Hotel Inferno

Director - Guilio De Santi (Taeter City)
Starring - Rayner Bourton (Outland), Jessica Carroll, and Michael Howe (The Hunger)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Action
Tagline - "The First and Only splatter movie in "first person view"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

   
    Those that know me on a personal level know that when it comes to international films my knowledge is lacking.  Most of my teenage years was spent watching campy 80s flicks and various other American films.  I was able to view several Italian classics like Zombi and Burial Ground but that was about the extent of it.  In recent years I have tried to open my horizons and deeply submerged myself in the Japanese splatter sub-genre where I really enjoyed myself.  However, unbeknownst to me, Italian horror was starting to craft their own brand of Japanese inspired splatter flicks and the company Necrostorm is leading this new wave of splatter flicks.  I watched Adam Chaplin and loved it.  Sadly, I stayed away from their next effort, Taeter City, until recently when the company released this film here, Hotel Inferno.  This film looked fucking insane and I had to have it.  After watching Taeter City I went ahead and threw this one in.
     The film follows hitman Frank Zimosa (Bourton).  Frank is hired by the rich and powerful Jorge Mistrandia to infiltrate a hotel and kill everyone in a specific fashion. He is also given an experimental pair of glasses granting Mistrandia the ability to see and record everything Frank is doing.  As Frank starts to make his way from floor to floor he quickly realizes that these are no normal people.  In fact, they are also contract killers and henchman hired by Mistrandia for the same purpose.  Things turn from bleak to dark when Mistrandia also reveals that his family has been doing this same thing for centuries in order to appease and ancient evil forcing Frank fight even hard for his life.
     Before I go any further I want to say that I personally believe that Adam Chaplin and Taeter City are nothing short than a modern day splatter masterpiece.  Both these films left some pretty big shoes to fill and I did not think this one could.  From personal experience I have noticed that a lot of filmmakers and production companies never follow up their success very well but Necrostorm once again hits it out of the park.  The acting in this film is once again in the same style as Adam Chaplin and Taeter City.  The characters are a little over the top but not in a comedic way like the previous films.  Luckily, this fits this film a little better than the others.  The story in this film is really fun and straight forward.  I really love that when it comes to splatter flicks.  It lets me focus on the gore and effects instead of forcing my attention on the unneeded complex story.  With that being said, the story had a small influence of Cabin in the Woods spread through with the biggest hint revolving around "bloodshed to appease the gods" angle.  Don't take that as me hating on the story because I don't.  I actually love CitW and watch it whenever I get the chance.  Finally, the film has amazing special effects.  When I say amazing I fucking mean amazing.  The practical effects are a step up from the previous films (which were still fantastic) and the visual effects are limited in comparison to the first two.  With that being said, I was not a fan of the first person view the film is praised on.  I didn't like it when Doom did it for 10 minutes and I don't care for it with this film either.  A few minutes of this would have been cool but the entire film was a bit overkill and drug it down in my opinion.  Overall, Hotel Inferno is an amazing film that shows the world why everyone should keep and eye on Necrostorm.  I highly recommend it!