels like that champagne is taking a while to get here… Both the Korean original and the Spike Lee remake
of Oldboy start with a man locked in a hotel room for over a decade, and follow his quest for revenge after
release.
Guest House Paradiso Year: 1999
A movie vehicle for former comedy duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondso, they star as managers of the lousiest guest
house in the United Kingdom. Nearby is a nuclear plant, which causes a projectile vomit scene.
Guests include Simon Pegg, Bill Nighy, and Vincent
Cassel.
The Innkeepers Year: 2012
Tomatometer: 79%
Pat Healy and Sara Paxton play two ghost-hunt freaks employed at the Yankee Pedlar Inn. But the hotel is
closing for good and on its last weekend the innkeepers get one last chance for a close encounter with the spirits that
reside there…
Nightmare on the 13th Floor Year: 1990
USA Network offered up Nightmare on the first Halloween of the ’90s. It’s set in Los Angeles at the Wessex Hotel and
features an ax murderer, Satanic panic, and Louise Fletcher.
Schitt’s Creek Year: 2015
A disgraced wealthy couple lose all their money and are forced to move to Schitt’s Creek, a town which they
purchased as a joke in 1991, and take up residence in an embarrassing motel with their adult kids.
Doctor Who Year: 2006-present
Tomatometer: 89%
In 2011 episode “The God Complex,” the good Doctor is transported to a 1980s Earth hotel, whose layout shifts constantly and each
room feeds upon the deepest fears of the guests trapped there. Predictably the lodge is run by a minotaur, who is probably buddies
with Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Vacancy Year: 2007
Tomatometer: 56%
Bad signs about The Pine View motel: it’s in the middle of nowhere, the night clerk has a mustache, and instead
of HBO, you get tapes of snuff movies that were filmed in your room. That’s disgusting! VHS?!
The Wicker Man Year: 1973
Tomatometer: 90%
“Free” is the word at the Green Man Inn: free love, free internet (probably — 1973 was a gentler time), and free
virgin sacrifice.
