Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel

Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel is a 1991 neo-noir black comedy written and directed by Alien Castle[3] and produced by Donald P. Borchers. It stars Sherilyn Fenn, Whip Hubley, David Hewlett, David Johansen, and Paul Bartel.[3] It was partly filmed at the deserted Flamingo West Motel in Santa Monica.[2]

Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel
Directed byAlien Castle
Written byAlien Castle
Produced byDonald P. Borchers
StarringSherilyn Fenn
Whip Hubley
David Hewlett
David Johansen
Paul Bartel
CinematographyJamie Thompson
Edited byJames Gavin Bedford
Music byAlien Castle
Doug Walter
Production
companies
Heron Communications
Image Organization
Release dates
  • December 31, 1991 (1991-12-31) (UK)[1]
  • April 24, 1992 (1992-04-24) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

In 1955, a toy salesman and his wife turn a business trip into a brief vacation by planning to visit Disneyland, which has just opened. They stay at the Sunset Motel in Anaheim, California, where affairs and sexual crimes among the motel guests and staff quickly develop and cause trouble.

Cast

Critical reception

A review for TV Guide stated the film "strives for a jokey, stylistically dense parody of 1950s potboilers, but fails completely. Castle, with clunky direction and a badly paced over-the-top screenplay containing dialogue dipped in a curious amalgam of Somerset Maugham and James Elroy ('They say radioactive things have a half life as they decay. I think I'm radioactive'), is seemingly unable to muster enough energy or inspiration to take advantage of Jamie Thompson's impressively evocative cinematography."[2] In his review for Empire, William Thomas wrote, "Twin Peaks' Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) is the provocative heart of this strange, shambling and daft dialogue-heavy black comedy, which tries very hard, but doesn’t quite hit the mark."[1]

References
  1. Thomas, William. "Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel Review". Empire. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  2. "Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel Reviews". TV Guide. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  3. Brenner, Paul (2014). "Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014.


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