Leofwine_draca
JACK'S MOTEL is a very bad film indeed, a shot-on-video piece of zero budget film-making with zero originality and zero aspirations. A title change (from the original 6 DEGREES OF HELL) and the addition of '80s child star Corey Feldman to the narrative (in the form of some extraneous, added-in scenes equalling about 10 minutes screen time) do nothing to sell this one whatsoever.The loose plot sees a demonic force entering a small town and possessing various townsfolk; there is an evil plan in force, but it's all told so disjointedly and without enthusiasm that you just won't care. The writing is lazy and there's a singular lack of imagination here, and the performances from the no-name cast are as stilted as you'd expect. The poor CGI is another nail in the coffin. In the end this just feels like an advertisement for one of those god awful "haunted house" experiences they run in the USA; I half suspect it actually is.
Dr_Drew_Says
6 Degrees of Hell (2012): The Good, the Bad and the Feldster Synopsis: As a tale told to a paranormal investigator through a police officer that experienced it, the movie follows the intertwined stories of an owner of a haunted house attraction, a psychic, a different paranormal investigator and demons possessing a multitude of people to try to break through to this world.The Good: It's really hard to find good things about a movie when it's script and story is a convoluted mess. I mean, I think we all knew going into this movie that it was a second or third tier horror movie. After all, when top billing is Corey Feldman, the writing is on the wall. That said, there was some decent production value here. The haunted house attraction as a set piece was nice. The last 20 minutes or so of the movie taking place in the house had pretty decent make-up effects and captured a somewhat creepy atmosphere by mixing actors crucial to the "story" with people who were simply there for the attraction (also some form of actors, I'm sure). This film tries really, really hard and there was some part of me... way deep down, that felt bad for it. I wanted to like the movie. Sadly, it made no sense... which brings me to the Bad....The Bad: It made no sense... lol. Simply put, this movie had far too much ambition and badly botched the execution. They threw every horror cliché at the wall and just hoped something stuck. You had possessions, implied ghost stories, zombies, possessed artifacts, killer dolls, satanism, haunted houses, clairvoyance and the list goes on and on. It's actually more ridiculous than I just made it seem, which is pretty darn bad. I've seen a LOT of bad horror movies. Cheap ones with no budget, all the way to major label releases and I've learned one thing along the way: don't try to do too much if you aren't sure you can execute the idea properly. I'd rather watch a one-trick pony do that one trick really well than a pony that can't do any of the six tricks it tries to perform. No budget? No worries. Just have a good, simple idea and execute that one idea. This movie? Good Lord. It tries to weave so many story lines and subplots that it just confuses itself. I found myself scratching my head thinking, "Did I miss something? Am I just not smart enough to follow along? Did I nod off and miss a major plot point?" By the end of it, I realized that it was just a mess and there was nothing I could do to salvage the wreck. I certainly wasn't going to watch it again to see if I could find some semblance of cohesion in it all. I think the idea is that all these random occurrences, visions, clues, etc. would all be tied up neat and tidy at the end. Guess what? They didn't. We got left with a bunch of random junk that makes us feel like we missed something, when in fact, it's simply that the director/writer outsmarted himself. It's something we find a lot in these small, independent films: arrogance. In addition, the acting was pretty poor (especially Mr. Feldman) and the dialogue was as expected... which is bad, in case you couldn't figure that out. In the end, small budget, poor directing and script, poor actors, poor execution and confusing story made for a poor and confusing viewing experience.The Feldster: As other reviewers have stated, the top billing Corey Feldman gets is a bit of a sham. His part in this movie was likely filmed as an afterthought to try and drum up some marketing hype. He plays a paranormal investigator who is listening to the unfolding story being told by a police officer. He's got about 5-10 minutes of screen time. And given that part of the story is already about a paranormal investigator, it doesn't work as anything more than a shoved-in-your-face cameo of a has-been. It's just as well though. I don't know what happened in this guy's life between Stand By Me and now, but one thing is completely certain... he's lost his acting chops. What's that? Oh yeah, drugs. I guess that's what happened. It's a nice throw-back to see him though. I mean, on the bright side, we get to see what he's has been up to all these years, right? His hair is still in the early Nineties and he's switched over to fake cigarettes, so that's something, I guess...
Carlo DeVito Jr
I have to agree with the person below about Feldman it's not the 80's and he really is a bad actor. The title should be 6 degrees or boring people to death because the plot was bad really bad but without giving a spoiler out I can't say more.But let me address the Corey Feldman thing. This film is being marketed as "Corey's Feldman's Six Degrees of Hell". He has little to do with the film, so this is a marketing gimmick. And, surely, he is the biggest name attached to the project, so that makes sense. But here is the problem: people who are not die-hard horror fans probably will not see this. And those who are have a general dislike of Feldman. Anyone who has met him knows he is an arrogant little man.But is he any good? I suppose if you want to see him with bleached 1990s hair smoking a fake cigarette, then yes. He really has no part in the story and interacts with only one other actor.
yaktheripper
So let's go ahead and address probably your biggest concern here...Feldman. Yeah, he's in it. He has his bit and it's minor and pretty much unnecessary. With that knowledge, you can kick back and allow yourself to watch a steady, somewhat slow burning story involving a demon's puzzling game of possessions to unlock the gates of hell. The major problem with this movie is that it's trying to tell too many stories and in the end you might find yourself wondering exactly what story was told. The acting is decent, I would say respectable for B movie standards. Film direction, cinematography, soundtrack, makeup...all professional. Question is...should you watch it and am I endorsing it? I say yes to both. I appreciate how the film makers haven't hoar'd themselves out on these boards and reviews with sweaty palm testimonies on how great the movie is like most shlock horror movie makers do these days. See : Orphan Maker, Smiley, Bunnyman, etc for examples. (Added bonus, this movie is better then all 3 of those crapfests) These guys put some sweat and talent into a movie and are allowing the fans to respond to it. Unfortunately, the Feldman hate, I fear, is crushing the score and will scare you away. Don't let it! This is a pretty original and again, solid effort from an independent movie maker. It's probably a little to ambitious in it's efforts to find it's own voice but I rather that then a majority of the recycled garbage we're watching these days.
