Akari HoshinoRen AyaseYasushi YasudaYuki Maeda
Killer Motel
Medium: film
Year: 2012
Director: Kazuya Ogawa
Writer: Simon Sato, Kazuya Ogawa
Actor: Ren Ayase, Akari Hoshino, Yuki Maeda, Yasushi Yasuda
Keywords: boobs, horror, zombies, rubbish
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Format: 69 minutes
Url: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2235110/
Website category: J-zombies
Review date: 3 February 2025
Killer Motel
It's horror trash... and, oddly, it feels American, not Japanese. Young people keep getting naked and having gratuitous sex that doesn't serve the story, not noticing horror stuff happening in the background. They play Strip Tabletennis. (Is that a thing? And it wasn't even the boys' idea.) They don't see a swaddled body get carried past the window and they don't compare notes to realise that everyone's mobile phones have disappeared. The cast's distinguishing characteristics are:
(a) an English-speaking foreigner with an American accent, although he knows a bit of Japanese. Also, in one scene, he repeatedly says "who's your daddy?" during sex. Urgh, creepy. Anyway, do I watch Japanese films in order to practice my English? I do not. I was hoping he'd get eaten.
(b) big boobs,
(c) a cast that includes hardcore porn stars... and ironically one of them (Akari Hoshino) has the best acting CV here.
Everyone goes to stay at a ryokan, which is misleadingly translated as "motel". They're almost the opposite of each other.
RYOKAN = a traditional Japanese inn, recommended for the cultural experience and their hospitality. They have tatami mats, communal baths and of course traditional food.
MOTEL = drive-in roadside hotel, often found near motorways. They're often small, cheap and don't provide many services.
This particular ryokan is run by its sinister owner and his sexy daughter who'll wander naked into the communal bath to service male customers. Dad lays bear traps in the woods, which contain a sinister purple mushroom that kills anyone who eats it. (In a dream sequence, one of the characters does so.) There's also a chainsaw and a locked shed, containing something that bangs on the door.
Don't bother with this one. There's nothing of interest here. The film's so focused on showing us boobs and softcore sex scenes that one senses a diminished interest in characterisation and story. The horror stuff is eventually sort of okay-ish. The SPOILER (it's a zombie) is surprisingly obedient and I liked the moment at the end where the last survivor tells it "mou ii deshou", but that's the nearest I came to caring about anything in this film.